Newsletter - June 25, 2008

The Jewelry Crafter

A newsletter for the home jeweler

This newsletter will be published every 2 weeks, and will include hints and tips for your jewelry business. Any feedback or comments about the topics presented here are always appreciated. Click here to e-mail us.

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Preparing for Your Home Based Jewerly Business

by

Gary Capps

Owning and operating a home-based business takes a special kind of person. Home-based businesses are—at best—challenging. Even if selling your handmade jewelry at home is an ideal situation for you, for it to be successful requires hard work, dedication, and the ability to keep your business and home lives separate. You may ask yourself if you’re really up to this challenge. If your answer is “yes,” and you have the determination to make your business work for you, you’re already off to a good start!

How many hours per day will your shop be open? How many hours per day can you spend on designing and making jewelry? When will you do housework and run errands? Do you have small children at home? These are all things you need to take into consideration when you sit down to plan your schedule. You may have to re-work your schedule once or twice, but the important thing is to make a schedule that works for you, and discipline yourself to stick to it!

The old adage “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” applies to running your home-based business. Having a new home-based business is rather like having a new baby; you love it to pieces, but you still need a full night’s sleep! Don’t let your business run your life: you own it; it doesn’t own you! Don’t answer your business phone after hours, and give yourself the luxury of spending time with friends and family instead of being stuck in your studio all the time. There’s a world outside that needs you in it!

After making the decision to running a home-based jewelry business it should be confined to your workspace and not allowed to intrude upon your living space. Your business and your home both need privacy. Whether you work in your basement, garage, or a spare room in your house, it should have a separate entrance for customers and deliveries. It provides a more professional environment in which you can nicely display your jewelry, and gives your family the privacy they need. Keeping your business in, but separate from, your home sets boundaries for both customers and family members, and one is less likely to intrude upon the other. Your business should have its own mailing address, phone line and bank account, making it easier to have your personal and business records already separated come tax time.

It’s not unusual for home-based business owners to be unaware of Federal, State and local regulations. There are zoning restrictions, and building and safety codes, all of which you must be in compliance before your business license is granted. Go to your CPA, City Hall, or County or Parrish Courthouse to learn what you must do to get a business license. Inspection and license fees usually apply, so be sure you have enough cash in reserve to pay the necessary costs.

Now, you need to make a few business contacts, but how do you go about it? Your local Chamber of Commerce is a good place to start. The Chamber can give you valuable information about your state’s jewelers and crafting guild, and local groups where you can meet other business people from your area. Go to an online community forum for jewelry makers and crafts people, especially if you need answers to any questions you may have right away. Other artists at arts and crafts fairs, shows and festivals can teach you almost everything you need to know about having a home-based jewelry business, and you may get ideas for designs you’d like to add to your jewelry collection. Best of all, your network contacts are people who understand the joys and frustrations experienced by business owners, with whom you have a lot in common, some of which may become your greatest supporters and friends!

Ask yourself: “What will the neighbors think?!” Traffic on your street will increase because of your customers and suppliers, so take care they don’t intrude upon your neighbors. Remember, those who live around you aren’t just neighbors, they’re potential customers. Having their goodwill and patronage contributes to the success of your home-based jewelry business!

Gary Capps is the General Manager of Beading-Software.com. Contact us through our website http://www.beading-software.com for tips on making jewelry and setting up your own home jewelry business.