Can Jewelry-Making Friends
Become
Jewelry Business Colleagues?

© by Stevie Struiksma and Rena Klingenberg;
all rights reserved

Stevie Struiksma works together with three friends in a jewelry business. They all benefit by sharing the work and expenses, and they've come up with ways to eliminate the conflicts that can arise from working together.

Here's how combining friendship, a love of jewelry making, and jewelry business can work out:

A few months after starting a beaded jewellery business along with three friends, we realized that some restructuring was in order! It had started to become clear that each of us gave the business different priority, time and enthusiasm. In addition, we all naturally had different ideas and expectations.

We couldn’t seem to please everybody and tensions began to develop around how many hours people put in, quality and quantity of pieces made, pricing, number of sales / shows to do, attendance at shows and meetings, differing financial investments, etc. We noticed that we were getting caught up in the emotions of trying to meet everyone's needs and were no longer enjoying the venture we thought would be fun.

My suggested solution was this:

1. We would each purchase and use our own supplies, in contrast to the past when we shared what others had bought. This eliminated the logistics of differing investments, complicated bookkeeping and the weekly sharing/dividing of supplies. It also allowed us to spend money on our favorite supplies.

2. We would each design and make our own products. This allowed for people to create their own type, quantity and quality of jewellery according to each person's preferred level of commitment and time available.

3. We would find shows and rent one booth, displaying all of our items together with our initials on the price tags so as to divide sales according to who made the piece. This allowed us to offer more inventory and be able to participate in more shows - at a fraction of the cost of doing it alone. It also allowed each of us to price our pieces according to what we thought was fair.

Overall, this solution eliminated almost all of the logistical problems we faced in the business. It allowed us to spend more time beading and less time sorting out differences. Now we meet to share ideas and plan for shows instead of to discuss how we can make the business more "fair". Because we all have different creations, pricing, and amounts of inventory there is no basis of competition among us.

And, since we all do the business part-time in addition to having other full-time careers, it is flexible in the sense that if life becomes busy for one of us, we have the option of not participating in shows, or not producing inventory - without the guilt of letting the others down.

Based on personal experience, I think this is a great tip for people who are planning to go into business together or have already done so and are finding it difficult to co-ordinate.

I hope this suggestion, along with Rena’s, helps someone else to be more successful in their venture!

• Like many other jewelry artists, you may find that working together with one or more friends results in increased success, a decreased workload, and a much more rewarding jewelry business.

• You can get a creative boost by getting together regularly with a fellow jewelry designer, to try new techniques, fill jewelry orders, or prepare for upcoming shows. You might work together on projects you've agreed on in advance - and just like having a fitness buddy, you'll produce more when you're accountable to someone for what you said you'd accomplish. It can really boost your productivity and helps both of you set your priorities.

• Another advantage of joining forces is sharing the work and fun of doing a jewelry booth, and being able to take breaks during shows. A business partner can shoulder the workload when you need to be elsewhere, and the effort of setting up your tent and booth is much easier when you're not doing it alone.

• You can also stagger the hours you spend manning your booth at shows. If one of you is a morning person and the other isn't, you can each agree to take the shift that works better for you. Or if you have a sick child at the last minute, your partner can take over completely till you're able to arrive.

• You can pool your jewelry supply orders to get the best possible price breaks and split the shipping costs.

• You can cut way down on your expenses by sharing things like your jewelry photography equipment, art show tent, displays, books, and jewelry magazine subscriptions.

• You can lend tools and supplies back and forth - "Oh, you need some chain? Here you go; can I have some silver half-round wire?"

• You can share the maintenance and expense of your jewelry business website. For example, you might have one website for both of your work, with a joint shopping cart and checkout. But you can each have your own individual section of the site to showcase your work.

• You can agree to respect each other's successful products and not copy one another's work.

• You can gladly promote each other's jewelry to your customers - which actually is much easier than promoting your own jewelry to people. And it brings both of you more business!

• Between the two of you, your jewelry will encompass a wider range of styles, so together you can serve a wider group of customers.

• While many of your skills and abilities will probably overlap, you will probably each have talents the other lacks. Being able to add another person's skills can be a huge asset for your jewelry business.

• Working with another jewelry artist keeps you from getting stuck in a rut with your designs, marketing methods, and displays. Brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of another person is absolutely invaluable to your progress! Two heads can come up with much more innovative solutions to jewelry business challenges.

• When compatible jewelry buddies join forces, your combined work is definitely greater than the sum of your individual efforts. It's also a very rich experience when you combine the friendship of kindred spirits with your joy in making and selling jewelry.

• You each have a different vision of what you want your jewelry business to be, and how you want to achieve your goals.

• You and your jewelry buddy have different financial-management styles. If one of you is frugal and the other is a spender, you may have a hard time agreeing on matters like which show fees are worthwhile, whether new displays or equipment are necessary, whether to stay in a motel at an out of town show, etc.

• You have different work ethics. If one of you tends to put more effort and time into the jewelry business, you'll eventually begin to resent your less-involved partner. You must both be willing to put in an equal share of time and effort.

• You have different opinions on a lot of things related to your jewelry business. When you own a business, every aspect of everything you do involves making decisions. If you and your jewelry-making friend can't seem to agree on a lot of important things, you are likely to be at odds with each other a great deal of the time. It's a good idea to recognize this sooner rather than later.

• You both have a strong desire to have creative control over the details of your business. If one of the things you love about having your own jewelry business is getting to design and create absolutely every last detail of it, then you will probably be happier and more successful working alone. Much of the joy of your jewelry business can disappear when someone else chooses and designs the elements that matter to you.

• The two of you are like Oscar and Felix - a messy person and a neat freak. While making jewelry together can be fun, business activities like handling paperwork, packing for shows, tracking inventory, and storing supplies will likely be a source of constant friction between you.

• Either of you is not willing to jointly write up a business agreement on paper that you'll both sign and try to abide by. (See below.)

Whatever details you and your jewelry business colleagues agree to, be sure to write them down in either a formal or informal contract and have each member sign it. Each of you should have a copy of this agreement that states how you will work together and what is expected of everyone.

Your agreement should cover important points like:

• Your joint jewelry business goals and how you intend to achieve them.

• What tasks each person is responsible for.

• How much time, money, and resources each of you will contribute to the business.

• How your business assets will be divided up when your joint jewelry business eventually ends.

This step can help prevent difficulties later as the jewelry business and its colleagues evolve. And of course the contract should be updated regularly by joint agreement as the business changes.

See Your Jewelry Business Exit Strategy for more important considerations in going into a joint jewelry business.

You can read about another pair of jewelry business colleagues in Midlife Collaboration Creates Symbolic, Authentic "Linkage": How can two baby boomer jewelry artists make the year they both turn 50 into a spiritual milestone? By working together to create "Linkage," a fashion accessory that helps a charitable cause.

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