How To Start A Successful Jewelry Business | The Ultimate Guide

how do you start a jewelry brand i've got the answer with nine tips to get you started today make sure that you stick around till the end because tip number eight is to think outside the box way to get your business off the ground right when startup brand finley jewelry launched they got 15 000 orders and they did it by giving away real gold and silver jewelry away for free and yet they still remain profitable so we'll talk all about that and how to market your business in tip number eight hi i'm your host michelle bally and in this video you're gonna learn how you can start your own jewelry business this video is perfect for people who have never started any type of business before and need needs step-by-step instructions so if you have a passion for jewelry and want to turn it into a profitable business then you're in the right place grab a drink get settled because this is going to be a complete guide we're going to go from top to bottom from finding your manufacturers to running the financial side of your business and then we'll look at effective marketing strategies i was one of the first hires at findlay so i'll uncover what the day-to-day is actually like working for a startup jewelry brand and what you can expect when you're starting your own jewelry company define who you are as a brand so you're going to want to define your brand story with the amount of choice that consumers have you can't really get away with not having a brand story your brand story will make you memorable and it will build an emotional connection with your audience so for example finley's brand story is centered around ethics and sustainability the jewelry industry can be pretty nasty where the environment and workers are exploited so finley's brand story hits three main points people product planet they're good to their people they sell superior products and they take care of the planet super simple ask yourself these questions to get you thinking about what your brand story could be is there something interesting about the way that i've started or will start my company maybe you have a story about how you realize that the world needed your products ask yourself do i stand for a specific cause a portion of your sales could go towards building schools for example and ask yourself can my products solve a problem maybe you make replica diamonds that stay sparkly and shiny forever ask yourself these questions and stick to one idea sticking to one main message will make it very easy for your consumer to understand your values decide what kind of jewelry you'll sell after figuring out your brand story you'll be able to narrow down what kind of jewelry you'll sell family for example focuses on delicate and dainty pieces so start by thinking about the design do you want to sell everyday pieces or cocktail party style pieces also consider the material do you want to sell gold plated jewelry or solid gold jewelry you can even play with other materials like pearls beads and silver which by the way are all on an upward trend during the time of filming this video you can also look at google trends to identify any upcoming styles that you might want to capitalize on to do this just visit trends.google.com and type in a keyword to see how many people are searching for it in different parts of the world define your target audience having a good understanding of your target audience and creating messaging around what they can relate to will exponentially increase the amount of sales that you make and how well your marketing campaigns perform so you don't want to miss this step with finley for example our audience values a good deal our emails that go out surrounding a sale make thousands of dollars whereas emails with product drops don't really perform as well step number one is profiling your target customers by looking them up on social media you can literally use instagram stories to find out what your target audience lives are like so look at what they do on a day-to-day basis what kind of homes they live in where they spend time and what music they listen to you want to be as in tune with your target audience as you are with your close friends that way when it comes time to make a decision like dropping a new collection or featuring an influencer you'll know exactly what they want to see you can also look on reddit to see what people are talking about as it relates to the jewelry industry just did a little peruse myself and saw that people are interested in matching jewelry sets jewelry cleaning tools and wedding rings reddit is a gold mine of honest information because people feel safe enough to express their true opinions and converse with each other so by doing those two things you'll have an idea of who your audience are as people and their feeling towards certain aspects of the jewelry industry create your visual identity unless you're a graphic designer i would recommend that you work with someone to do this step with you your visual identity includes your logo the fonts that you use and your brand colors check out fiverr freelancer upwork and behance these are platforms that are going to connect you to a graphic designer look at password and make sure that they understand your vibe ask them to create a style guide and a logo a style guide is a document that outlines what your brand looks like work with a designer by communicating what you're going for but in order to stay unique try not to rely too heavily on visual examples otherwise you might just end up looking like every other brand let's look at sourcing your products starting with the materials 101 so let's go through a crash course on materials so that you understand the price point and the quality of each solid gold or 24 karat gold is the most pure gold however you can't use this in jewelry because it's too soft and it'll get damaged so gold is mixed with other alloys like silver and copper the higher the carrot the higher amount of gold in the piece the most common types of carrots are 10 14 and 18 karat gold the more gold in your piece the richer the color and the more expensive gold vermeil is sterling silver that's been gold plated this is a good option for businesses that want to provide an affordable piece but keep in mind that these don't hold well in water and they can tarnish so if you're selling gourmet pieces make sure that you have a care section on your website to avoid any customer complaints and returns gold-filled jewelry contrary to the name is not actually filled with gold rather it's a thick layer of gold that's bonded to another metal like brass gold filled is more expensive than vermeil but if it's taken care of it can last as long as solid gold and won't tarnish wearers who have sensitive skin can wear it without worries of an allergic reaction silver and stainless steel are trending metals in street wear these metals are affordable for businesses that are just starting out and they're durable unlike other metals like copper brass and aluminum silver and stainless steel will never turn your finger green find a manufacturer or a supplier when you're finding a manufacturer or supplier there's three ways that you can go about this you can go directly to the manufacturer you can buy wholesale or you can work with a local artisan to work directly with a manufacturer check out alibaba dhgate and aliexpress so right now we're on alibaba.com type in a keyword i'm going to pretend i'm selling initial necklaces now when we find something that catches our eye we're going to want to do some vetting check out reviews and actually read them take a look at the prices and the minimum order quantity i recommend starting with no more than 10 pieces of each style you want to test the market before tying up all your funds and inventory the price of shipping will change depending on what your order is so take this figure with a grain of salt look at the response rate there's nothing more frustrating than not being able to get in touch with your manufacturer if you have to change an order or if you have questions about a product also look at their on-time delivery rate there's nothing more frustrating to the customer than not getting their order on time take note of the badges you want to make sure that your suppliers have badges and good ones click on the icons to find out more about what they mean also take a peek at their return policy the next step is to send them a message and let them know that you're interested take this opportunity to ask as many questions as you need ask them about the factory working conditions confirm lead times and basically everything you need to know that you're making a good decision take this time to assess how responsive and attentive they are if they're taking three days to respond to you it might not be the best fit as their service will probably reflect this in the future now is also the time where you would want to negotiate minimum order quantities and price per unit so request a sample first and then wear it for two months to test the quality if it passes the test then you can go ahead and place your full order hot tip right here indonesia is known for having really good quality jewelry manufacturers at affordable prices so try filtering the location when you're doing your search finding a wholesaler outside of alibaba use google to find wholesalers type in keywords like jewelry wholesale united states to start doing your research this process will require a lot of digging and prepare for it to be time consuming however this step is crucial because if you don't do your research now you can lose a lot of time and money having chosen the wrong manufacturer be responsible by being informed about the ethics of your supply chain one of the most important things for finley is that their products are made ethically and sustainably so our manufacturers carry prestigious and coveted certificates like the sa-8000 and we ensure livable wages and best environmental practices ask your suppliers what certifications they have before working with them finding a jeweler you can find an independent jeweler through instagram google or upwork the advantage of going with an independent jeweler is that the communication is tighter you're supporting local independent talent and you can customize your pieces however when you start to scale up it makes more financial sense to go with manufacturer artisans can be pretty pricey so you'll have to position yourself as a luxury brand to be able to maintain a sustainable profit margin in summary the top things to look for when choosing a jeweler or a manufacturer are ethics and sustainability lead times shipping costs minimum order quantities cost per unit and quality and design of the jewelry as well as ease of communication keep in mind that a lot of businesses will go through a couple of manufacturers before finding the right one so if you're dissatisfied with lead times or the communication there's really nothing wrong with pivoting designing custom jewelry depending on your manufacturer's capabilities and the type of relationship that you have with them you might be able to design some custom pieces so i'm definitely not a jewelry designer but even i was able to communicate my design ideas and bring them to life for finley i went into adobe illustrator and i did outline drawings to scale of the designs that i wanted to launch on the spec sheets i was very very clear about the measurements and the materials and i also showed the pieces at four different angles for clarity i wanted to be able to provide enough information so that the manufacturer wouldn't have to come back with any questions that's the main goal this was a totally mickey mouse makeshift solution but the designs turned out super well so what i'm trying to say is as long as you can clearly communicate your ideas you can design custom pieces and if you're not well versed in illustrator sketch your designs out and use reference photos set up your online presence sign up for a domain name and a professional email using godaddy you can get started for as little as three dollars a month for the first year also be sure to clean your social media handles if your handle's already taken you can reach out and ask if they'll sell it to you however the perfect social media handle and url is not going to make or break your business so don't get too caught up on this now it's time to make your website start by choosing a theme go to themes.shopify.com and search by industry there's literally a section just for jewelry so you can find one that matches your brand look and feel add your products include product shots on a white background and shots of a model wearing your jewelry as long as the photos are well lit and visually pleasing you don't really need to drop a ton of money on a photo shoot if your jewelry comes in different variations like silver gold and rose gold you'll want to make sure that you have pictures for all the variations having clear photos that showcase the product at different angles will help you make the sale in-depth product descriptions also encourage shoppers to make a purchase your website navigation should include a new shop about collections and contact section you'll also want to make sure that you have clear shipping and return policy page linked in the footer if you're launching with a ton of different styles include a search box with an auto complete function that avoids frustration and your customers leaving your site your homepage should communicate a clear value proposition so finley for example uses a section that speaks to its ethics and its sustainability your homepage should also feature collections new items and best sellers have buttons strategically placed for people to browse and add to their cart accept payments easily with shopify with shopify payments you're automatically set up to accept all major payment methods as soon as you create your store your card rate is based on your shopify plan and you can change plans whenever you want organizing your financials one of the first things you want to do is register your business with the government the advantages of this include limiting your personal liability and setting yourself up to potentially pay less tax just google register business and the appropriate website will appear to register within your country next you want to open up a separate bank account for your business this will organize you and separate your personal finances from your business finances when you're starting out make sure that you're choosing an account with the lowest fees keep track of your business expenses by using a separate credit card this will make your life and your account's life a lot easier during tax time speaking of which working with an accountant that specializes in small businesses will help save you time and money in the long run and investing in an online software like quickbooks will make your life a lot easier when it comes to bookkeeping packaging and shipping when choosing your packaging consider how the consumer will open the box and what that experience will be like this is especially important with mid to high-end jewelry the perception of its value can be taken down 10 notches with an inexpensive looking packaging with finley we only have one type of packaging we have one box with a foam insert that has slits to accommodate both earrings necklaces and bracelets the more simplified and less steps your packaging has the easier it will be to fulfill a large amount of orders you could cut down on costs by choosing boxes that can accommodate several items so for example we put earrings and necklaces in one box and the presentation looks beautiful multi-functional packaging also reduces your environmental footprint here are a few places to get customized jewelry packaging noblepak.com eco enclosed alibaba zacka canada etsy and amazon the mailer which is the outer packaging can be bought at uline for example and it actually has some nice options grounded packaging is an eco-friendly alternative and it's slightly more expensive but i do recommend choosing a mailer that can accommodate up to three boxes so that you don't have to send separate packages if a customer makes a bigger order however if your mailer is oversized then you're gonna have to consistently pay for a larger mailer on smaller orders so strike a balance here a focus on reducing packaging waste is especially rampant in the fashion industry so keep in mind that customers will appreciate a less is more experience that still feels chic and polished avoid styrofoam peanuts and include biodegradable and recyclable packaging monitor your packaging supply if you get an influx of orders with not enough boxes you'll have to wait until your boxes get customized and shipped over to you which can upset customers now let's talk shipping you can charge the customer for full shipping you can split the amount of shipping by lowering your product prices or you can offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount setting up shipping in your shopify store is super easy just click the settings button in the bottom left-hand corner of your dashboard click shipping and start by setting up your packages area put the weight and the dimensions of your shipment without the weight of the products because the weight of the products are calculated on the product level then you choose your carrier options you also have the option to set a default package that's used to calculate the shipping rates let's go up into shipping profiles to manage rates your products will already be there and will be updated as new ones get added set the details of where you're shipping from to get accurate rates and then you can set types of services available and customize the costs here's a lesser-known trick i would recommend checking out e-shipper e-shipper is a shipping brokerage that is free for you to use and for your customer to use they get inexpensive shipping rates in bulk and then they do mark it up slightly to turn a profit but it's still significantly less than the rates that are available to the public build your team if you're just starting your business you'll likely be a solopreneur or have a partner but as you grow you're going to want to be thoughtful and be careful about who you let into your energy field as a business steve jobs said that the number one rule of building your team is to choose people that are self-managing they understand the problem and they go figure out how to solve it look for this quality when choosing your first few hires and your freelancers as you start to grow your core group will include a manufacturer or a jeweler an accountant a graphic designer or web designer a content creator like a photographer and a videographer a marketer a salesperson and a lawyer the perfect mix of character types that have been proven to make a business explode are as follows so in your c-suite you're going to want to have one leader one culture tapping expert an industry nerd a creative and an analyst market your business once you're all set up and running most of your energy should be dedicated to marketing your business in your first few years of operating so let me walk you through what my day today was like when working with findlay the main thought that i kept in the back of my mind is how can i make finley money with that i focused on marketing tactics that i saw were working for us this included influencer partnerships email marketing and ads and i would recommend you do the same only really focus on one two three tactics instead of spreading yourself thin we grew our email list mainly by running contests we partnered with like-minded brands such as encircled and codily and we were able to tap into each other's email lists from there we would continue to nurture those new relationships through email which got us new customers consistently if you're curious on how you can build your email list make sure to check out this video right here for step-by-step instructions we also reached out to local influencers and offered them products in exchange for a post to their feed we saw 3x return on investment so that was a tactic that we continue to utilize when choosing which influencers to work with check out a tool called dovetail it's an extremely robust platform to help you find influencers based on specific keywords locations niches and audiences you can even send influencers messages straight from dovetail which will save you a ton of time i have no personal affiliation with dovetail but i just wanted to share this tool because you can find the exact type of influencer that you're looking for really quickly instead of scouring through instagram that relationship can be as simple as just reaching out introducing yourself sending the product and monitoring what kind of return on marketing investment each influencer has that you're working with now let's talk about ads finley has been fortunate enough to work with an ad agency to run facebook ads and we see a significant increase in sales the ad agency that we worked with is called acquire agency and they are phenomenal however if you're just starting out work with a freelancer who has a proven track record of high return on marketing investment freelancers will be more cost effective taking less commission and charging lower hourly rates if budget doesn't permit you to hire a specialist though we do have an entire video dedicated on how you can get started with facebook ads now for the juicy part here's a little think outside the box marketing tactic that you could apply to your business so as finley launched their company they launched a genius marketing campaign that gained them fifteen thousand orders here's how it worked for the price of shipping which costed around eighteen dollars fintly send you a choice of ring earring or choker for free and you could also purchase all these three pieces for forty dollars most people opted in for the 40 option which made this campaign a success it was a great way to introduce a new brand to the market and it got press coverage from publications like glamour magazine launching a shocking campaign that accommodates an eye-catching headline is a great way to get written up and to expand your reach pricing your products once you have a good idea of how much money you're spending in marketing how much each individual product costs how much money you're spending on hiring out talent and the cost of operating your business you'll have a better idea of how much you should price your products to still remain profitable we're going to include a spreadsheet in the description box below to help you calculate this holistically here's a word of advice so in my experience i've noticed that pricing jewelry higher than you would normally think actually pays off in the end it's funny how the mind works people actually want to pay more for jewelry because they feel like they're getting something of value so you might start to raise eyebrows when you're only charging twenty dollars for a gold plated necklace even if that does still leave room for healthy profit margins your efforts to run your business become more scalable with higher pricing because you'll be hustling equally as hard to make the same amount of sales and when you price your products higher you'll be gaining more capital to grow your business so if you've made it till the end of this video that's gotta mean that you're super invested in starting your own brand and at shopify we love to empower dedicated entrepreneurs this should give you a solid foundation to get your jewelry business started if you're planning on starting a business or you already have one rolling let me know in the comments down below what your business name is and you can also feel free to drop a link to your website so that we can all check it out lemon shopify is a channel dedicated to small business owners with big plans so make sure that you're hitting that subscribe button thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you in the next one [Music]

Channel: Learn With Shopify

Views: 332,184

Keywords: learn with shopify, ecommerce tutorials, shopify store, ecommerce business, online business, how to make money on shopify, jewelry business, how to start a jewelry business, how to make jewelry, jewelry brand, custom jewelry, how to start a jewelry brand, how to find jewelry manufacturers, small jewelry business, make jewelry, how to become a jeweler, how to start a jewelry line, where to find wholesale vendors, how to design custom jewelry, shopify jewelry boutique

Id: TUn6no7f290

Length: 20min 18sec (1218 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 07 2020