Jewelry making often starts as a hobby, but people with talent and a flair for salesmanship can turn jewelry making into a profitable hobby. It takes more than just making and selling jewelry from your home to make the successful crossover from hobbyist to businessperson.
The successful home-based business person realizes that they are no longer making jewelry just for fun. Instead, they own and operate a business - it must be treated as a business, with their studio as their place of business. This doesn’t automatically happen when you hang your shingle. Instead, you must discipline yourself, and your friends and family to the fact that you are running a business and are no longer a hobbyist.
Having the right business attitude will show others how serious you are about your business and help them realize that making jewelry is more than just a hobby. Explain to family and friends that you need certain hours each day during which you can work undisturbed in your studio. Assure them that you will still have time for them and your home life.
Setting and maintaining a dedicated work schedule is a major facet of treating your business as a business. Your productivity is the life’s blood of your business. If you're unable to commit to a set production schedule, your business will suffer. Here are a few suggestions to help you work at your peak performance:
- Create a weekly work schedule and post it outside your workspace so your family will know when you're working.
- Set up your workspace so you will have enough privacy and space to work undisturbed.
- Planning, designing and doing 'assembly line' tasks ahead of time will greatly increase your productivity.
- Allow time in your work schedule for checking your e-mail and making phone calls, preferably at the beginning and end of each work period.
- Schedule set days for doing 'paperwork', such as bookkeeping, ordering supplies, paying bills and leaving feedback.
- Set a time limit within which to complete each project. This is especially crucial for custom orders.
- Discipline yourself to keep your schedule!
When you treat your jewelry making as a business, so will others. Eventually everyone will become accustomed to the changes you make to accommodate your new business schedule, and honoring your work time will become part of the daily routine. (Follow my Blog and/or Subscribe so that you'll catch the next in the series!)
Next - Strategies for the Homebased Jewelry Designer
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