How to Start a Small Jewellery Business from Home
E-commerce opens up a world of options for turning your jewellery-making hobby into a business. Learning how to start a small jewellery business from home is not only easy but could allow you to earn money doing something you love.
It’s important to keep in mind from the outset that the jewellery market is fiercely competitive. An in-depth knowledge of the industry and knowing how to reach out to your potential customers will be essential for launching a successful jewellery business online.
1. Research Market Trends
A successful home jewellery business needs customers. It’s essential to know your audience.
Current Jewellery Trends
Research current trends in the jewellery industry before you start to sell jewellery online. Read fashion or jewellery blogs and follow fashion influencers to gain a full understanding of the industry and the direction it’s going. Look to other jewellery designers in your niche for inspiration.
When researching ideas for your own jewellery business, look into trends that run adjacent to a jewellery business. For example, are engraved or personalised products popular? Is there a market for sustainably sourced materials? Research suggests that 71% of consumers prefer to buy jewellery from a retailer that is committed to sustainability and are prepared to pay more to support sustainable practices.
Start Your Own Trend
Draw inspiration from a host of different sources when brainstorming for your online jewellery business. Gather images, colours, textures, and shapes from anywhere you can: nature, fashion, architecture, travel. Use everything around you for inspiration and tap into trends while putting your own unique stamp on your brand.
Keep in mind that being inspired by your surroundings doesn’t mean your designs won’t be unique. Success as a newcomer in the industry comes down to a strong aesthetic, unique designs, passion, and consistent branding. Defining your signature style is a key part of this.
2. Establish Your Niche
If you’re considering starting a jewellery business, you may already have decided on the direction for your business. However, the jewellery business is full of niches you can explore, from fine handmade jewellery with precious gems to cheap and cheerful plastic pieces. Each of these niches has its own materials, production processes, price points, and target audience:
- Fine Jewellery: This niche focuses on high-quality (often ethically sourced) materials, unique designs, and master craftsmanship. Pieces are sold at a premium price point to luxury buyers and couples looking for engagement and wedding rings.
- Fashion or Costume Jewellery: Fashion or “costume” jewellery designs tap into current trends. Fashion jewellery is made with cheaper materials (such as plastic and wood) and is sold at a lower price point to everyday customers.
- Artist-Designed Jewellery: These pieces often mix inexpensive and precious materials such as gemstones, recycled glass, recycled wire, and wooden beads. Unique designs are typically offered at mid-range price points. Artist-designed pieces are often purchased as statement pieces for gifts.
Defining your ideal customer (trendy, classic, brides, luxury, environmentally friendly) and deciding if your products are for everyday wear or specific occasions is a great start. It will also define your marketing strategy.
In a world dominated by fast fashion and a throw-away culture, considering a sustainable fashion business model is a great way to make your jewellery business stand out from the crowd. “Sustainability” is a buzzword that resonates with younger customers and adds an interesting angle to your brand story.
3. Write a Business Plan
A formal business plan is necessary if you want to attract investors or seek other types of funding. This may not be the case as a home-based jewellery designer. Either way, writing a business plan can help you focus on your goals.
Online business plan templates make it easy to lay out your vision, target audience, business model, expected costs, and growth plan for the future. It will also help you align your brand’s values and mission with the operational decisions you make from the beginning of your business journey.
4. Register Your Business
No matter where you are located, you’ll usually be required to register your business. Requirements vary from country to country. However, you will generally need to complete the following steps:
- Choose a business structure.
- Formally register your business name.
- Register or obtain tax details.
- Register your business with the relevant national, state, and local agencies.
5. Define Your Jewellery Brand
Defining your brand is perhaps the most important step in establishing yourself as a genuine player in the jewellery industry. Establish a voice, mission, and vision as part of your brand story to appeal to potential customers. This helps customers decide how they feel about your brand and helps them connect with it on a personal level.
Find Your Brand Voice
Creating a brand guidelines document will guide everything you do as a brand. This is an essential part of directing everything from your brand’s voice and tone to its mission and values. Keeping this document as a constant will help you stay true to your brand as you scale your business.
The following are some best practices for branding:
- Understand your target audience. How do they speak? What language would most appeal to them?
- Create a document detailing your brand voice and tone. Stick to this as you create copy for your website and social media posts.
- Create a compelling About Us page that introduces you as the business owner and relates your brand’s journey.
- Add personality to your social media posts. Share the process or “behind the scenes” content that resonates with your audience.
Establish Your Brand Identity
Your branding refers to elements that represent your brand visually. They include your website, logo, packaging, and business cards. These elements are key as they’re what your customers associate with your brand at first glance.
The first steps in creating your brand will be choosing an overarching aesthetic, picking a business name, and nailing a customer profile. You then need to identify a look that defines your brand and fits with your chosen vibe.
Branding can be broken down into various steps:
- Pick out fonts, colours, and an aesthetic for your brand.
- Design a logo.
- Create a library of visual assets you’ll use on packaging, social media, and your website.
- Purchase a domain name that will help your customers find your website.
- Design and produce packaging and shipping materials that will appeal to your customers.
Setting up these elements from home has never been easier. Even beginners can use programs like Canva to create logos and packaging designs. During the first stages of your small business, this may be enough. However, make sure everything that comes from your brand looks professional.
Tip: Brands with a higher starting budget may consider outsourcing this part of the journey to professionals.
6. Build an E-Commerce Store
Website builders like Shopify, Squarespace, and WordPress are ideal for building an online jewellery store. These platforms offer plans at various price points as well as tools to build and market your online store with little to no knowledge of code.
What to Include in Your E-Commerce Store
Some essential elements for your e-commerce store include:
- Home page: Include beautiful lifestyle photos to draw visitors in. Your home page must be clean, professional, and have a clear call to action (CTA). Remember that a visitor’s first impression of your website will be the home page. Reflect everything you want a customer to associate with your brand on this page.
- Collection pages: Categorise your products into collections by price point, occasion, material, or type.
- Product pages: Include essential information like sizing, materials, sustainability, and care instructions.
- FAQs, Contact, and About Us pages: Tell your brand story clearly, answer common questions potential customers are likely to ask, and offer excellent customer service via various communication channels.
7. Set Up Payment Processing
Setting up payment processing is a key step in setting up your online jewellery store. As an online business, you have the capability to reach out to customers all over the world. Your reach will extend further with a great use of social media channels and digital advertising.
Provide your customers with secure online payment processing and the ability to pay using the currency and payment method of their choice via a global payment gateway. Setting up a merchant services account is the best way to get access to both of these features. You’ll also be able to track your transactions from a central dashboard and gain access to powerful fraud and chargeback prevention tools.
8. Create or Source Your Jewellery
There are three main approaches to creating and sourcing products as a jewellery company:
Handcrafted Jewellery
Handcrafting one-of-a-kind pieces involves a high level of skill and an investment in potentially costly equipment. Producing fashion and costume jewellery requires a lower initial investment. If you deal in precious gems, you may require certification.
Unique pieces will usually be sold at a higher price point than other types of jewellery. However, your skill as a jewellery maker and your designs must match the price point you set for your pieces.
Outsourced Factory Jewellery Production
There are two main options for outsourced manufacturing:
- Local manufacturing: Many consumers prefer locally-made products that boost the local economy. Working with a local jewellery manufacturer also allows you greater oversight of the production process and shorter lead times.
- Overseas manufacturing: If you’re looking to keep production costs low, overseas production could be the way forward. Keep in mind that this often comes with communication problems, less oversight, and larger minimum batches.
Print on Demand
Uploading your designs to a print-on-demand website is a great option if you prefer a hands-off approach. Your designs can be 3D-printed in various materials and shipped directly to your customers.
How to decide: Your brand mission, values, and target market will be key when deciding how and where to manufacture the jewellery you plan to sell. A brand that aligns its practices with its expressed values is more likely to gain loyal customers within its niche.
9. Take Professional Photos
Top-quality photography is critical for brands in the fashion industry. It’s important not to cut corners with this aspect of your business. Though many businesses can achieve high-quality DIY photos, photographing jewellery is especially challenging as you will need to capture intricate details. You will need two types of photos for your website and social media posts:
- Product photos: These involve clear shots of the product against a clean background. Highlight each product’s details and show it from different angles.
- Lifestyle photos: Use a model to showcase how the product looks when worn in real life. Suggest styling ideas and combine different pieces from the collection to encourage multiple purchases.
10. Market Your E-Commerce Jewellery Brand
Fashion and jewellery are highly competitive markets. You, therefore, need a strong marketing strategy to stand out from the crowd. How you approach marketing will depend on your product, audience, and budget. Meeting your potential customers where they are and providing a top-notch purchase experience are key to effective customer acquisition.
Social Media
Each social media platform has its own culture which you should try to match. Authentic and quirky content works perfectly for TikTok. However, more polished content will fit better on Instagram. Organic posts with great storytelling can gain traction, but also consider paid campaigns to boost customer outreach.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing resonates with potential customers due to its perceived authenticity. A 2022 study explained how influencers create a perceived friendship with their audience that results in loyalty towards the brands they advertise. Partnering with an influencer is a savvy move, but be sure to pick an influencer who matches your brand’s values.
Collaborations
Consider collaborating with other brands. This could be done through running an event together, hosting a tandem giveaway, or partnering with another brand to create a new line or product.
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO helps you acquire new customers through organic search rather than through paid campaigns. Make sure your website is optimised for Google and other search engines and includes content that drives interested people to your website.
Setting up an onsite blog is essential for SEO for two reasons. Firstly, blogs are a way to establish authority within an industry. Secondly, blog posts provide you with more potential touchpoints with your target market. Use your blog to educate people on materials, sustainable practices, the history of jewellery, or any other interesting aspect of the industry and your niche.
E-Mail Marketing
E-mail is the most direct way to stay in touch with your customers once you start a jewellery business (and even before you launch!). E-mail marketing campaigns can be used to inform customers about new product lines, introduce seasonal pieces, and build anticipation ahead of a sale.
Tip: Give your subscribers reasons to sign up for e-mail newsletters and to keep receiving your e-mails. A voucher code or access to exclusive offers is a great way to do this.
Start Your Small Jewellery Business Journey Today
Starting a small jewellery business from home has never been easier. With so many free or low-cost online tools to get your business online, there’s nothing stopping jewellery business owners from hitting the ground running.
Get the word out about your business and keep the aesthetics of your photos, website, and social media on point to garner interest. A stunning website alongside a strong digital marketing strategy and secure global payment processing capabilities lay the foundations for a profitable and satisfying jewellery venture.
