How to Start a Jewelry Business

A jewelry business can be a great opportunity for a home-based entrepreneur or someone who would like to open their own shop. It is also a great part-time business.

Starting and running a profitable jewelry business is a lot more than knowing how to create a beautiful bracelet or ring. Being a successful jeweler involves organization, knowledge, patience, perseverance, people-skills, and a number of other traits. Many business owners fail, not because they weren’t skilled in working with their hands, but because they were not skilled in running a business.

As with any business, it is best to start small and work your way up. Don’t quit your day job while expecting a full-time income overnight. It’s OK to have big dreams, but make sure you plan carefully first. Make sure you can already make beautiful jewelry before you decide to start a jewelry business.

3 STEPS TO STARTING A JEWELRY BUSINESS

There are three basic steps to starting a jewelry business. First is planning. Second is registering with proper government institutions. Lastly, you will need to promote your business in some way to attract customers.

1. Plan Your Jewelry Business

Develop a Business Plan

Before diving in to any business, you should develop a business plan. If you want to start any type of jewelry business, you definitely need to start with a business plan! A business plan doesn’t have to be anything complicated, but is something that will help organize your goals and priorities and help you make wise decisions.

Planning properly will help you decide if you are going to specialize in a specific niche such as custom copper bracelets, or if you will offer a variety of types of jewelry or jewelry-related services such as repairs.

Set short and long-term goals – Plan your business before you spend a dime.
Decide what services you will offer – Decide the scope of your business.
Find a niche – What will be your specialty? What will set you apart from the competition?
Choose a business name – Put some thought into deciding a name for your jewelry business. Sea Glass Jewelry Business Name Ideas and Bead Business Name Ideas
Decide what you will charge for your products and services
Financing – You may need to get a business loan

Get Organized

As soon as you start your jewelry business, you will need some sort of organizational structure so you can keep your customer communications and business-related paperwork in order. You won’t necessarily need a full office when starting out. An office desk dedicated to your jewelry business paperwork would be helpful.

If you will be mainly an online business, you will need to keep your orders organized so they will be shipped to the proper customers.

Get a daily planner or use your smartphone to record orders, and other work-related appointments. An easy way to lose customers is to forget an order, or incorrectly design a custom piece. A schedule will help you plan your day, week, and month, so you can make best use of your time and your customer’s time.

Set up an office
E-mail
Business phone
Bill Forms

Equipment needed when starting a jewelry business

This is obvious, but you can’t start a jewelry business without jewelry-making tools and equipment. Equipment will probably account for the largest portion of your startup costs. Starting out, you don’t necessarily need all brand-new tools and equipment. At this point you may already have the basic tools you will need. If you still need to purchase a few more tools, you will save a lot of money in startup costs by purchasing used tools and equipment. Another tip is to only buy tools as jobs require them.

2. Register Your New Jewelry Business

Make it legal

Make sure you are following proper protocol in your region. This means having necessary insurance, following tax codes, getting proper licenses and permits, etc. This applies even to a part-time jewelry business. Some of these points won’t apply if you will be a sole-proprietor with no employees.

Some steps to starting your jewelry business legally:

Select your business structure (sole-proprietor, LLC, Corporation, etc.)
Register your business name
Register your business entity
Open a business bank account
Taxes- either get an accountant, or do research on filing yourself
Liability Insurance
Worker’s Compensation
City Licenses and Permits

Register A Jewelry Business In: The United States

3. Grow Your New Jewelry Business

In order to grow your jewelry business, you will need to work hard, have people skills, and be patient. You will also need to market your business effectively. Success and profit won’t come overnight.

Customers

Beside employees, dealing with customers can cause a great amount of stress. Learning how to communicate well with customers can help boost sales and increase word-of-mouth leads.

Learn how to sell your work to a potential customer
Price your products and services appropriately
Communicate regularly and clearly with the customer
Be fair and honest- take responsibility for any flaws or problems with your creations

Marketing

After you start your jewelry business, you need to market it. Some low-cost advertising to get started can include a basic 1 or 2 page website, setting up a free business listing for your woodworking business on Google and other online directories, social media accounts, business cards and a few yard signs.

How to Start a Jewelry Business in the United States

How To Start A Jewelry Business