When I started TCT Crafts, I’ll admit I had the mindset a lot of small business owners start with: figure it out yourself, stay in your lane, treat every other maker or shop in this space as competition. It felt safer that way.
I don’t think that anymore.
Some of the best things that have happened for this business didn’t come from working harder in isolation — they came from teaming up with people who are genuinely good at things I’m not, or who reach an audience I’d never reach on my own. Collaboration hasn’t diluted what I do. It’s multiplied it.
What Collaboration Actually Looks Like
It’s not always a big flashy partnership. Sometimes it’s as simple as:
- Pointing my audience toward a product, tutorial, or business I genuinely trust
- Combining what I do well (curating and sourcing product) with what someone else does well (teaching a specific skill)
- Building something together that neither of us would have made alone
That last one is exactly what’s happening right now with my good friend Ashley, from 3 Little Greenwoods. Ashley is an incredible bow-making teacher — genuinely one of the best I know at breaking down a skill that trips up so many wreath makers. We recently partnered to put together some curated bow bundle boxes and a fall wreath kit, designed specifically to go along with a bow-making training she’s hosting this August.
I’m not going to get into all the details here — I’ll share more about that in the newsletter — but I wanted to use this as a real example of what collaboration can look like when it’s done right: two businesses, two different strengths, one project that ends up better than either of us could’ve built solo.
Why I Think More Small Businesses Should Do This
It plays to actual strengths instead of forcing you to be good at everything. I love curating product and building designs. Teaching a step-by-step skill like bow-making, live, three days in a row? That’s Ashley’s gift, not mine. Collaboration means I don’t have to pretend otherwise.
It introduces your work to people who’d genuinely love it — but haven’t found you yet. Every collaboration I’ve done has put TCT Crafts in front of people who were already exactly my kind of customer. They just hadn’t crossed paths with the shop yet.
It keeps things feeling human, not corporate. So much of small business marketing can start to feel transactional. Partnering with someone whose work you actually respect brings a little bit of that “friend recommending a friend” feeling back into it — which, if you’ve read this blog for a while, you know is exactly the kind of trust I want to build here.
You Can’t Build This in a Silo
Here’s something I’ve come to believe pretty firmly: it’s important to find peers — and yes, even competitors — to work with, instead of walking through this business alone. Friendship over competition, every time.
Think about it this way: if you’ve ever been to market, you know you’re standing in front of hundreds, if not thousands, of different shops and wholesale companies, with literally millions of products between them. No single shop, including mine, can carry everything. Unless one of us wins the lottery and can afford to stock one of everything that exists, there will always be more out there than any of us can offer on our own.
And honestly, that’s okay. There’s enough room in this world for everyone to do what they love.
We Each Have Our Own Style — and That’s a Good Thing
Part of finding peers instead of just competitors is recognizing that we all bring something a little different to the table. For example, you won’t find a lot of whimsical deco mesh wreaths in my shop, and I don’t carry many whimsical picks or sprays either — that’s just not my style. I lean toward more traditional florals and greenery in my designs.
That doesn’t mean whimsical mesh wreaths aren’t beautiful — they absolutely are, they’re just not what I do. So when someone’s looking for that look, I’d rather point them toward a peer of mine who specializes in exactly that, and I know several of them would do the same for me. It’s not a loss for either of us. It’s just each of us doing what we do best.
We Love Our Customers — and We Know You Shop Around, Too
We genuinely love our customers, and we hope you come back to us again and again. But we also understand the reality: you’re not going to shop in just one place, and neither do I. I don’t only buy from Amazon — I shop Walmart, Target, Wayfair, and plenty of other places too, depending on what I need. That’s just how shopping works, and I’d rather be honest about that than pretend otherwise.
Building relationships with other businesses, other designers, other makers isn’t just a nice bonus. It’s a necessity — both because it’s genuinely rewarding on a personal level, and because it matters for continued growth.
The People Who’ve Made This Possible
I’ve had the privilege of working with several designers in this business over the years — some I still work with today — who affiliate with and help promote TCT Crafts. I honestly couldn’t do this without them.
And if that’s something that sounds like you — if you love to shop with us and love sharing what you find on social media — we’d love to have you as an affiliate too. It’s one more way this whole thing works better together than it ever could alone.
Learn more about our affiliate program →
Where This Is Headed
I’d love to do more of this — pairing up with people whose skills complement mine, building things together that genuinely help you create with more confidence. If you’ve got a favorite maker, teacher, or small shop you think I should know about, I’d love to hear who it is.
And if you want the full details on the bootcamp Ashley and I have been working on together, along with the bow bundle boxes and wreath kit we created for it, keep an eye on this week’s newsletter — I’ll be sharing everything there.