Manufacturing Your Own Jewellery and Competing With the Imports
It is still possible and very rewarding to manufacture your own jewellery and compete favourably with the huge influx of imported jewellery that has flooded the market in recent years.
We decided to go into manufacturing jewellery 26 years ago.
In the first two years it was hard to find a suitable niche market until I felt the urge to develop Celtic designs.
At that time there were only a handful of businesses doing anything with Celtic design and it was challenging working with intricate knotwork.
We flourished and soon had hundreds of customers (retail shops) across the UK and also in Ireland, Europe and the USA and Canada.
Then, things began to change, and hundreds of startup businesses decided to jump on the bandwagon.
The difference was that most of them were outsourcing their manufacturing to China and Thailand.
The market got ugly and there was an abundance of copying going on.
As a small business we did not have the clout or resources to fight plagiarism or advertise our way ahead of the competition.
We rode the storm and carried on creating new designs and, most importantly, giving customers good service.
The years went by and, as we entered the 21st Century, the Celtic fad of the nineties began to fade a little and our competitors dropped by the wayside or changed direction and moved away from Celtic designs.
Much damage had been done but there was, and still is, a niche group of people out there that still appreciate ancient designs.
We concentrated on what we were good at and, most importantly, looked after our customers.
We listened to what they told us, acted on most of their suggestions and fulfilled their order requirements completely and within 5 days.
In a nutshell, we innovated and concentrated on our strengths and that small market that thrived on our kind of product.
We did not try and compete with the mass market of imported goods.
The strategy worked and now, in 2010, we are stronger than before and still making jewellery we love that has appeal to a unique group of people around the world.
We also added bronze jewellery and silver jewellery to compliment the pewter jewellery and Cornish tin jewellery.
In essence, we did not try and compete head to head with the mass imports.
So, create your own niche and your own enthusiastic followers and then look after them.
We decided to go into manufacturing jewellery 26 years ago.
In the first two years it was hard to find a suitable niche market until I felt the urge to develop Celtic designs.
At that time there were only a handful of businesses doing anything with Celtic design and it was challenging working with intricate knotwork.
We flourished and soon had hundreds of customers (retail shops) across the UK and also in Ireland, Europe and the USA and Canada.
Then, things began to change, and hundreds of startup businesses decided to jump on the bandwagon.
The difference was that most of them were outsourcing their manufacturing to China and Thailand.
The market got ugly and there was an abundance of copying going on.
As a small business we did not have the clout or resources to fight plagiarism or advertise our way ahead of the competition.
We rode the storm and carried on creating new designs and, most importantly, giving customers good service.
The years went by and, as we entered the 21st Century, the Celtic fad of the nineties began to fade a little and our competitors dropped by the wayside or changed direction and moved away from Celtic designs.
Much damage had been done but there was, and still is, a niche group of people out there that still appreciate ancient designs.
We concentrated on what we were good at and, most importantly, looked after our customers.
We listened to what they told us, acted on most of their suggestions and fulfilled their order requirements completely and within 5 days.
In a nutshell, we innovated and concentrated on our strengths and that small market that thrived on our kind of product.
We did not try and compete with the mass market of imported goods.
The strategy worked and now, in 2010, we are stronger than before and still making jewellery we love that has appeal to a unique group of people around the world.
We also added bronze jewellery and silver jewellery to compliment the pewter jewellery and Cornish tin jewellery.
In essence, we did not try and compete head to head with the mass imports.
So, create your own niche and your own enthusiastic followers and then look after them.
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