Creating parent-child variations using existing listing

Hi all, I have a listing that’s doing well and have had variations of the product made (different colours). I copied the listing and created this new listing as a parent, with the original listing and the new colours as child variations. So far so good.

I then get the error to say that the SKu category of my new listing and the category of the ASIN do not match. I contacted seller central and did more research on where I’ve gone wrong.

They suggested an inventory file upload to change the category. I tried this and computer says no - you have to delete the Sku, wait 24 hours and then re-create the listing with the correct category.

Here’s my question. I’m so nervous to take the action Amazon is suggesting and DELETE my Sku - surely this will end my listing and its great placement in the search results and all the reviews? I can’t seem to find any other way around the fact that the category needs to be changed in order to link my two colours and child variations of the listing.

Any help would bee appreciated!