What I invested on my Teachers Pay Teachers store

Disclaimer: I am currently living in Brazil, and while it is marvelous to earn in dollars here, it's also a pain to spend in dollars. I'm also a cheap person, so I hope you get my point of view 😄

Dólar Dinheiro O Negócio - Foto gratuita no Pixabay

How long have you had your store? Are you a new TPT seller like me? Aside from clip arts, what else did you buy to make your product creation faster and more efficient? First of all, when I started in March 2021, I got all of my clip arts in my old resources from the public domain. I also got free clip arts from Teachers Pay Teachers (there's TOOOONSSSS of them!), so I asked myself, "why buy?" I continued to create resources from the free and commercially used sites (very important!) I had seen on the Internet until I joined a clip art giveaway and my name was mentioned......

I won $25 worth of clip art from Rainbow Sprinkle Studio, and let me tell you: IT. CHANGED. MY. TPT. STORE'S. LIFE. After that, I became addicted to clip arts. Every single day I would search for clip arts that I like (take note of this: not need, but like) and add them to my cart. I bought clip arts that I have never ever used until this day and I regret it! I said I was a cheap person in the disclaimer, but my clip arts addiction was unstoppable at the time. I'm a better business owner now. Before I buy, I make sure I'll use them so I can get my money back. But wait... there's an exception.... GROWING BUNDLES! 😓😆

By the way, this is not a story about my clip art addiction. But I invest a ton of money on clip arts, so there we go.

Moving on...

Aside from my clip art collection which is one of the best investments in growing my TPT store, here are the things I have bought to help me create more products/make my business life easier (in no particular order):

1. Microsoft PowerPoint with business/commercial license. You must have a business license for everything you use in your store. I was clueless when I first started. I didn't do a lot of research when it comes to the business side of things because I was not expecting my store will grow (I currently have 444 products), but I know better now.

2. Canva Pro. For 5 months I was using the free version of Canva because at the time I only used it to create pins or Instagram posts which I don't do anymore. But then I saw this feature where you can remove the background of a picture, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the pro version. After that day I swore to myself I will never go back to using the free version of Canva 😁

What do I love about Canva Pro?

tons of graphics (if I don't have available clip art, Canva Pro's got it!)
hundreds and thousands of stock photos
background remover
I can add a team/member. My sister creates Google Slides™ template and coloring pages, so I added her to my team.
I create pins or Instagram posts without having to worry about the size.
And the list goes on....

So if you're on the fence about purchasing Canva Pro, this is your sign!

3. Bearwoodlabs' Puzzle Maker. I love creating and solving puzzles. Picture puzzles are not one of my best-selling products (yet!), but this made my puzzle creation life way faster and easier. I truly have no regrets! This costs $39, but if you don't want to pay or if you want to try creating puzzles for your business/students, you can use this site for free: Split image online (pinetools.com)

I bought this puzzle maker a week ago as a gift to myself for reaching $600 on TPT. Click here if you want to see how I used this in my resource. I plan to create MORE picture puzzles in the future so stay tuned! Add Flatpack to the list!

4. Tripod for product photography. This has changed my product and video preview for my printables. It's not the best and most expensive tripod out there, but it does the job! If I ever find a tripod here where I can film from the top view, that will be great too! Check out the video in my resource above. I mean, the angle is not bad, right?

5. Printer. I can't stress this enough. You definitely need a printer! It's one of the best investments I've ever made and it's saved me a lot of time! I used to go to a printing shop to print all my worksheets for product photography. There's even a time when I went to the shop only to find out they're closed for the day!!! So I went to Amazon and immediately ordered a printer!

6. Coffee and milk. Wait, what?! This is a joke, but you get my point.

But wait. Why is it important to invest in our business? I'll tell you why.

1. Your business will grow. You need to spend money to make more money. If I didn't invest in high-quality clip arts, my resources would look meh. I read from the forums/groups that buyers (especially teachers who teach kindergarten or elementary students) like to buy cute things! I, as a buyer/seller, adore cute things. So buy that clip art set that's been sitting on your cart for ages and start creating cute stuff now!

2. If you treat your business like a hobby, it will cost you like a hobby. Treat your business like a business, and it will pay you like a business.

3. You will save time and time is money. If I didn't buy that puzzle maker, for sure until now I'd still be here manually shuffling those puzzle pieces.

But just a gentle reminder that I am not asking you to buy these things in one go (if I were earning a lot I would 😁). A lot of other sellers bought way more things to invest in their business, and I'm pretty sure they didn't purchase everything in one sitting. Take your time and learn more about TPT and the products you want to create before investing a ton of money.

So, there you have it! I hope this blog post is helpful especially if you're planning to open a TPT store in the near future. Let me know if you have questions and I will gladly answer them! You can also send me an Instagram DM here.

Have a great day and see you next time!

-The Viral Teacher