If you want to get into the jewelry business, the timing could not be better. The nature of jewelry shopping is permanently altered, and the jewelry business has become a booming business in the UAE. Hence, if you are looking to start your entrepreneurial journey, a jewelry business can be a great move. Here are the key steps to consider if you are looking to start a jewelry store from scratch:
1. Determine Your Niche
Jewelry business is a wide market which means there are endless product options for business owners and retailers to sell. However, keep in mind that this also means that there is a lot of competition. So, if you want to increase the visibility of your business, the first and foremost step would be to determine your niche. Customers have unlimited jewelry options to choose from and considering this huge market, knowing your niche is super important. For example, decide whether you want to sell artificial jewelry, classic gold or diamond jewelry, fashion jewelry, body jewelry, handmade jewelry, or vintage jewelry.
2. Business Strategy
As mentioned above, with the jewelry business, you have endless product options to sell, considering the multiple micro niches. Hence, the second important step is to define your business strategies for a successful business. For instance, figure out which product might offer you the best ROI and check the demand for the product using tools such as Google Trends. This would enable you to know what people are searching for on a day-to-day basis.
3. Business Plan
There are various aspects that you must cover in your jewelry store business plan such as operations, finances, marketing, and so on. Make a comprehensive operations plan to figure out how your brand will source and deliver the jewelry. Besides this, the marketing plan is another significant aspect since it is also your key recurring expense. So, you must consider making your jewelry business plan to design marketing strategies, investment plans, and other plans.
4. Website Design
The advantages of shopping online go beyond just convenience and therefore besides opening a retail outlet, you can choose to opt for an omnichannel approach and have an online presence too. This way, more people will be able to discover your brand. While creating your website, give special focus to customer journey maps, website features, navigation features, order management process flow, browsing features, catalog management, payment system, shopping cart features, and much more.
5. Standard Operations Procedures
As a business owner, there are several factors you need to take into consideration, but out of those, a major factor is Standard Operations and Procedures. Let’s try to understand this through an example. When it comes to the jewelry business, a proper supply chain needs to be set up. Whether it is planning, procurement, sourcing, warehouse, or distribution, SOPs need to be in place to have full control over the supply chain. To put it simply, SOPs help a company save time, create a smooth working environment, and avoid wasting any kind of resources.
6. Product Safety
It goes without saying that in the jewelry business, especially with the classic gold jewelry business, there are multiple valuable products involved such as different stones, pieces of jewelry, etc. To reduce the risks of misplacing any of these expensive items, inventory control needs to be taken care of. Again, for this key aspect, SOPs must be set in place that employees can follow. For example, whenever any new jewelry piece comes in, it must be stored carefully along with double-checking everything.
7. Inventory Management
For any business, inventory management holds a lot of importance and without it, no business can succeed. If your product is not restored when required or if overstocking happens, the business loses revenue in both cases and customers are left unsatisfied too. This can be overwhelming in particular and hence managing your inventory is a key to a profitable business. Synchronize your inventory across all channels in case you are going to follow an omnichannel approach and check your stock level in real-time to reduce the possibility of losses.
8. Utilization of Software
It is no easy task to take care of a business involving valuable items like a piece of jewelry. Hence, it is best to employ certain software that can help you run your business effectively such as order management and fulfillment software to have a real-time picture of your jewelry business operations. Then, payment through a processor such as PayPal and Stripe for digital payment systems is critical to prevent fraud and protect buyers’ data. Address verification software is another one that business owners use to make checkout easier.
9. Digital Marketing
To generate sales and increase your brand visibility, you need to follow a comprehensive marketing strategy especially because you will be spending money for marketing purposes. Make sure your marketing tactics have a high-level impact and your communications are relevant to your audience. The marketing budget must support your revenue goals as well as your budget. To drive sales further, you can utilize social media as well for paid advertising. Customer reviews and online reputation management are super important too.
10. The Launch Day
Once you follow all the above-mentioned steps, you can easily get into a jewelry business and have your own jewelry brand. Keep in mind that any type of business is only successful when you are able to strike a balance between operations, product, and technology. Besides this, you can also get it touch with a business consultant and gain more insights regarding the right strategies and processes so your customers have a delightful experience with your business.
About YRC Jewelry Consultants
YRC is a retail & e-commerce management consulting firm. With 12+ years in business, we’ve helped 500+ clients in 12 countries across 20+ Retail Verticals. Our services include Standard Operating Procedures, Market Research, Business Model Validation, Franchise Consulting and Process Automation. If you’re looking for partners who can help scale your brand, let’s connect for a discovery session!