Selling jewelry is one of the most profitable businesses one can engage in. People all over the world love jewelry. Starting a jewelry business can be both rewarding and intimidating. This is because the jewelry business usually has high competition. You can have success in the jewelry business if your jewelry is unique and attracts the right people. You must have something special for your customers. You have to work hard to get your jewelry noticed. Below are steps you can follow if you want to start a jewelry business.
Find your Niche
Once you have decided that you want to start a jewelry business, you need to determine which type of jewelry you will specialize in. Jewelry will fall under these 3 main categories.
- Fine Jewelry: these are jewelry made with precious and semi-precious metals and gems. These include but are not limited to diamonds, gold, sterling silver, gemstones, rubies, etc. Fine jewelry is usually expensive because the quality is high. It is considered a luxury. Fine jewelry is most of the time not mass-produced. Fine jewelry is worn during special occasions like weddings.
- Costume Jewelry: This jewelry is fashionable and is for everyday wear. The materials that make the costume jewelry include metal, copper, wood, plastic, beads, wire, and synthetic gems. They can be mass-produced and sold at a lower price.
- Handmade Jewelry: This jewelry is handmade. They can be made from recycled material, beads, resin, etc. They are usually made on an order basis and the prices vary depending on the materials used to make them and labor. Handmade jewelry strives to be unique.
Knowing your niche will help you to decide on which jewelry you will sell and which customers you will approach and the type of market you will have.
Create a business plan
A business plan is a document, which explains what your business is doing and where it is going. Your business plan should have the following:
- The vision and mission of your business. This is what you want to achieve with your business and what the business core values are
- Products and activities: your business plan should have the type of jewelry that you will sell. This can include costume jewelry, fine jewelry, or handmade jewelry. It should also list down the types of activities it will be doing like sales, jewelry repair, etc.
- Suppliers and resources: your business plan should list all the suppliers you will be working with
- Income sources: the business plan should include your income sources. This is how your business will bring in money for example through sales
- Marketing: the business plan should have the different ways in which you are planning to advertise the business to the outside world. Will you advertise through word of mouth or social media?
- The business team: this includes the names of everyone involved in the business. Their names and roles should be in the business plan.
Business Name
Choosing a name for your business is one of the fastest ways people will know about your business. Choose a name that is unique and people can remember easily. The name you choose should also be short. Take time to come up with a creative name. Once you have identified a name, run a quick search to see if the name is registered by other businesses. You can also check with the Patent and Trademark Office, your local government, or your lawyer. They can help you to conduct a name search.
Register your Business
Different countries have different rules and regulations concerning registering businesses. You should start by contacting a company formations agency. They should be able to guide you through the registration process and offer many added extras to get your company up and running.
While registering your business, clarify what records you will be required to keep going forward. Make sure you have also cleared and paid all your business taxes and any other charges that might be needed during the registration process. Also, have all the documents you will need during the registration process to avoid a lot of back and forth.
Get Business Insurance
Once you have registered your business, it is important to get insurance for it. Insurance will protect your business against any losses, damages, and claims that might be incurred during business operations. You do not have to get expensive insurance for the first time since your business might be still small. Once you start growing, you can opt to increase your insurance.
Get a Business account
Separating your personal and business funds is important. There is a need to have a personal business account, which will have all the business funds. Separation of personal and business finances is important because your finances will be safe from any business-related legal issues. It will also simplify your tax-filing processes. You can reach out to a institution of your choice and open a bank account. Once done, you can deposit business earnings there. You can also request a business credit card, which you can use for your business’s daily expenses.
Create a website for your jewelry business
Creating a website will help you to advertise your jewelry well. You can create a website on your own or ask someone to make you one. On the website, you can describe the jewelry you will be selling and post the prices there. You can put brief descriptions of the jewelry you are selling and how one can be able to make any purchase. The website should be user-friendly and easy to navigate.
Understand your potential customers
You should have a look at who your potential customers are. Research their age bracket, their location, their lifestyle, and the types of accessories they use and prefer. You can find this information by visiting other jewelry-owned sites and looking at their comments, likes, and dislikes. You may also want to run some social media polls, which will help you to understand what your target audience maybe.
Talking to friends and family can also help you know with your target market needs. If you have made and sold some jewelry, you can ask your customers to give you feedback on what they think about the pieces you sold to them.
Conducting competitive research on what other jewelry businesses are doing can also help you understand your potential customers
Have a jewelry brand and logo
Having a business logo and brand will make your business look more professional. You can either create one or ask someone to make you a business logo , there are many online websites who offer logo creating services . You can also have some branded merchandise like carrier bags or small after-sales gifts that you can share with your customers. This helps in advertising your jewelry business more.
Choose your prices
Finding the right pricing for your customers can be difficult, asking customers for feedback on whether they feel the pricing is reasonable or not for the pieces of jewelry. Another way to judge the pricing of the jewelry is to ask Family and friends, doing so will come in handy as family and friends are most of the time very honest when sharing with you what the market prices should be.
Do your research. Find out what other jewelry shops and companies are charging their customers. This will help you determine the price of your jewelry. You should also remember to put in factor how much you make or outsource your jewelry, the shipping prices, the marketing charges, and manufacturing charges before deciding on the final price.
Market your jewelry business
Once you have opened your jewelry business, it is up to you to keep it running. It is your responsibility to spread the word to as many people as you possibly can. How will you do this? Through marketing. Your marketing strategies and tactics will determine if you will get more customers and sales or not.
You need to strive to make your business known. You can market your jewelry business through
- Social Media: in this day and era, almost everyone is on social media. This should be your number 1 to go platform. From sites like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. Open social media accounts and advertise your business through them. You will be surprised by the response you might get if you do your advertisement well.
- Special events and expos: these are places where you will find many people in one place. Take advantage of this and advertise your jewelry during such expos and events. You might be what people were looking for.
- Paid Ads: you can set aside some business funds and get your business advertised through paid ads.
- Video content marketing: you can collaborate with content creators and ask them to share your jewelry online to their platforms. This will give your jewelry business visibility to more people.
- Email marketing: this is the use of email within your marketing efforts to promote your business products. Through email marketing, customers in your mailing list will be aware of new products, discounts, sales, and other services.
- Networking events: these are events where you can get the opportunity to share your business products with the attendees.
- SMS marketing: you can SMS all your subscribers and inform them of any new developments in your jewelry business
Choose a location
Will your jewelry business have a physical location? Do your research before deciding on it. You need to decide on where you will be selling your jewelry. Some people might be interested in your products but are available, not online. You can decide to have a physical location for them to access the products. You might:
- Open up a boutique at a place that will be convenient for most of your target customers
- Sell your jewelry at a farmers market
- Set up a booth at a local mall
- Sell your jewelry to your family and friends
Have your jewelry business account books
You need to know how your expenses are. Having accounts books and recording all the transactions that happen in your business will help you know the status of the business. You can hire an accountant to help you do the accounting bit of the business.
Take quality photos of your products
Nobody wants to struggle to view a picture of a product he or she might have seen and liked. If possible, you can hire a photographer to take quality pictures of your products with a good camera. The jewelry should be shot against clean and simple backgrounds. If a model is wearing the jewelry, make sure she is not overly dressed and the attention is given to the product. The model can also try giving the different styles the jewelry can be worn. Try and be consistent with your product photography and use similar backgrounds.
Find a reliable supplier
If you are not making the jewelry you are selling, make sure your supplier is reliable. The availability of products and quality will affect how your business will run. Create a good relationship with your supplier and communicate with him in case of anything.
Starting a jewelry business is a good idea since it is profitable. Do your due diligence before starting your business for this will help you establish your niche. Make sure you follow the entire legal requirements once you have started the business. Advertising is very important if your business is to grow. Take advantage of all the marketing options available in your area. Make sure the jewelry you sell to your customers is of good quality. Create separate accounts for your personal and business transactions.
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