How to turn a jewellery making hobby into a jewellery business
If you’ve been making jewellery for a while and would like to turn your hobby and passion for jewellery making into a proper business but don’t know where to start, then read below for our top tips on how to go about making that transition.
Learn how to price your jewellery properly
Before you begin selling we highly recommend that you learn how to properly price your jewellery to make sure that you’re not making a loss, and you are making profit! Knowing how to do this is the difference between simply paying for a hobby and running a successful business.
It will involve being thorough and precise in working out how much your materials cost, and how much you will charge for your time (labour) to make each piece. Once you know this you can then calculate your retail or selling price using a simple formula, and most importantly work out what your profit margin is so that you can grow your business.
You can learn this simple formula and download the free pricing spreadsheet template in my free Pricing Masterclass, just follow this link www.jewellersacademy.com/pricing-resources
Choose a name for your business, design a simple logo and some packaging
If you want to attract buyers and sell your work then you’ll need a simple brand identity to get up and running.
Firstly, spend a little bit of time coming up with a name for your business, this may be your own name or you may want to create a business name that reflects what you do. Don’t worry too much about getting it 100% right first time, you can always evolve your brand name if you decide later down the line it isn’t serving you.
Once you’ve decided on your name, create a simple logo which you can use to help you start building your public profile as a professional jeweller. Canva is a great place to start and has lots of free templates to help you create a logo to get you started. Again, you can always evolve and refine this at a later date.
Next, design some simple packaging for packing up your orders. This doesn’t need to be heavily branded or expensive to put together. A branded sticker with your logo is all your need to make your packaging personal to you in these early stages.
put together a small collection of about 8 - 12 pieces
If you’ve been making jewellery as a hobby for a while, it’s likely that you will have been experimenting with a variety of different designs and styles which may or may not work together. Or, if you’ve just started, you may not have many finished pieces at all.
Therefore, either way, we’d recommend putting together a small cohesive collection of about 8-12 pieces that really showcase your unique style as a jeweller. The collection should all be of a similar style and make sense together. Your collection should include a variety of different pieces such as necklaces, pendants, earrings, rings and bracelets.
Don’t worry if you’re still not absolutely sure what your signature style is at this stage. Just choose the pieces that you feel really reflect the direction in which you are going at this stage. As you grow and develop as a jeweller, your style will also evolve over time.
Set up an online profile to promote and sell your jewellery
Next, we’d recommend choosing one online platform to start sharing and selling your jewellery. This doesn’t mean building your own website just yet, but it is a good idea to set up an online profile whether that’s a Facebook page, Instagram or Tiktok profile, or a seller’s profile on Etsy or Folksy (or another seller’s platform). This will give you a place to showcase your jewellery and enable potential customers to contact you about making a purchase from you.
Start by selling to friends and family
The first 100 sales in any jeweller's business will often come from their network. If you sell to 10 friends and family members and they each tell 10 interested friends, that’s potentially 110 sales. And once you have these sales you will be able to get reviews and momentum behind your business. So, don't start out trying to attract strangers to your work, start with people who know you!
Finally…
If you’d like to learn more about starting and growing a jewellery business then take a look below at Jessica’s brand new book….
Start & grow a profitable jewellery business
Jessica’s book ‘Start and Grow a Profitable Jewellery Business’ is out now and has topped the bestseller lists.
This book has been called a 'mini-business course' by one reviewer. If you’re a jeweller ready to make a great, sustainable living from your craft, then this book was made for you. It is full of invaluable information, inspiring case studies from jewellers, photos and illustrations. It's not a traditional business book - it's way cooler!