Turning crochet into an NDIS microenterprise: start to finish
Crochet already has what most products need to sell online: every piece is one of a kind, it photographs well, and people buy it as a gift as often as for themselves. Baby booties, cardigans, blankets and beanies are a genuinely strong starting point for a micro-business - the part that usually stalls it isn't the making, it's everything around the making.
Can NDIS funding help build a crochet microenterprise?
Yes. Where a participant's NDIS plan includes a goal related to employment or economic participation, this kind of NDIS microenterprise support is typically funded under support item 04_801_0133_5_1 Supports in Employment (Core Supports budget) or 10_016_0102_5_3 Employment Assistance (Capacity Building), delivered online and available Australia-wide to plan-managed and self-managed participants.
The skill is yours
What to make, what it's called, what it costs, and what the shop looks like are the participant's decisions throughout. The program doesn't teach crochet or decide the product range - that's already there. What it builds is the business around it.
What gets built around it
A live online shop with proper product photos, not phone snapshots - listing, pricing, and checkout in one place. A system for custom and commissioned orders, so a request for a specific colour or size doesn't get lost in direct messages. Social accounts that are actually set up and posting, not just created and left empty. And the admin side - order tracking, simple invoicing for larger commissions, shipping - running in the background instead of eating into making time.
What it can look like
A small catalogue of ready-made pieces for sale now, alongside a custom order form for anything made to request - size, colour, a name worked into the pattern. New stock gets posted to social media automatically pointing back to the shop, so making one more thing is also making one more sale.
Who delivers this support
Leah Justyce works 1:1 online with NDIS participants to build a real microenterprise around whatever they already make - delivered Australia-wide, to plan-managed and self-managed participants.
This article is general information dated 28 October 2026, not financial or planning advice. Juste is operated by Leah Justyce Art Gallery ABN 73 658 665 321.