Starting a jewelry business

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I’m sure there must be parents here with small business experience, so I thought I’d ask you all if you have any tips. </p>

<p>You see, I’ve decided to start a small jewelry business. I actually only started making jewelry recently, right after I was hired at a high end retail shop. One day I was looking at a necklace that cost about 300 dollars, and the thought just popped into my head: I bet I could make this. So I examined it closely, went to a bead shop later that night, and made one that looked very, very similar. I’ve been wearing it around since, and I get many compliments on it every time I go out.</p>

<p>Since then, I’ve been pretty obsessed with jewelry. I have spent all my free time reading about making jewelry. I saved up some money and got equipment (including safety equipment!) for metal smithing, which I’ve used to make some little charms to put on handmade charm bracelets. I think I have a bit of a natural talent for it.</p>

<p>As some of you know, I am a young mom – a college-aged person. I’m applying to schools right now! It would be wonderful to have extra income from a jewelry business, and I’d be willing to have it as my overriding activity aside from parenting and, next year, classes. </p>

<p>So, I just wondered if any of you have advice for getting started. Not with jewelry specifically (though if you have specific advice, that’s great!) but with small businesses in general, especially ones that involve selling. </p>

<p>Right now, these are the steps I have in mind:

  1. Paperwork (tax stuff, business license, etc.)
  2. Set up web site
  3. Contact and make appointments with boutique owners (Is that what I should do?)</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

2

<p>Couple of places that you might look to sell your jewelry-
Hair Salons
Holiday craft boutiques- in our city at Christmas time there is a art boutique that opens. Artists are selected to sell their wares and are required to work the shop.
Weekend arts and crafts fair
Home parties</p>

3

<p>You could also sell it on ■■■■■■■■ – a website for handmade items <a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■/[/url]”>http://www.■■■■■■■■/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>The etsy site is a goldmine of information about people just like you doing what they do. Some people are very successful but those people tend to do it full time. Like anything else, it all depends on how much time and dedication you are willing to put into it.</p>

5

<p>A college student I know sells tie dye elastic hair ties on etsy. I think she does pretty well.</p>

6

<p>Holiday boutiques are a great place to sell jewelry - especially if you have some lower cost stuff. I’m very much an amateur, but I’ve sold earrings and pins for years at Christmas time and done quite well. Check churches, synagogues and schools. Find out if there are any cooperative galleries that sell jewelry. Coop galleries usually look for new members a few times a year. They usually have a small yearly fee and lower commissions than regular art galleries. They may ask you to put in some time as well.</p>

<p>If you sell stuff on your own, you will probably have to get a vendor’s license so you can collect sales tax.</p>