I know there are hundereds of jewelry makers out there that have "day" jobs, familys and other commitments where they cannot or are not able to be full time jewelry artists.  Most articles are written on full time involvement.  Does anyone know a good place to help those who only can devote part of their life to their jewlery business?  How is the best way to grow?  What are the most important things to keep in mind while part time? (Boy after asking that one question, that was silly.  EVERYTHING is important).  Best way to address taxes...inventory count...website...photography.  But maybe you understand if you are part time and struggling.  Do I sound frustrated?  I don't mean to be.  Jewelry designing is such a great creative outlet for me and work has been so stressful lately.  Does everyone else have all these designs in their heads and not enough time to make them?

Oh my gawd, yes! I have a full -time job too as well as 4 kids (2 of them are under 4 years old) It's very hard and can get frustrating but it is not impossible. You do what you can and not bang your head over what you can't. I have been making and selling my jewelry for 4 years now. I set aside a day a week to do making or website or photography and there have been many times when I've created in the middle of the night when inspiration strikes!  It's too easy to get overwhelmed if you try to do it all at once. If you do have kids, try to enlist help from family & friends. Another good idea is to start a womens' art co-op. We are having a first meeting tomorrow and the idea is for us crafty moms to swap child care for a few hours of child-free creating. Will I make a really successful business doing it part -time? Probably not. But in the meantime, I am doing what I love to do, making a name out there for myself, and meeting other people until I can afford time and money to do it full-time.

 

Good Luck to you,

Donna

I think the majority of folks feel the same way. They do not earn enough from jewelry to live so they have a regular job. I don't even have a job but I am very busy taking care of my two kids and house. I create beads & jewelry when they are at school or asleep (before hubby gets home). I've been profitable for the past two years, but the amount I "made" would barely pay for a vacation, let alone support a family. You just have to keep it in perspective. Kids are first priority and find a balance between stuff like cleaning and your creative needs. It can be done!
 

Me too, me too!  I have a "real job" but I'm pretty lucky in that I'm an independent consultant so I work from home, set my own hours, and just keep all the balls in the air with kids.  I've got two, the youngest being almost 17 but he might as well still be three because I still need to be very actively involved, but in different ways.  Plus the house and stuff.  So the consulting work earns the "real" money and in between contracts I don't feel too guilty about making jewelry.  I've sold a few pieces, more by luck than by effort, but I'm working to change that. 

EVERYTHING takes time and, being human, I also require sleep every now and then.  Use the time you have to develop and perfect your skills and settle into a style you are comfortable with.

I have tons of ideas in my head, too, and not nearly enough time to tackle them all.  So I jot them down to keep a list and eventually I'll get to them. 

The best advice I can give you is to relax, set your priorities, take it one step at a time and set realistic expectations for yourself.  Also check out http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/index.html  for a ton of tips, articles, and information from folks who are making the same journey. 

 

I am on the same boat with you ladies. Sometimes i think i'll never grow this business unless i quit my job and do jewelry full time and the other time i think i just use it as an excuse  for not being disciplined and consistent. Things that work for me - read books about succesful women, plan, plan, and plan more.

Being real about the time that it takes to get things moving.  Internet world is so differnt than the real world,  We can pass out flyers have parties and see some results.  But the a internet has a totally different time frame.  making changes then waiting for google or yahoo to crawl your site again.  then you hopefully move up in the ranks.  But there are lots of things to do to promote your site and keep things moving.  I have been working my handcrafted jewelry website for a little over a year. Things I hope are going to start moving a bit faster.

Does everybody here have a day job????

 Hello I am a new visitor and i dont have a day job, but I live in the UK. I used to do jewelry as a hobby but I decided to go all out and went looking for new buisness grants and loans. The Princes Trust helped me out. I have only one child 4yrs old, and my partner is supportive so im lucky i suppose.

I work 80% at a regular job. I started my Etsy shop, not jewelry but sewing purses, and I've sold hundreds of purses, but working day, single parenting two kids, I ended up sewing for hours after work, and I really burned out! Now I'd like to sell my jewelry, and have sold a few earlier pieces, but I feel I've really evolved and looking to pursue selling my current work. I'd love to be able to retire early and do this full time!

I've been part time since I started, but I too want to retire early (having become a famous jewelry designer).  I don't have kids at home, but I'm a teacher and I'm exhausted after a full day with 24 kids.  I hope to focus my summers on my business and this year was full of steps getting tax numbers etc.  But I've stalled on the website.  I emailed for help from our provincial small business and e-commerce support guys and haven't had a response yet.  Just when the ball was rolling, now it seems to have stopped.   It's frustrating but I like the advice to relax and perhaps I need to do that too. 

 

 

For the most part I have a self sustaining hobby. I have never felt that I had the business acumen to handle a full time company on my own to support my family. I guess that is a guy thing the need to support you family in the manner they would like to become accustomed. There was health insurance, retirement, disability insurance that were provided by my employer that I could not provide for myself. This is the main thing that kept me on the job and not starting my own jewelry business. I have seen other very talented men end up stuck at a bench making good money, working for someone else so that they could have benefits for their family and it sure killed their creative spirit. Others stuck with their own business and never did make a success of it but then their wives were the bread winners and it killed their creative spirit. I suppose that it depends on the individual drive and the need for job security. I never quit my day job and I still have a good time with jewelry.

I'm currently full time with the jewellery, after years of studying, mothering and trying to develop a business I decided to take this year off studying and concentrate more on jewellery, the years more than half over and I've spend hardly any time actually making anything or developing new skills, it's all been spent getting a my website together and trying to figure out how to get photos that do my work justice. I had hoped to get around to more galleries (I have my pieces in 3 at the moment and one shop) but I just haven't had the time as yet, I'm still doing the local markets and restocking the galleries but my business has hardly grown, I actually did better last year while studying than I have so far this year. One thing I have realised out of as this though is that I don't think I want to do this full time, I've always had other passions and the plan was always to go back and get my graduate psychology qualifications and now I'm really hanging for it. I was feeling very torn having such a passion for both these things as well as my family and haven't even mentioned my writing. Anyway, this year has shown me that I don't have to be torn, I know I don't want to be a jeweller full time which takes a huge load off trying to make a living from it and I can relax a bit more. Just my two cents worth anyway and maybe some of you who are hanging out for early retirement may find when you really think about it you don't want jewellery to be all you do, maybe there's more to your 'day jobs' than just being money makers, there's must be some enjoyment from what you do, and if there isn't maybe you need to find something else that makes you money and gives you enjoyment, maybe that's jewellery but maybe not.

 Dear CC Creations and all other frustrated jewelry artists,

 Don't beat yourself up for being a "part timer."  For the first few years of my jewelry career, I worked part time and barely broke even.  Until I learned from my mistakes, I too was in the same boat.  But it's all about looking at it in a positive light.  Part time jewelry artists can make a pretty good living and it is convenient because if you have children, you can work from home.  However you must make sure to put strict rules in place otherwise it is too difficult and you will get distracted.  The steps I took were the following:

1. Make sure you take at least a half an hour daily to dedicate to your jewelry.  This can be research, design, marketing - Whatever you want.  Just make sure you spend at least a half hour.

2. Set goals.  If you do not set any goals for yourself it will be difficult to move forward.  Whether it is coming up with a new line, setting up new stores, going to a wolesale jewelry shows, hosting a jewelry party...whatever it may be - set he goal!

3. Make it fun.  If you always associate jewelry design with "work" then you will get sidetracked and it will no longer be fun.  Make sure you are inspired by whatever you enjoy.  Nature, fashion, animals, whatever.  Just make sure it doesn't turn into work, but always remains fun! 

 
Hopefully this will help you with the "part time" situation.  I personally can make anywhere from 10-20k annually from my "part time" efforts but you must be productive in that small time.

Good luck :-)

Kameron Kay

PS - If you need anymore help you may want to visit my site at http://www.kameronkay.com

The audio interview comes free with the book and it goes into much more depth for developing a successful part time jewelry business for an added extra income.