20 years on: The seven decisions that mattered the most

jewelry business tips

I’ve been running a gift & jewelry business for a looooooooong time, it’s actually 20 years this year!

I’ve seen every version of it – the exciting bits, the exhausting bits, the damn right unbelievable bits, the scary bits and the bits no one really warns you about.

Over the years, a handful of decisions quietly made more difference than anything else I tried.
Counting down, these are the seven things that turned out to matter THE MOST and the one that was THE BEST of THE BEST….

7. I built an email list early

This sounds obvious, but it’s probably the single thing that brought me consistency.

People don’t buy my kind of jewellery every day – even when they love it. They might buy once, maybe twice a year, then get distracted by life, other shops, or a shiny new algorithm. So I didn’t want to rely on being constantly rediscovering new customers to survive.

I started collecting customer email addresses/subscribers to my newsletter very early on. I gave people a simple way to come back and shop when they were ready. These days MailerLite is my prefered choice for this – it’s simple, affordable for starting. Using their system you can email your subscribed customers beautiful, attention grabbing, emails every week to entice them back.

That made a huge difference.

Most jewellery businesses are constantly trying to be discovered. I decided to be remembered instead – and that one choice quietly paid the bills for 20 years.

6. I let my customers shape what I made

When I first started, I did what most jewellery makers do – I created collections. I designed what I liked, put it out there, and hoped it would find its people.

But pretty quickly, something more useful started happening. I could see which listings were getting views, which pieces people kept asking about, and what kept popping up in messages and searches. So instead of guessing, I started paying attention.

For example, I noticed that most of the St Christopher necklaces I was engraving were for sons and daughters going off travelling. So I stopped just selling “a St Christopher” and designed a whole little range for that exact recipient – one with St Christopher wearing a backpack, which is now one of my most popular pieces.

That’s when things really shifted, when I started creating products around this little ‘paying attention’ thing.”
I wasn’t just making jewellery anymore – I was making exactly what people were really looking for. Which is a much nicer place to be than sitting there hoping your latest collection will be “a hit”.

5. I doubled down on what already worked

This one took me a while to learn.

When something sold well, my instinct used to be, “Great, done, what next?” But over time I realised that the clever move wasn’t to keep reinventing – it was to milk the cow 🐄 (so to speak).

So when a piece worked, I didn’t just move on. I made many variations. Different stones. Different messages. Different charms. Different metals – Same overall product.

That’s how a single good idea quietly turned into a whole section of the shop – and how sales grew without me having to constantly come up with something brand new.

Most jewellery makers are always chasing the next design. I learned that the real magic is noticing what people already love… and giving them more of it – Milk your cow people!

4. I made my own things instead of selling everyone else’s

Very early on, I made a very deliberate choice to design and create our own gifts & jewellery instead of just buying in the same wholesale items everyone else was selling online. Not because I wanted to be precious about it – but because I didn’t want to be standing in a row of identical online stores all selling the same thing at slightly different prices.

When you dropship, stock wholesale jewelry, or just follow what everyone else is doing, you’re basically competing on who can shout the loudest or discount the most. That’s exhausting. And it’s hard to build a brand that way.

By creating our own designs and style, we weren’t trying to be cheaper, the opposite actually – we were trying to be different. Which meant customers weren’t comparing us to five other stores. They were coming to me for that piece they’d seen, and nowhere else.

3. I didn’t limit myself to local suppliers

When I did need to source things – chains, charms, components, base pieces – I never just stuck to what was down the road or on the first page of Google. I went looking properly.

I searched globally for the best fit for what I was trying to make. The nicest chains. The most interesting charms. Some of them were in the UK, some were in Europe, some were much further afield – but they all helped me build jewelry that didn’t look like everyone else’s.

That one choice made a bigger difference than I realised at the time.

These days, after twenty years of slightly obsessive sourcing, I keep a little black book of my suppliers I actually love and trust – which is basically how my Supplier Guide was born. So, when you are sourcing for your jewelry, don’t limit yourself, search far and wide for that perfect component so you can be totally unique.

2. I didn’t spend everything I made

At some point along the way, I realised I had a choice.
I could could easily spend everything my business made…OR I could let some of it quietly look after me later.

When things are going well, it’s very easy to get carried away. More staff. More space. Growth, Growth Growth, Fancier everything. Christmas parties that get slightly out of hand….We’ve all been there…right?

But, I wanted my business to work for me not just now – but when I was older, too. So instead of letting all the money drift away, I used some of it to buy our warehouse, an old granary barn complex in the countryside. At the time it crippled me and nearly ended the business as I took on way too much financially. But, it was one of the best things I ever did.

Twenty years on, after downsizing the business, that building is now a valuable commercial property I rent out and gives me passive income. And I can’t tell you how grateful I am that past-little-me had the sense to do that and push through the pain.

So if there’s one quiet bit of advice I’d give anyone running a business for that matter, it’s this:
always try to put something aside each month. Buy an asset or if a limited company, push monies into a SIPP (a self invested personal pension). Give future-you a thank-you present.

They’ll REALLY appreciate it!

Get Jewelry Inspiration Straight into your Inbox!  Sign Up for more 🤗