Start a Business
How to Start a Wedding Jewelry Business
We've collected some good advice that is ideal for those who are thinking about starting a wedding jewelry business. Read this article before you begin your venture.
Thinking about opening a wedding jewelry business? We tell you what you need to know to get started.
Opening up a wedding jewelry business? This article offers the how-to tips you have been looking for.
Why Wedding Jewelry?
It's no secret that weddings are big business. In the U.S., the average cost of a wedding is now in the vicinity of $30k -- more than $6k of which is dedicated to engagement and wedding rings. Multiply that by the 2.3 million couples that tie the knot every year and suddenly, the idea of a wedding jewelry startup sounds like a very lucrative business venture.
In fact, wedding jewelry can be an extremely profitable business startup concept. But it can also become an entrepreneurial disaster if you aren't adequately prepared for the realities of owning a jewelry store. The wedding jewelry market is very competitive with small businesses and major brand retailers like Zales and Kay Jewelers constantly competing on price, quality, service and other factors.
Minimally, you'll need to know your way around the jewelry business, possess sufficient capitalization and apply sound business skills to capture your share of wedding jewelry revenues in your market.
Finding the Right Location for Your Wedding Jewelry Storefront
To get started in wedding jewelry retailing, you'll need a storefront. Although diamond engagement rings (your bread and butter) aren't necessarily an impulse purchase, the choice of a jeweler often happens spur of the moment, e.g. a couple heading toward marriage is walking through the mall and happens to stop at a jewelry store to look at diamond rings.
Visibility counts when it comes to wedding jewelry, so you'll need to identify an affordable retail location in a heavily trafficked area. As your store grows and your startup begins to gain a reputation in the local market, you can consider moving to a standalone location -- but for now, your best bet may be leased space in a shopping mall, strip mall or other area where shoppers congregate.
Financing Tips for Wedding Jewelry Store Entrepreneurs
Wedding jewelry stores can be expensive startups when you consider the price of individual pieces of inventory. Even though many startups launch with minimal amounts of overhead, financing display samples and a basic inventory still requires capital investment and financing.
Here's the problem: commercial lenders are often hesitant to finance new and unproven jewelry retailers, no matter how much effort you invest in creating a viable business plan. Self-financing or financing from friends and family members is common for startup entrepreneurs in the wedding jewelry game, at least until you have generated a positive income trend and established equity in the business.
Creating Business Plans for a Wedding Jewelry Business
Does your wedding jewelry business have a business plan? If not, your company is lacking a critical business tool. With the right ingredients, your business plan will keep you new venture on course and help you avoid the pitfalls that plague other startup entrepreneurs.
A professional business plan writer can be a big help in creating a first-rate plan.
The right business plan writer can give your wedding jewelry business a competitive edge over other startups in your industry. However, outsourcing doesn't completely eliminate your responsibilities in the writing process.
As the primary stakeholder in your wedding jewelry business, you will intentionally need to insert yourself in various stages of the plan's development.
Consider the Competition
Before you open a wedding jewelry business within your community, it's essential to find out how strong the competition is. Use the link below to get a list of local competitors near you. After following the link, enter your city, state and zip code to get a list of wedding jewelry businesses in your area.
How are you going to successfully complete with existing firms? It's important that you never underestimate the competition.
Find Good Remote Business Advice
Once you've finished assessing the competion, be sure to talk to somebody who is already in the business. If you think owners of nearby wedding jewelry businesses will give you advice, think again. Why would they want to educate a future competitor?
Thankfully, an owner of a a wedding jewelry business in a different city may be more than happy to give you a few tips, provided that you won't be directly competing with them. Many business owners are happy to give advice to new entrepreneurs It can take a while to find an entrepreneur who is willing to talk, but it's well worth the effort.
What's the best way to find somebody who runs a wedding jewelry business in another city who you can speak with?
Simple. Let your fingers do the walking by using the link below.
Is It Easier to Buy an Existing Wedding Jewelry Business?
Tough decisions are what business ownership is all about. And one of the first decisions you'll have to make is whether to start a business from scratch or buy an existing wedding jewelry business.
Time and time again, we see entrepreneurs struggle to launch a new wedding jewelry business when they could have bought a first-rate wedding jewelry business. When you buy an established wedding jewelry business, you gain access to a functional business operation with a customer base and a steady revenue stream.
Entrepreneurs who are committed to a highly unique value proposition may need to pursue a startup approach. However, in today's business-for-sale marketplace, there is an abundance of wedding jewelry businesses worth considering.
Don't Rule Out Franchising
The odds of achieving your primary goal of thriving in your new business are much greater if you go the franchising route in lieu of doing everything yourself.
If your goal is to start a wedding jewelry business, you ought to investigate whether buying a franchise could be worth investigating.
The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.
Entrepreneur Interviews
These interviews should be of interest to you.
- Interview with Brian Ree, Co-Founder and CEO of GoldenMine.com
- Interview with Shenoa & Co. Diamonds Founder Leon Bitelman
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