Setting up a production business

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear All,

I am an Asian, working as an engineer. I like jewelry making because
of that I study the basics of jewelry (soldering, plating, casting.)
but not mastered anything. I like to switch my job to jewelry making
and go up to the export market but it is very difficult because I
don’t know what to start to produce (earrings, chains…) to sell.

I trying to start with very small, due to this I setup a small
workshop by collecting little by little tools. Now I have enough
tools to do small scale production. Now I am doing little testing
about plating, die techniques to do things within a shortest time
and soldering.

I spend about four years to adopt for the work bench and do things.
I did small productions (earrings) but it was not successes because
designs are not attractive, I feel I am not doing well.

I have to chose not very time consuming, not very expensive and
creative production because in this stage I am not full time doing
the job, I don’t have much money to spend and I like to attract
people with diversified production from the conventional designs. I
like to do small production and earn some money also.

I would like to have some advice from experts and guide line. Pleas
help me to fulfill my dream.

Thanks & Regards,
Indika.

2

Indika,

No doubt you will get a range of ideas from this forum. The first
thing that strikes me is you say you want to do export but your
designs don’t sell because they are unattractive. I’d suggest you try
again in your locality. You should try to get constant feedback from
the consumer, which will be easier if you are close to your market.
Once you feel confident the designs are saleable, THEN you can look
to export.

3

Ultimately, the marketplace will decide your success or failure. You
need to find a niche market and work within it, at least until your
designs begin to sell well. Good financial management, access to
capital, flexible tooling, honest, dedicated staff, and good to
great designs are all elements for a successful jewelry business.
Most of us have learned from our mistakes. Many of us focus on our
strengths and subcontract the parts that we are less capable of
performing well.

Good design is very important. When I was working in Providence,
R.I. 35 years ago, the designer for Swank retired. Sales plummeted
the following year. Swank enticed the designer back from retirement.
Sales increased.

Rick Hamilton