Crafty in the City: Small Business Idea: DIY Phone Charms

Phone charms, also called phone straps, phone danglers, or phone lanyards, first originated in Japan and later on, in the United States.

Gradually, phone charms became popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Celebrities, who are mostly likely to have their selfies published, are often seen with phone charms.

Why not start a small business by capitalizing on this trend?

Why Sell DIY Phone Charms?

Selling DIY phone charms can be done on a fairly low capital.

For this small business idea, you can already acquire enough materials for Php1,000-Php1,500.*

You can manage the business part-time at first.

If you're unsure whether or not a small business is something you can sustain, you have the option to operate it part-time at first.

It could also be a way to augment a regular salary that comes from employment.

You may also be fond of giving away DIY gifts to your relatives and friends, and may just want to sell your surplus of phone charms.

You can sell your DIY phone charms online.

This is a huge advantage expenses-wise. You don't need to maintain a physical store in order to house and display your DIY phone charms.

You can create accounts across several social media platforms to attract a following, which can be converted to customers.

You can brand yourself and carve out a niche in the market of phone accessories.

While you only need a small capital to acquire materials, selling DIY phone charms is, admittedly, not a startup business idea that's low-barrier entry.

Competition is stiff, and even if you don't intend to be the next CASETiFY or other high-end brands out there, there exists a multitude of less-known brands and crafters across different social media platforms, hoping to get a portion of the market.

In spite of this, you can focus on the uniqueness of your DIY phone charms and slowly develop a brand and carve out a niche for yourself.

For example, you can be known for your bright, bold designs, or a more muted and toned down palette.

You can cater to teens and pre-teens by adding pendants or charms of pop culture or cartoon characters.

Most of the customers who buy phone charms are girls and young women. But why not cater to boys and men by using black, navy, gray, and brown beads?

For men who enjoy sports, there are beads that look like golf balls, basketballs or footballs, or those that come in the colors of their favorite NBA and NFL teams.

There are also pendants of Marvel superheroes, anime, and video game characters.

Also, it's crucial to keep in mind that the phone charm market attracts members of fandoms of hallyu celebrities (KPop idols and those who star in Korean drama).

To illustrate, purple is BTS' official color. So if you were to create phone charms to entice ARMY (fandom name), you may want to invest in purple, violet, lavender, and lilac beads, and "filler" beads in complementary colors like yellow and pink.

You can turn your excess supplies into other products.

You can make keychains, bag charms, and accessories like bracelets, earrings, and necklaces.

(**DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means I'll be collecting a commission once you click on any of those links and make a purchase.)