requirements to start a jewelry business

1. PREREQUISITES FORAJEWELRY
BUSINESS
By LIZA ORMOL

2. 2

3. Contents
• Write a mission statement
• Write a business name
• Register for permit
• Organize financials
• Do a cash flow forecast
• Take care of the legal stuff
• Set up a bookkeeping system
• Find a place to work
• Get a hallmark
• Design your first collection
• Do your market research
• Price your work
• sell
3

4. 4

5. Write a mission statement
• It is a way of agreeing, with yourself, what the whole point of
your business is
• It defines what is important to you, what is essential, and what
you are willing to compromise.
• What are your priorities?
• Design?
• Environmental sustainability?
• Using locally sourced materials?
• Profit?
• Decide what is important to you and sum it up in one or two
sentence
5

6. Write a business name
• Jewelry business names reflect the store’s offering and brand
• So consider the desired inventory and indented consumer
demographic
• Signaling words such as “affordable” or “haute” help customers
determine price range
• Jewelry entrepreneurs are encouraged to select names broad
enough to grow along with the business
• It’s possible to register and trademark the name to avoid
possible future confusion with other jewelry businesses
6

7. Register for permits
• Contact local city hall representative to determine which
business licenses and permits are required to start your own
jewelry business
• Resale tax numbers, required by some states for those selling
retail jewelry, can be obtained by contacting your department of
revenue sales tax division
• This number also permits jewelry businesses to buy jewelry at
wholesale prices without paying sales tax
7

8. Organize financials
• Open a separate bank account for your jewelry business
• And consider hiring an accountant or tax advisor for
establishing your company’s financial, tax reporting and
accounting practices
• This may be a good time to determine whether the business will
be a sole proprietorship, limited liability company or other
organization structure
8

9. Do a cash flow forecast
• A cash flow forecast is like a bank statement, but in reverse: it
shows the future of your bank account instead of the past
• You may have heard that most small businesses close because
they run out of cash . You may wonder how a business – which
is successful in every other way – can run out of money.
• Imagine you exhibit at a fair which is successful beyond your
wildest dreams. You take several orders for gold and platinum
jewelry. The only problem is, you haven’t got enough money to
buy that materials
9

10. Cont’d…
• A cash flow forecast will highlight these danger areas, which
will give you a chance to plan how to best deal with them
• Going through this exercise to prove that your business can
work on paper. If it works on paper, it stands a good chance of
working in real life.
10

11. Take care of the legal stuff
• By legal stuff it means:
• Deciding on a legal structure (e.g. sole trader, limited company,
etc.)
• Choosing a trading name ( which may simply be your own
name)
• Informing the government of your new businesses
• Finding out about your tax obligations
• Opening a business bank account ( or at least a separate current
account )
• Most of these conundrums can be solved by your accountant
11

12. Set up a bookkeeping system
• At its most basic, a bookkeeping system simply needs to
comprise a list of all your money coming in, and all your money
going out
• You should retain evidence of all these incoming and outgoing
in the form of receipts or invoices
• If your business is very small you may not need to divide your
expenses into different categories but it is normal to do so
• And you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself
12

13. Find a place to work
• It goes without saying that you need somewhere to work, but
you might be surprised just how much space can quickly be
taken up not only by your workbench and surrounding filth
• But with stacks of paperwork, supplier, catalogues, random
tools that you picked up from a car boot sale thinking they
might come in handy someday
• Don’t limit your potential for growth by setting for a space in
which you can barely swing a pendant drill
• Create a space you actually want to spend time in.
13

14. Get a hallmark
• If you are working in precious metals, and you plan on selling
your work in other countries
• You will need to have your work hallmarked (unless it weight
less than the current threshold for each metal)
• To sell work without hallmark is illegal, so don’t even
consider it
• Contact the assay office nearest you for details on how to
register your own mark
14

15. Design your first collection
• Note the word ‘collection’. Before you go out and start selling
your jewelry, you need to have a cohesive body of work – and it
may be as little as six or so designs – which form a collection
• Many people just starting out find this troubling
• They think they stand a better chance if they offer more variety.
However, look at successful jewelers whose work you admire.
• In here central of attraction is not just global brands, but young
designer/makers and young brands matters
• They each have their own inimitable style. This is what gets
them noticed.
15

16. Do your market research
• Some might do this before designing their first collection
• It depends whether your work is design-led or market
• A design-led business will aim to create a new aesthetic, not
follow an existing one, whereas a market-led venture may seek
emulate current design trends, or to fill a gab in the market
• Either way, you need to know where your products sit in the
grand scheme of things.
16

17. Price your work
• This is the bit really gets people. Pricing your work is
probably the most nerve-wracking part of being a jewelry
designer.
• Some people first decide how much they want their work to
cost, and then produce designs to suit. Most do it other way
around, designing as they please and then tackling pricing
afterwards
17

18. Cont’d…
• Pricing isn’t easy, and there are semi-scientific models you can
follow, but you should also apply some common sense. Look
at similar work and see how much it’s going for.
• How do you want to be perceived in relation to other makers or
brands-reassuringly expensive or a downright bargain
• Take utmost care with your pricing. Produce wholesales and
retail price lists(unless you plan on only selling wholesale or
only retail)
18

19. Sell
• There are many ways to sell
• Wholesale or retail. Multiple or one-offs. Cash or credit. Most
designer/makers start by exhibiting at small exhibitions, fairs, or
even street markets
• Some are fortune enough to have circle of jewelry-buying
friends and family, who then spread their name by word-of-
mouth. Some operate solely online
• If a particular venue or shop doesn’t work for you, don’t
despair – you probably just haven’t found your niche yet.
19

20. Cont’d…
• Listen to feedback. Keep revisiting your designs, your mission
statement, and your pricing.
• A bit of tweaking and you will be selling in no time
• And a word of warning: it’s not just beginning that’s messy.
It’s messy pretty much all the time
• But then, if you wanted clean fingernails, you probably
wouldn’t be a jewelry designer
20

21. References
• http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/ten-steps-to-setting-up-a-
jewellery-business-jeweller-angie-boothroyd/
• http://smallbusiness.chron.com/start-own-jewelry-business-
4801.html
21

22. 22

23. 23