starguitar
11-29-2009, 01:26 AM
I just finished reading 4HWW and my muse idea is to sell men's jewelry. Basically, there is a huge gap in the market for affordable and fashion forward men's jewelry meant to be worn casually. I'm looking to reach sophisticated men in their 20's - 40's who are fashion conscious (professionals, creatives, hipsters, straight and gay etc) who are not afraid to express themselves with beautiful and sensual pieces of jewelry. I believe there is potential if I get my business model right and the perfect advertising scheme.
Out of Tim's 3 models (resell, license or create), Reselling and licensing are the only options for me, as unfortunately I don't design jewelry for a living, and I have absolutely no training.
Reselling: I don't know how reselling would work. Do I simply find a manufacture with inventory on hand? My issue with that is that the type of jewelry I'm thinking of selling might be too specific. Or do I provide blueprint designs to the manufacturer, who in turn, produces the product based on my specs? Obviously the problem with that is that I don't design jewelry, even though I have an aesthetic in mind. Secondly, do manufacturers have minimum order sizes? If I had to order a batch of 10,000 rings of the same design at a time, this is of course problematic.
Licensing: This seems much more complex. I have to get negotiate with multiple home-based designers whose aesthetic fit my criteria, and then sell and market their jewelry on a well designed and marketed website. The problem is my lack of expertise in the jewelry business, and of course the problem of negotiating itself. There is also the problem of finding designers who have my aesthetic in mind. I have to attend jewelry expos and hit up tons of jewelry stores, street vendors and artist flea markets and street fairs. For a novice this is bit too overwhelming and timeconsuming (I work full-time). Also it seems that licensing requires economies of scale...If demand increases, I can't imagine the designers productivity going up so high since jewelry creation is probably too labor intensive.
Any input would be great! I feel like a have a good idea, but the problem is execution!
Out of Tim's 3 models (resell, license or create), Reselling and licensing are the only options for me, as unfortunately I don't design jewelry for a living, and I have absolutely no training.
Reselling: I don't know how reselling would work. Do I simply find a manufacture with inventory on hand? My issue with that is that the type of jewelry I'm thinking of selling might be too specific. Or do I provide blueprint designs to the manufacturer, who in turn, produces the product based on my specs? Obviously the problem with that is that I don't design jewelry, even though I have an aesthetic in mind. Secondly, do manufacturers have minimum order sizes? If I had to order a batch of 10,000 rings of the same design at a time, this is of course problematic.
Licensing: This seems much more complex. I have to get negotiate with multiple home-based designers whose aesthetic fit my criteria, and then sell and market their jewelry on a well designed and marketed website. The problem is my lack of expertise in the jewelry business, and of course the problem of negotiating itself. There is also the problem of finding designers who have my aesthetic in mind. I have to attend jewelry expos and hit up tons of jewelry stores, street vendors and artist flea markets and street fairs. For a novice this is bit too overwhelming and timeconsuming (I work full-time). Also it seems that licensing requires economies of scale...If demand increases, I can't imagine the designers productivity going up so high since jewelry creation is probably too labor intensive.
Any input would be great! I feel like a have a good idea, but the problem is execution!