Ok, so yesterday I went to a Business Day Class at the London Jewellery School! And the first thing I will say is that I can definately recomment it to anyone who is thinking about starting a Jewellery Business.
For me, I kind of knew half the stuff which we talked about as I have been reading up and researching this for a few months now - things like PR, Advertising and Marketing stuffm Packaging, Pricing jewellery, IT, Websites, Networking and Craft shows. But there were also very useful nuggets of information which will definately come in use for me, as I feel there are always at least a few things which aren't ALWAYS mentioned in books and other websites which have this sort of information on.
What was also very useful for me was the first part where we focused on our strengths and weaknesses, VERY useful information about hallmarking, how to get into galleries and shops and what to expect when you do decide to try, including the legal side of things and how to draw up an order form and a document of "Terms of Trade" which can be used as a legally binding document. I also found it VERY useful to find out abou legal requirements and insurance stuff - this bit usually fills my head with candy floss and I get very confused....I swear all this legal stuff is purposefully made to be hard to understand to prevent people from wanting to run their own business! Seriously - some of this stuff is enough to put some people off even starting...!!
Anyway, the best things about this class was that it was small - only 8 other people were in the group, which meant that the entire days' discussions could be focused on what WE wanted to know and learn. Like me, with all the legal stuff, and others who wanted to know more about being at craft shows, selling to galleries and doing commissions. I also felt that the entire class was quite informal, fun, and it was nice to be with other people who had the same sort of interests and ambitions, and that our ideas were so different from one anothers. It was a really good place to share ideas, advice and knowledge, and I have to say the teacher was very approachable and experienced in running a business herself - I always find it better for someone experienced to teach something that they know a lot about, rather than having a list of stuff and a random person just talking at you all day.
Sorry there are no photos in this post, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the Jewellery Business Day at the London Jewellery School, I recommend it to anyone who is thinking of starting a jewellery business, and it has got me thinking of several things which I need to look at before I even start selling my jewellery...!! Hopefully we're all going to keep in contact and share our shops and websites - I'm afraid I only have my blog to offer at the moment as my website is not ready, and neither is my shop! I will be ready in the middle - end of August which isn't too far away, but I will be blogging when everything is up and running, I promise :)
With the website, I have to re-arrange a few things and put my photos up, and I need to wait for my business cards which - I know I took all those photos in time for the 30% discount but it turns out that there is something which I put on the cards which at the Business Day Class we were advised not to do....!! I have contacted the company to find out if I can cancel and start over - and that's another thing: I need to amend my business card design!
So there are a few things I need to do before launching this business of mine, but I will get there in the end!
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