How To Start A Small Jewelry Business From Home

Creating art brings great joy when you share it with others. This is especially true for jewelry designers, who know their pieces can mean a lot to customers. Starting a jewelry business lets you display your work and connect with happy clients.

You might think of yourself mainly as a jewelry designer, not so much as an entrepreneur — entrepreneurship might not even cross your mind! But starting a jewelry business is not super hard. It’s mostly about time, effort, and sticking with it, along with a few technical details. We’ve broken it down into seven key steps to make it simpler for you.

Steps to Start a Jewelry Business

Pick your niche and target market

Before you turn your jewelry business idea into reality, check if there’s a good market, one that’s not too crowded. When people look for jewelry online, they usually know what they want. Therefore, make your brand according to the choice of people.

Choose a creative name (with an available domain)

Next, have a unique business name for your business. it should be unique and attractive. Further, purchase a domain name from any website available online.

Also, check the US Trademark Office to make sure your business name can be trademarked or isn’t already trademarked. Even if it’s free, check if the website domain is available on sites like GoDaddy.com.

Design a product line

If you love jewelry and want to make it, that’s the fun part! Get inspired by your favorite designers and trends. After you design your products, figure out how to make them in larger quantities and get the materials you need in bulk.

Manufacturing And Suppliers

Once you’ve got designs for your jewelry, check out potential manufacturers. Decide if you want to make things nearby or overseas. If you’re doing it by hand, buy the tools and equipment you need.

Ask other jewelry designers about good wholesale distributors. You can also think about getting a reseller license. It lets you skip paying local sales taxes when you buy in bulk.

Brand Aesthetic

Creating a brand identity makes your custom packaging and marketing stuff special, adding to a memorable unboxing experience. Partner with a good custom packaging company, like instant custom boxes or silver edge packaging, to make your parcels unique. To have unique packaging, you can purchase Custom Jewelry Boxes for your business. Remember your website! Consider hiring a graphic designer to make a logo and other branding stuff for a consistent look and feel.

Build your online store with an e-commerce platform

Creating an e-commerce website is easier now with lots of platforms, apps, and integrations available. These platforms make setting up an online store easy. Popular ones include Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Squarespace, and Wix.

Another option is making a store on Etsy, but it’s better for handmade or made-to-order items. The downside is it’s harder to get noticed, and Etsy gets the credit for the sale, not your brand. People might forget your brand and just remember buying on Etsy.

Market Your Home-Based Jewelry Business

Getting your first sale is a challenge for any new jewelry business. Aim your marketing at the people most likely to buy. As you work on building customers, use the research you did, like info on competitors, to make a marketing plan using different channels.

Include as many channels as you can, like:

Social media

People like to check out products and reviews before deciding. On social media, show what makes your brand special. If you’re all about sustainability, share how your products help the environment and use related tags.

Can your jewelry be worn during exercise? Share pics and videos of people working out while wearing your jewelry.

Email marketing

Even though some think email marketing is dead, it’s not. Building an email list is a great way to stay in your customers’ minds and keep them loyal. But be cautious — sending too many emails can make people leave, so follow the best practices for email marketing.

SMS marketing

Though it’s still new, SMS e-commerce marketing is quickly growing for online businesses. With open rates as high as 95%, you can be pretty sure that everyone on your SMS list will see your messages and promotions.

Paid advertising (Google, Facebook, and Instagram)

A lot of big DTC e-commerce businesses started from ads on places like Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads. Even though ad costs are going up, they can still work well for jewelers. If you’re running ads, make sure to target your audience carefully so your ads reach people who are likely to buy. Also, pick your channels smartly — what works for other brands might not work best for you.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Getting free traffic is the best. Many online businesses rely on ads, but the cost is going up. With a good SEO plan and blog strategy, your staff can show up at the top of search results without spending more on ads.

For example, Ocean and Co is the top result for “sea turtle bracelet,” searched about 700 times a month. This brings in more traffic for a specific product without paying for ads.

When looking for keywords, use tools like Google AdWords or Moz to find words with lots of searches but not much competition.