A beginner’s guide to starting your own jewelry business

You have a knack for designing and making jewelry. Now you are thinking of starting a jewelry business (or maybe you have already started)!

Now making jewelry and selling jewelry are two completely different things. There is a lot to do in moving from a jewelry hobby to a money making business.

Start your own online jewelry business from home

If you are an artist like me, you obviously don’t think about starting a jewelry business the right way. When I started my first jewelry business in college, it wasn’t a master plan I thought about thoroughly. It just happened.

I had sold jewelry to my family and friends and my customer base expanded beyond my personal network. At that point, it made sense to try to create a legitimate jewelry store. Even though it sounded good on paper, my creativity got in the way and I made big mistakes.

They say time is money and I don’t want you to waste time making the same mistakes I did. I’ve put together this 11-step plan to start a jewelry business from home and start your business the right way.

If you’re brand new and need help starting your first jewelry business, check out How to Start a Jewelry Business “Quick- Start ‘program designed to get you started so you can start selling without the additional burden.

Step 1: define your niche

The value of the US jewelry industry is expected to reach $ 480.5 billion by 2025. Although the market is highly competitive and saturated, it still offers plenty of opportunities for new designers and smart entrepreneurs who can find a niche.

Improve your jewelry category

Successful jewelry companies need to have a clear vision and understanding of their niche and style. To determine your market, you must first determine what type of jewelry you want to sell. Understanding the jewelry market will help you identify your target audience and competitors to spot trends and opportunities.

Although there are many types of jewelry, most accessories fall into three main categories:

Jewelry

Costume jewelry is an everyday and fashionable accessory made of different materials, such as metal, copper, wood and plastic. Since the costume jewelry is meant to match the style, it is affordable and usually costs less than $100.

Fine jewelry describes precious stones such as diamonds, gems and rubies and metals such as solid gold and sterling silver. This type of high quality jewelry is considered luxury and is usually priced higher than costume jewelry. The jewelry can range from $100 to $3,000 or more.

A designer who sells fine jewelry has a very different market than someone who designs costume jewelry.

Handmade jewelry

The demand for handmade jewelry has become very popular over the past decade thanks to sites like Etsy that have allowed creative and independent artists to sell their jewelry online.

From bracelets made from sculpted deer bones to necklaces made from recycled skateboards, handmade jewelry is perfect for creating a niche, but can be a challenging business model to produce on a large scale. The price of this kind of jewelry depends on the manufacturing material and labor.

Identify jewelry trends

Keeping up to date with the latest jewelry and fashion industry blogs, influencers, and publications can help you discover new and emerging trends in your space.

Current events and cultural changes also lead to emerging trends, so looking at parallel sectors and economic factors can also help identify new consumption habits and needs.

Step 2: Understand Your Potential Customers (And Why They Want Your Jewelry)

Fun fact: The look and styles you like may be slightly different from the people interested in buying from you. For years I only drew what I liked instead of thinking about who I was designing.

One of the biggest mistakes in jewelry design is assuming that everyone will like your jewelry. If you follow a “design for the masses” mentality, you are likely missing out on the aspects of your work that make you unique and special. Worse yet, the customizable design of your dreams has probably been forgotten. This can quickly put you out of business.

Before you really dive into the design and manufacture of a jewelry line, take a good look at who your dream customers could be. Take the time to research what age group they belong to, what part of the world they live in, what their daily lifestyle is like, and what types of accessories and styles they prefer.

You should also evaluate your current situation. Have some of the jewelry you made sold like crazy while others are sitting on your shelf vacuuming? By asking thoughtful questions to your past customers about what drove them to buy a particular product, you can better understand your true customer base and what they really want to buy from you.

Step 3: Develop a jewelry business plan

Once you have found a niche for your jewelry business, the next step is to develop a business plan.

A business plan is a documented roadmap for the future of your jewelry business and provides an organized strategy to help you succeed.

What does the market look like? Who are my customers? How can I finance my jewelry business? Potential investors and business lenders often ask for a business plan before considering working with you.

A typical business plan includes:

• Overview
• company description
• Marketing research
• Information about the service/product
• Marketing and Sales Plan
• Financing
• Financial forecasts and forecasts Attached Sites like Score.org and B plans offer complete business plan templates for free.

Step 4: Get Legal! Make your business legal

Your business name is undoubtedly one of the most important steps in starting your jewelry business and building a successful brand. The company name should be unique and represent both your message and your jewelry. Ideally, nouns should not be long or too complex, in fact two to four syllables are recommended.

Once you’ve chosen a name, the next step is to look for its availability in trade registers such as trademarks, patents, and website domains. Your website domain name must contain your company name. Ideally, .com is the best choice for most businesses.

That Open a separate bank account for your business so you can easily separate personal and business expenses. In the United States, the IRS disagrees with mixing personal and business expenses and can even lead to an audit.

The next task is to register your business in your state. Requirements and paperwork depend on the information and location of your business. The US Small Business Administration proposes that each small business owner register their name with their state and local government.

In most cases, the only information you need to register your business is the company name, purpose, and business structure. Remember that registering your business is not just for tax purposes, but also to protect you and your business.

Choose your company structure

Property

Many self-employed entrepreneurs register as sole proprietors, where one person manages and is responsible for all profits and debts of the company. This is the simplest option and doesn’t require a lot of paperwork outside of industry-specific licenses. However, this option does not protect against liability, which could put you and your personal property at risk.

LLC

Another safer option is to register as a limited liability company (LLC). Your business is separate from the business owners, so in the event of an obligation, such as a debt, the business is liable, not personal property. You will also need to check your state’s requirements for additional licenses and permits.

COMPANY INSURANCE

As mentioned above, debt is a risk and you should make sure your jewelry business is covered before starting it. Since you are selling a physical product, jewelry, you must have product liability insurance that protects you from potential customer complaints. In addition, most companies also take out general liability insurance, which protects you from many possible lawsuits, such as negligence and advertising damage.

Step 5: Design the entire jewelry collection, not just random items

Every aspect of starting your jewelry business needs to be planned out so that you can achieve your ultimate goal of making money. A big mistake that designers can accidentally make is creating jewelry that doesn’t fit into a coherent collection. While it can be fun to push your ideas and follow your heart, this strategy may not encourage customers to buy multiple pieces from you at once.

Collection planning is important for all jewelers, whether wholesale, online or direct-to-consumer. A collection of songs takes your client on a journey and tells a specific story. This connects each piece in the collection with a common theme that helps you create a memorable brand. A really good collection inspires customers to buy more copies and they can’t wait to immerse themselves in the story of each release.

Step 6: Evaluate your jewelry correctly

Your jewelry line should be priced appropriately based on the quality and value of the materials and your design work. Many designers fall into the trap of competing with the very low prices of mass-produced jewelry from abroad. While you may be tempted to compete on price, we encourage you to fight desire and price for who you truly are. If not, designers are likely to get discouraged and find themselves in financial trouble

If you are worried about the excessive price or just not sure about the price of the jewelry, try this exercise. On paper or in a Google doc, write down all the value you add to your customers with your jewelry line. This list should include the cost of materials and tools, but also the experience you bring, the time you invest to create something unique, the attention to detail, and the heart you put into making each customer’s experience special. Are you surprised at how long your list is? It’s the value you value, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for what you’re worth.

Step 7: Create a jewelry marketing plan

Remember the old saying, “Build it and they will come”? Unfortunately, things don’t really work out these days when it comes to starting your own jewelry business. Just because you have a great product doesn’t mean your audience knows it or how to buy it! Your job is to make sure your dream audience is aware of your jewelry selection. Take the time to create a strategic marketing plan that you can consistently work on over the long term

Start by choosing a few marketing tactics and create a strategy for each in your marketing plan. Once you’ve mastered them, add one or two new strategies to expand your plan over time. For example, start with one social media channel such as Instagram. Once you are sure of your social media posts on that platform, you can add them on Facebook and so on.

Step 8: Decide How You Will Sell Your Jewelry

Now that you have a great jewelry line and a business plan, it’s time to present your design to the world. You need to determine which platform you are going to use to start selling jewelry.

Select web intialization

Since shipping jewelry is quite easy and affordable, developing a website and ecommerce platform is recommended even if you are planning to open a jewelry store. Affordable website hosting options like WordPress and Wix offer easy-to-use functionality and beautiful, customizable templates with the ability to integrate with an ecommerce platform.

Shopify and BigCommerce make it easy to set up professional-looking online stores without any web design experience. They also provide traffic and sales reports and built-in marketing features to help you promote your store.

Third-party sites like Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy are also great options because they have thousands of potential customers. Competition on these sites is fierce, but with strong marketing efforts, quality jewelry, and reliable customer service, you can build positive reviews and a good reputation for your brand.

Brick mortar

In addition to online sales, you should consider opening a physical jewelry store based on your location and target market. Choose a space that represents your style and brand and create an unforgettable customer experience.

It is important to choose a place that is easily accessible and has parking or lots of walking options. Keep in mind other factors, such as businesses and other community members that may attract a similar audience, and consider partnering with them. Rent should be factored into your start-up costs, and it will also determine the size and location of the space.

HONESTLY Trade shows can be a great way to meet new buyers and expand your market, but only if you’ve researched the stock market, buyers, market and ROI. They are very expensive and we recommend that you only invest in shows that will appeal to your DREAM buyer. In addition, think of trade shows as marketing costs. If you couldn’t sell the show, would it be financially devastating to your business?

Step 9: Build Your Own Online Store on an Ecommerce Site

We encourage our students to avoid third-party websites like Etsy and create their own brand instead. While Etsy may seem like an easy and quick solution, in the long run it can actually make it harder to build a strong brand and grow a fan base.

Conversely, a personal online presence gives your brand a sense of legitimacy. It also allows you to capture potential customers or leads and create a place that you have complete control over so people can learn more about you. Done strategically, this can lead to more sales over time than any third-party sales platform.

Even if you are not a programmer, you can build your own jewelry website. Today, there are website platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, and many others with easy-to-use website building features that make it easy to create your own website. If you need a helping hand to point you in the right direction, check out the Websites That Sell bundle, which puts our students on the fast track to a beautiful website that sells.

Step 10: Understand your company’s finances and cash flow

To estimate the costs you will incur, it is important to know how much money you will need to finance the business yourself or ask a lender.

What costs are involved in setting up your own jewelry store? This answer largely depends on the type of jewelry you sell, where you want to sell it, and your business model, so determine your startup costs first.

There are many factors that affect the potential cost, but here is a list of some things to consider:

• Brick and mortar shop
• Website / Ecommerce Platform
• Jewelry accessories/warehouse
• Jewelry making tools
• Licenses and Permits
• accountant
• Insurance
• Advertising and Marketing
• Get financing
• First, you need to set up a bank account for the business to keep your personal and business finances separate, especially if you plan to fund the business yourself. If you need a loan, a commercial loan of one.