Starting a Jewelry Business
Starting a jewelry business can be a tremendously rewarding, not to mention fun and creative, way to go into business for yourself. Whether your goal is to turn your home jewelry business into a full time profit making enterprise, or you just want a small side business where you have a creative outlet to offer your custom creations to family, friends and colleagues, there are some basic steps that can help you progress more quickly than you might anticipate from idea to reality. Learn from experts how to start a jewelry business step by step, and decide whether going into the jewelry business is a dream you want to pursue.
Create Your Plan of Action
Sometimes called a business plan, this document does not have to be complex in your beginning stages. Creating a plan of action basically ensures that you have at least enough startup capital to purchase supplies and launch your business, activities which can include setting up your home office, purchasing jewelry making and mailing materials, creating and ordering business cards, registering and designing your website, and registering your business as a legal entity. It doesn't take a large initial budget to get into the jewelry making business, but needless stress can be avoided by timing your entry carefully to ensure you have adequate capital to plan for future success.
Create Your Name and Register Your Business
The next step is to select a business name and register your business with your state of residence. You will also need to obtain a business permit or license and resale tax number. If you plan to sell your jewelry in a state other than your state of residence, you may also need to register for a permit in those states. Finally, open a checking account that you can use to accept payments and pay bills for your business. You can find out more information about the legal requirements for starting a small business at the IRS website for small for profit businesses.
Get Started
There are many ways to get started marketing your jewelry. Today with the popularity of the internet, many websites exist where you can create your own personalized online store to sell your merchandise without having to create a separate website from scratch. You can investigate online ordering stores for lower cost jewelry making materials to keep costs down. Consider donating a portion of all proceeds to a charity of your choice, or to contributing some portion of your jewelry to a local cause, to quickly build positive public relations and media attention for your new business. Carry around business cards with small earring samples affixed to the back of them, and hand them out to everyone you meet. Offer to host jewelry making classes or fundraising parties for local women's groups or women's crisis centers to connect and give back to your community. Draft up press releases about your activities and send them out to the local papers to try to obtain additional media coverage. Finally, keep making jewelry and continually research new avenues for marketing and distribution to keep the momentum going.
