Funding and grants for jewellers
Blog
Many jewellers start their business as a side hustle - a part-time endeavour done in free time while juggling the rest of life. Sound familiar? Often, however, there comes a time when we want to grow our business into something bigger and what we need is a little bit of funding - to purchase some supplies, to make a big wholesale or craft show order, to buy that equipment or training that will make all the difference. But we don’t all have the money to do that. So, where can you go to get help? The answer is that there are options out there.
Grants and funds
Jewel Fund - Worldwide Deadline 30th June 2018
We’re really proud of JewelFund so allow us to tell you about it! This is a fund started and paid for by our founder Jessica Rose. There are two £1000 grants available this year for worldwide applications. The money can be used for anything that will help your business to grow. This may be new tools and machinery, training or mentoring, stock to fulfil a wholesale order, workspace, rebranding to reach a new audience or a new website - anything that will make a substantial difference to your work.
These are grants not loans, they do not have to be paid back. Any jeweller can apply who is over the age of 16. Pre-business jewellers may apply but will need to submit a business plan alongside their application. The deadline for applications for 2018 is 30th June 2018 but if you are reading this blog post after this date don’t worry, we plan to make this an annual award so there’s always next year!
To find out more about the fund and to apply visit www.jewellersacademy.com/jewelfund
Where to find grants for jewellers
There are a number of small awards and grants you can apply for. The best place to search for these is on Benchpeg, a weekly jewellery newsletter for the trade. They have a funding section and collate opportunities specific to jewellers so this is a great place to look. https://benchpeg.com/opportunities/category/funding
You can also check out the Arts Council’s Funding Finder https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/funding-finder
Crowdfunding
Another option to look into is crowdfunding. This is where you raise money from a large number of people who all contribute a small amount. To do this you usually create a pitch letting people know what you will use the money for. You then provide incentives e.g. if you contribute £50 I will send you a necklace.
There are a number of companies you can use to set up a crowdfunding campaign including kickstarter, patreon, gofundme and crowdfunder. These companies manage the process and take a percentage of the funds that you receive.
If you are interested in looking into this more you can find some inspiration for these examples of jewellers using crowdfunding on kickstarter here
https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/fashion/jewelry
Competitions
Do also keep an eye open for competitions. Some of the prizes for these may not be monetary, you may receive equipment or supplies. However, competitions can be a great way to get seen and to get press for your jewellery brand.
Some examples to check out are
High Street by Design by F Hinds The winners work is made and sold in store
Goldsmiths Craft and Design Council Awards
Retail Jeweller UK Jewellery Awards
Where do I find out about competitions?
You can keep an eye on the competitions page on Benchpeg as they update there regularly. You can also hear about them in jewellers Facebook groups and we will update the Jewellers Academy Facebook group whenever we hear of competitions (do join us there if you haven’t already).
Startup loans
If you need a quick injection of capital for a big purchase then you could think about a start up loan. These loans are available at a 6% interest rate and do need to be paid back so consider carefully if it is the right option for you.
Click here for more information https://www.startuploans.co.uk/
We hope this has been a helpful roundup of funding opportunities. We know this has mostly been a UK focussed blog post although we really hope everyone reading this will apply for JewelFund. We’d love to hear your recommendations and funding sources in your country too (and any UK opportunities we’ve missed) so please do share them in the comments below.
It is great to hear about and share any press that you get for your business too, so do tell us about it in the Facebook group or tag us on Instagram @jewellersacademy