Payday Helpers

Taking the plunge is not a decision to be made lightly. My motivation came from the desire to spend as much time as possible with my son. What your motivation may be is up to you, but it must be strong. Owning your own business is hard work, and you must be sure you really want it. I’m not going to talk here about the qualities needed for success, and many other people wax lyrical on what is needed. I’ll give you an indication of how I got here, and where I’m going next, as a guide to how it can be done. It’s not the right way, or the only way, it’s my way. So far it’s going well.

There are few things as heart wrenching to a new mother as the choice between staying at home with the baby, and losing income, social input, the esteem of a career and contact with the world at large, and going back to work, being well off, but coping with the guilt of separation and the fear of missing so many important developments in your child’s life. This is the choice I faced two years ago when pregnant with my first child. My choice may have been easier as I was disillusioned with my career and wanted a change of direction, but the fear of going it alone and severing the ties to financial security just when you need it most was no less real.

At the time, I had a hobby. I liked making jewellery from beads. The beads in my home town were poor quality and expensive. Initially, I didn’t set out to start a business, I just thought I’d buy a few extra on the web, and sell the excess on EBay to fund my own purchases. I had pondered selling my jewellery, but not having a business selling beads.

In the last year of business, I have heard many people sneer at EBay sellers. The assumption is that selling on EBay does not constitute a “real business”. What the business snobs fail to mention is that people make money on EBay. Real money. I was very surprised at how much money I made. So, I bought a few more beads, and sold a few more beads. Very quickly I realised that the money was in selling beads, not jewellery made from beads. At this point I had a nice paying hobby, and contemplated turning it into a full time business.

My first important realisation was that in order to make money doing business professionally I couldn’t rely on wholesalers on this country. There’s nothing wrong with wholesalers, they are a good source of products. But when you purchase from a wholesaler you are paying the manufacturer, an importing agent, customs fees, and the wholesaler’s mark up, then adding your own mark up before selling on. You will either not make much money, or you’ll be too expensive to compete. I started to research manufacturers on the internet, and managed to find some who would be willing to deal in low quantities directly with me. Finding suppliers gets easier as your business ages, as they start to come to you, rather than you looking for them.

The next step is negotiation. Ask the right questions and prices can drop by as much as a third. This is especially useful when your competitors are paying standard prices. You can sell at the same price and make more, or undercut if you wish. Be careful not to sell too cheaply however, as if something is too cheap it’s perceived to be either poor quality or a con.

In selling your product, you need to ensure you have factored in all your costs before setting a price. This seems obvious, but in the early days I forgot to add the overheads of my sales outlets, and as a result made a fraction of what I should have made. You should also set some sort of pricing structure up, as a guide rather than a specific margin.

Now I had a product to sell, and a source to get it from, I needed an outlet. Or two. I decided to stick with EBay, the home of my early successes. EBay is a worldwide community, a global car boot sale. If you have something to sell, there will be someone there who wants to buy it. If there isn’t, don’t bother. However, EBay does have its drawbacks. It’s not cheap for the bulk seller. My fees range between £200 and £400 per month just for EBay, with PayPal (their payment processing facility) on the top of that. There are steps you can take to minimise fees, such as opening an EBay store which has cheaper listing fees. But it’s still an expensive outlet. It was the expense of EBay which made me consider another outlet.

I decided to open a web store at www.magpiejewellery.co.uk. The costs are much lower than EBay, but the exposure of your products at least in the initial stages is also much lower. My main tip when opening a web store is to shop around. There are a wide range of deals available, all with different facilities included. DO NOT take anything for granted; ask lots of questions so you know what you are getting. If you are a novice at web design like I was, tell them what you want the site to do and ask them if they provide the facilities and software to do that. Find out whether they have 24/7 support available. It’s your livelihood, and most internet traffic happens between 7pm and midnight. If your site goes down and there’s no-one there to sort it out, you won’t survive long.

When developing your store, it’s worthwhile to spend a little on the design. The more polished your site looks the more credibility your business will have with the consumer. Concentrate on the experience your customers will have. Think of good sites you have used. Why were they good? What sites have you used that were bad? Why were they bad? Is your navigation easy to follow, logical and structured? Most of my competitors order their beads by type of glass, shape, size. As a beader I knew my primary concern when designing was colour, with shape and materials following behind. So this is how I organised my site.

You should think about your brand image. You want your customers to be able to identify your company easily, to develop a picture of who you are in their minds. Create a logo and colour scheme, and use them consistently on your store, stationery, emails, EBay listings and what ever other contact you have with your customers.

Customer service is essential. Good customer service is the nexus of a successful business. It can be hard to take a step back when it’s your own business, as it may feel like it you they are insulting. I made a conscious decision to offer a no quibble money back guarantee to my customers, as by arguing over a pound or two will lose you a customer and potentially thousands of pounds worth of sales, whereas biting the bullet will make them come back time after time. The first time I heard I had been recommended at a craft fair I was chuffed to bits. I have never exhibited at a craft fair!

Back office facilities are essential to the successful business. Records must be kept of your accounts, so you know how you are doing. List of customers with their contact details, order histories and previous communications are essential. If you have a lot of different products, inventory control is a must. Think about what you need to keep a note of, then consider how you will do it. Remember, all customer details must be secure under the Data Protection Act. How can you comply with this legislation? IS there other legislation you should be aware of?

Having completed your store, you need to consider how to publicise it. I’m not going to talk in depth about promotion, as there are many sources of that information on the net. As a guide, consider links to and from your site, search engine submission and optimisation, press publicity and articles.

The last essential of business is the bank account. You will need to be able to take cheque payments, process card payments, complete bank transfers, pay staff, save for your taxes, and pay yourself. A supportive bank is essential as business does not always go well. Ask other small business owners for recommendations. Check bank rates, as they can vary widely. Shop around for the best deals, as banks want your business.

For card processing, I have to date continued to use PayPal. It has safeguards built in for the retailer, and has none of the set up costs of a traditional bank’s card processing. I may change this in the future, or I may not. One thing PayPal won’t tell you though, they have cheaper rates for business. PayPal operates a banded structure for its fees, depending on your income through them. They will not apply the cheaper rates unless you ask them to.

Having set up your business, it’s down to the hard work. I can work up to 14 hours a day. However, I do that when I want to, not at someone else’s direction. I stop when my son is up and about, and spend time with him. I sometimes lack sleep, but I’m happier than I have been in years. I would not go back now.

For the future, I have big plans. We’re moving to a new location where I can bring up my son away from the city. It a deprived area, so I can get aid for the business in return for creating jobs. I shall need a few staff in the near future, especially as I have some publicity coming out soon. The business continues from strength to strength, and my customers come back time after time. I’m going into wholesale in the next year, taking advantage of my contact with the many manufacturers.

A business is a fluid thing, almost lifelike in its constant changes, evolving around the market. Keep an open mind; do your homework, spot a gap, then go for it. If you want it enough you may just succeed. And if you don’t, remember that most successful entrepreneurs only achieve success with their 4th project. They have failed 3 times before making it. So, are you an entrepreneur in waiting?

At Magpie Jewellery, we retail qualtiy beads and findings at amazing prices. Free UK shipping and loyalty points for registered customers.

Visit us today at http://www.magpiejewellery.net for some of the best deals around.

You can also visit our Ebay store at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Magpie-Jewellery