FEATURE
NUCLEAR PHYSICIST TURNED JEWELLER
She also deals with most of our
Chinese suppliers and, perhaps
most importantly, my wife is
a tough negotiator. That said,
dealing with Far East suppliers
also has its downfalls. For
example, the quotes you receive
are always calculated to take
negotiations into account. These
negotiations can run over several
days and in some instances, you
might be better to source it in the
UK, both in terms of price as well
as delivery timeframes.
In the rare event of any disputes,
it can escalate into a daunting
task of getting a replacement
or refund, depending on the
supplier. We are actively looking
into moving our supply chain into
the UK or Europe, but depending
on the kind of product, it’s often
easier said than done.
How do you go about sharing
the responsibilities of running
Idin with your wife?
We established a routine that
works best for both of us: My
wife knows best how to pack
orders and manage our stock
– it constantly amazes me that
February 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk
‘‘
We are
actively
looking into
moving our
supply chain
into the UK or
Europe, but
depending on
the kind of
product, it’s
often easier
said than done
‘‘
FEATURE
she always seems to remember
where items are stored despite
not having a proper inventory
management system in place yet!
She also deals with sourcing our
products and looking into new
product lines. I deal with the
technical aspects of the business,
being responsible for the strategic
vision of the business and also
deal with non-English customer
enquiries in German, Italian,
French and Spanish.
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of not having an
actual physical store, in your
opinion?
We feel that it is harder to
showcase your products. You
can put great pictures on your
website, even complement them
with videos, but humans still
prefer the touch and feel aspect
of products. The digital age can’t
replace the physical world and we
see this regularly with feedback
about the size of a product, that
looks bigger on the screen or
the colours look different on a
customer’s monitor.
On the plus side, not having
a physical store saves a lot of
money in rent and it’s hard to
predict whether the sales will
cover the costs for having the
store. A physical shop would
also need extra staffing – which
is associated with extra costs
and overheads. Also, you would
need to ensure that it is always
open at the set opening hours.
We never operated a brick-and-
mortar store but, overall we feel
it would be too risky and would
only consider it for high-end
jewellery which is harder to sell
online when you are not a big
and well established brand.
Selling online with Amazon
Marketplace works for us
because we can put our products
in front of millions of potential
customers all over the world,
and as we up-scale our business
we can use Amazon services to
fuel that growth. For example,
if we get to the point where
running the business from home
is too difficult, we know that
Fulfilment by Amazon can take
care of the storage, picking and
distribution of our products.
What advice would you give to
people interested in running
their own jewellery store from
home?
Make sure you stay focussed
and have a work routine in
place as it can be easy to be
distracted by all the things
around your home. Don’t lose
your connection to the outside
world as it can be quick to
create your own bubble in
which you are comfortable
with but then lose touch with
anything else going on. It is also
very helpful to meet other like-
minded people for example in
business forums.
I would say it’s also key to
have a clear business plan and be
really committed to what you’re
doing. We were lucky in that I
had a good job and qualifications
to fall back on if it didn’t work
out, but fortunately for us it did
and we’ve never looked back.
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