The basic needs of a small jewelry business owner

A Guide To Successfully Start Your Own Retail Jewelry Business

Starting your own jewelry business can require a bit more startup money than a lot of business plans, simply because of the financial scale of the jewelry business.

This is true whether you want to design and sell your own handcrafted, garage-made jewelry for your jewelry business, or if you want to set up a jewelry business retail store of your own.

If your tastes tend towards diamonds, gold and silver, expect to take out a sizable loan or get some serious investors involved in your jewelry business. On the other hand, pendants, stainless steel, beads, etcetera, can be astronomically cheap.

Do It Yourself!
In creating your own jewelry to stock your jewelry business inventory, you'll need to outfit yourself with a few tools.

You may want to convert part of your garage or a part of your home into your personal shop. Depending on what kind of jewelry you intend to create, you'll need different things, but what you'll almost definitely need will be...

Soldering Iron
One of the most important tools in any jeweler’s kit. Soldering irons are not difficult to use, but they can be dangerous if you’re careless. Get plenty of practice and read some online tutorials.

A Variety of Metals, Beads or Stones
These can include…

• Copper wire
• Diamonds
• Polymer beads
• Silver
• Stainless Steel
  

You can keep these in a fishing tackle box or other drawers for easy access. Keep a wide variety and don’t be afraid to experiment. You can always remove fancy stones and reset them in new jewelry if you don’t like the results.

If you’re going to set up your own shop, the above tools will come in handy as well. Even if you don’t intend to create jewelry from scratch, you'll probably be asked to do repairs.

What you'll need if you want to set up your own jewelry business in the form of a retail store is, of course, a jewelry business shop in a part of town that gets a lot of foot traffic (see if any shopping malls have an open spot).

You'll also need a good variety to start out with. If you don’t want to pay a fortune to distribute items from deBeers and the like, you can take a look on Craigslist.org or eBay.com for affordable, used jewelry, as long as your jewelry business patrons know that their items have been gently used.

Presentation!
Something you'll need for your jewelry business shop is good atmosphere. If your jewelry business is into selling upscale, high end jewelry, a somewhat classy presentation for your jewelry business is in order.
Make sure your shop is well lit and clean, keep display cases well polished to allow your wares to sparkle.

Keep your Shop Safe
Security is also an issue. Jewelry business owners are at relatively high risk with regards to theft and robbery. Keep display cases locked and make sure your employees know to do the same. Invest in a security system and insure all of your merchandise.

Make sure your employees understand that their job is to sell the jewelry, not to defend it with their lives.

It’s cliche, but it’s cliche because it’s repeated often, and it’s repeated often because it needs to be repeated often; don’t be a hero. There’s never a reason to put yourself, your jewelry business employees, or your customers at risk.

If you’re looking to start a high end jewelry business, please, please, please make absolutely certain that you are only dealing with conflict-free diamond sellers. In countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia, atrocities are being committed to obtain diamonds to fund war and terrorism.

Even through the Kimberley Process, so called blood diamonds are being sold on the international market as clean diamonds. Make certain your diamonds are certified and can be traced back to their source. Jewelry business isn't worth compromising one’s ethics.

Online Jewelry Opportunities
Setting up an actual jewelry business shop in town may not be necessary. Not only can you purchase from Craigslist.org or eBay.com, you can also make a good living by keeping your jewelry business entirely online, by selling through those sites, or setting up your own website.

A Final Note about Jewelry
The most important thing you need to start your own jewelry business is this: A sincere love for the art and craft of jeweling.

jewelry business Resources

See Also: How to Start A Business : Business Idea of The Day

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