I’m currently unemployed but have been thinking about starting a small business.

I was thinking it would be a good idea to develop my skills first and build a steady following for potential products before launching an official business, all while working a full-time job.

I’m drawn to the idea of making a small range of products, like repurposed, handmade clothing and accessories, as well as items that would be considered as house decor (tapestries, lino prints, ceramics, etc).

The downside is everything would be handmade - which means that products would essentially only be made upon order. It’s also a bit unrealistic, but perhaps I can focus on making this process a bit easier in the future when I’m certain there is a strong demand.

Does anyone have an idea how long this trial and error phase for testing the popularity of potential products should be, as well as learning the skills needed to make them (sewing, using embroidery machines, making ceramics, etc etc)? I was thinking of starting the business with ideally 18 products, but have no clue how much time I should allocate towards developing the skills to make said products.

Or is this a bit too ambitious? Is there a better way to go about accomplishing this? Advice would be much much appreciated. Thanks!