My Path to a
Jewellery Business

© by Liz Caplen; all rights reserved

"Juliet" pendant by Liz Caplen

There are many articles on the web about setting up an online business, all of which are very helpful.

I think I have read most of them - partly because I wanted to see how other people manage it, and partly because I am inherently nosey.

I am always interested in where people get their finance from and how they manage to get going.

Like most people, I started making jewellery as a hobby mainly to alleviate the boredom of working in an office, particularly as I had just had the horrible realisation that it was going to be the next 40 years of my life.

I really only went to classes as I thought it would be a nice thing to be able to make my own jewellery, especially as I favour large chunky pieces.

The idea of playing with a soldering iron also strongly appealed. I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did, nor that other people would start commenting on my jewellery and start offering me actual money for it! I started to think that this was a good deal - maybe I could do something I actually enjoyed and get paid for it.

However, it's never that straightforward.

As I worked in advertising and my boyfriend builds websites, the initial part was easy and free. For many people, a huge amount of money and time goes into building a website, so I was very lucky.

However, that was pretty much where my luck ended. As I set up my Penny Serenade site shortly before Christmas I was quite busy - busier than I had realised I would be, and I was still working full time.

It became a nightmare. I often worked long hours in my day job, and then had to come home and start again working on my jewellery. My other half helped, but it was too much - we were working most of the night just to get things finished.

Then of course January hits, and jewelry sales go dead for a couple of months.

That is the trouble with a lot of small jewellery businesses. January is a long quiet month, and there is very little in the way of sales. I think before you embark on a jewellery business - or any new business - it pays to know your peaks and troughs. January is a deep dark trough, and still is even after a few years of trading.

After about 18 months of struggling to do both a full-time job and a run Penny Serenade, I decided to go part-time at work. I figured I could make my salary up most months selling jewellery.

That sort of worked. Some months were brilliant, others dire. I never had really bothered with the business side of things when I had a full time job - a bit of extra money here and there was nice, but when you have bills to pay you have to start being more objective.

I found that some of things I made because I liked them didn't necessarily equate to sales. As I mentioned, I like big chunky jewellery, most of which is quite impractical.

"Ripple" bracelet by Liz Caplen

I had to start being ruthless about what I was making, and also be more commercially minded - both of which were hard.

I also decided to stop taking random jewellery commissions. It's very easy when you have a business to say yes to things you don't really want to do, because you need the money. Although it seems like a good idea at the time it often turns out to be a nightmare. I have made some truly awful tat that has taken me longer than I thought and has been a real pain.

Also never ever do repairs on stuff that isn't your own. I can't begin to describe the horrors of trying to fix something that you haven't made yourself. You will often find that people have bought something on holiday and will swear blind it is silver only for you to discover that it isn't - it's some kind of silver-plated tin and if you try to do anything with it will crumble to dust.

I have also found that people are reluctant to pay for repairs, as they clearly think they have already paid for the jewellery so why should it be costly to fix? The truth is that when you haven't made the jewellery yourself and if is not obvious how it was constructed, it can take hours to fix. It is almost never worth your while to do it, as people don't want to pay an hourly rate.

It is also very hard to work out what your hourly rate should be and what you should be charging. I was awful at this and still am. It is worth looking round at what other people are charging for similar items, and price up your own work accordingly. At the beginning try not to be too greedy, but make sure you're not selling yourself short either. It takes time to get it right, and as you get more established you can charge more.

The other thing I had trouble with is finding a niche. When you go to college to learn jewellery making, you do a little bit of everything in order to pass the course. Some things you find come naturally to you, and some things are a little bit harder. Enamelling is a good example. Some people at college loved it and rushed out and bought a kiln. I found it quite laborious and fiddly so I knew that wasn't an area I would be concentrating on.

When I first set up my jewellery business, I used to make a bit of everything. But that's no good, as it means you will need lots of equipment and supplies, which will be costly. Wire wrapping was definitely my favourite discipline and I loved the results, so that was the one I stuck with. Once you have found what you want to specialise in it becomes easier and allows you to start running a proper business.

I think I am finally there, and for a while now I have wanted to give up my job to concentrate on my jewellery business full-time. Having a part-time job and running my business is better than working full-time and trying to run it, but if you want to develop it into something more than a cottage industry it is still difficult. The days I work at the advertising agency are still long and I am exhausted when I get home - especially when it's busy.

It's such a big financial risk to give up work altogether and rely on making money for myself, although I feel that if I don't I will regret it long term. I would like to put a large influx of money into my business and turn it into more of a brand.

I thought there would be more help out there for small businesses, but there isn't. I have been to Business Link and the Enterprise Agency, and although they were very nice they had no experience of a jewellery business and the information they offered me wasn't especially relevant.

As for financial help, grants are virtually impossible to get and business loans are quite pricey to pay back. I know that soon I am going to have to make a decision, and it will probably be a small business loan as it is the best option.

I just to have keep my fingers crossed that I can pay it back!