How making systems for your jewelry business is so freakin’ cool!

At almost every point that I have decided to take the time to organize something in my business, I get this itchy feeling that I am NOT DOING ANYTHING.

Later, I am always thrilled that I took the time to organize it. I’ll marvel at how much easier I made a process, or that I completed a project with way less kicking and screaming. That streamlining of my business always feels satisfying in the aftermath.

Literally every time! Putting in this kind of work gave me space to grow, confidence that I was on the right track with my business goals, and gave me the information and clarity I needed to make a choice in my business.

Not to mention that it gave me concrete examples of my hard work and success that I could point to and feel great about.

Making systems in your business is actual work

If you also get that feeling like organizing isn’t “doing actual work” in your business – I get it!

For instance, when I was making jewelry full time, I started with an inventory system that took FOREVER to set up.

Between the finished goods and the materials, it was a beast of a project. But later, once it was up and running, it gave me the space and the systems to become a Fairmined licensee (since you have to track your Fairmined purchases separately) and be able to offer better gold options.

Systems for pricing and inventory are so helpful

Because this inventory system also tracked raw materials costs, pricing out my work each time I created something new left me with less guesswork. And tracking inventory for my taxes became a simple matter of pulling a report.

Becoming a Fairmined licensee was an important step that I wanted to take with my business, and it wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t had systems in place first. It was a bottleneck that I knew I needed to address. Did it take awhile? Yes, but later I was glad I did it.

Taking that time to create or maintain a system* has a ripple effect on your business. It helped me be more strategic about my pricing, which in turn built my brand up, which in turn brought in more sales and made it easier to talk about my business. These systems helped my business operate holistically, with each part informing the others.

Business systems and business planning save you time

Having a system for your Pinterest strategy and creation means that you’ll spend less time on the actual Pinning itself, because the products you want to feature will be chosen already and the copy half-written from tracking keywords.

Having a system for taking on custom work means that you spend less time on the nuts and bolts of both pricing and client management.

Having a system for pricing (like the process I teach in my eCourse) means that you spend less time second guessing yourself because you know what’s profitable and what’s in line with industry standards.

All parts of your business work together

A thought that I frequently share with my business students is that there are no completely separate and compartmentalized parts of your business – everything works together holistically to inform your choices, your planning, and your outcomes.

For instance:

• Creating systems means less scrambling, leaving you more time for creative work, meaning more jewelry to create a marketing plan around, meaning more sales.

• A system for packing and shipping means getting product out the door and into the hands of your customers, meaning more customer satisfaction, more positive reviews and more sales.

It all works together to make a business that works for you.

What questions do you have about organizing and creating systems in your business?

*In whatever way works for you, by the way – as much as I am a big fan of digital systems that can go anywhere with you, pen and paper still work for many projects in jewelry. Use the process that works for you, but do have a process.