Lisa, you launched a jewellery e-commerce business… What was the inspiration for your business?

In a nutshell, a delayed mid-life crisis, I think! I turned 50, and as I had largely stayed at home bringing up my son – and had limped along, doing some part-time marcomms work in financial services on and off (which had been my career prior to having my son) – I realised that the world had moved on and this career didn’t appeal any more, coupled with my age going against me and probably the cliched, loss of confidence that stay at home mums get, returning to this career would be tricky. So, my options were either to consign myself to the scrap heap of middle age or can I do something brave and scary and start my own business. I have always been creative and had a love of silver jewellery most of my life, making the odd piece here and there, but decided to just do it, despite knowing nothing about running a small business.

Where did you get the ideas for the various jewellery designs?

I would like to say that all my designs are carefully thought through and considered, but to be honest the process is very organic! That said, I may see textures or shapes and think how would that work and how can I incorporate that into a piece of jewellery. I just sit down at my jeweller’s bench and think what shall I make, and do I think anyone would wear it?

As an eCommerce business, what were some of your challenges when developing your website and payment processing facility?

The main challenges were my lack of budget and knowing I’d have to do this myself and couldn’t outsource it! Having worked in Web Marketing years ago – pre child – I felt confident in what I wanted it to look like and what I would like to say but the reality was harder than I envisaged. As my funds only allowed a basic package (and my technical skills were lacking too), the scope was narrow, so my vision was hard to put into reality, which meant this was the main challenge overall. I bought a basic package from Wix with limited functionality – a simple shop with means of payment and a means of being contacted – which was a frustration initially, but ended up being useful, as I had to keep it simple. It took four attempts at trying to get a design I liked! It’s definitely harder when you aren’t a ‘techy’ person and are more of a creative, but I kept telling myself I wanted a new challenge and this involved doing things that don’t come easy, and that persistence and asking for help, is definitely the key – the latter not being my strong point!

What was the concept behind your brand, the ‘Jovial Jeweller’?

I simply wanted a name that reflected who I am! I laugh – a lot – and the handmade jewellery market is a heavily saturated one (something I naively hadn’t fully appreciated at the outset) and many fellow jewellers simply use their name. My gut feeling was to choose something that was a little more playful and would hopefully be more memorable. I think the newspaper, journalism training of my youth kicked in, as I narrowed it down to two alliteration type options and canvassed opinion among friends and family. So far, so good as it is a great conversation starter, particularly when I’m at an in-person event.

Your background is in the marketing industry; how did this help you on your business journey?

Alot more than I realised it would. I had fallen into the classic ‘stay at home mum’ cliche of losing my confidence, as had only done some part-time, marcomms work here and there and I quickly realised that I did know some things! It has helped immensely in a general sense, with putting yourself in the shoes of potential customers. I do not really do anything without thinking how does this sit or work for potential customers. And in practical terms, it helps with my general messaging for social media and copy on my website, the overall user experience on my website and using social media as an informal focus group option to canvass opinion. It also helps a great deal when organising and attending events too, as am very used to striking up general conversation, without being pushy as this a pet hate of mine!

What were some of the pitfalls you encountered on your business journey?

Procrastinating! This was a pitfall initially, as you must learn to make decisions and to have the courage to make them alone and quickly as its just you, there are no accounts, marketing or sales departments to either ask for help from or hide behind. I switch between feeling, wow I can do what I want and don’t have to be constrained by corporate processes as it my business and…if I don’t do this or I get it wrong, I won’t make any sales and won’t have a business! There are many practical pitfalls and mistakes I have made too – designing and making things that no-one has bought is the obvious one, but my finest hour was completely mis-pricing items at a pop-up event, resulting in big losses that day, as the items sold for way less than even just the materials costs. All rookie errors but you learn fast.

Was there enough support available for your business?

I quickly found that there is a huge amount of support out there from fellow small businesses – both online in social media in general and in forums and at artisan markets and pop-up shops. This blew me away actually, that so many are willing to give their time to help, support and even buy from you. I have made some great colleagues and people I now consider as friends in the two years I have been doing this. I am now starting to do this for others starting out and it is a great feeling, that I can now give back and have some small business wisdom to impart to others. There is a big community out there and it is great to be a part of it, as one of my fears – albeit now an unfounded one – would be that this small business life could be very isolating and lonely.

How did you raise the investment required for your business?

I spent many hours doing focus groups – as a participant (which was a bizarre role reversal after doing this in my old Marketing career) – so have put my two pennies worth out there, on topics ranging from driverless cars, airline experiences and financial service apps, to antibacterial cleaners, Danish pastries and Nutella!

How did you find the transition from an executive to a small business owner?

Liberating and scary in equal measure. I am incredibly lucky to have my husband’s support to do this but putting yourself out there and marketing yourself and your products, is a very different thing, with a very personally loaded edge to it. Marketing a service or product that is not your own is one thing, but I had not relied on the strength of feeling when you get it both right or wrong, when it is your business and products you have personally created. It is very too tiring too, as I am never ‘off’ and I wake up in the night thinking of new designs and things I need to do, but it’s a different kind, as is much more satisfying. And you do get down moments and is all this effort worth it, but I remind myself that The Jovial Jeweller did not even exist 2 years ago and that I have done everything myself and am in profit!

Your work requires a fair degree of creativity; where do you find your inspiration?

I have always been creative and into the design of things, as grew up in a creative household as my dad was an Architect. I have renovated many houses too, so this along with my Marcomms career has afforded me the luxury of always being in a creative line of work and mindset. I said earlier that textures tend to inspire me and shapes too and I tend to follow my gut feeling. Sometimes you get it wrong, but it is great when you produce a new design, make it, fine tune it and then someone loves it and immediately buys it. It is an amazing feeling!

How do you utilise social media for promoting your products?

I learnt early on that people primarily buy from people. There are only so many ways you can make a piece of jewellery and invariably many are producing very similar things, so I use it for both conventional marketing i.e. seasonal offers, feature new products, create the want/need for the product and promoting events among other things, but also to show who I am and an insight into my life! And a sprinkling of humour too, as there is so much to drag us all down these days, a little bit of fun is no bad thing in my view. People like to get a sense of who they are buying from.

Do you use email marketing for seasonal promotions and discounts?

This is something I have not done yet and is next on my to do list. I have now got sufficient data to make this worthwhile, but I also have no idea how to do it so will tap into the small business, support network, and ask for help and advice.

Which entrepreneurs do you most admire?

Oprah Winfrey as she is a true rags to riches story. As I understand it, she was born into poverty and had a troubled childhood and is now worth over two billion dollars, showing that you do not have to let your past define your future.   

How do you like to keep a good work and life balance?

It has been a learning curve as it would be extremely easy to put all my attention to this, as it is a new and exciting venture, but I am still a wife and mum and have a home and a life to run. Initially, I spent a hugely disproportionate amount of time on social media and realised that I could not sustain that, so have now scheduled in time do this, otherwise that is a full-time job that could totally consume you. And I have realised that sometimes it is ok not to do or be at certain things that relate to my family, but sometimes it’s also ok to put the phone or laptop down and just do the family or fun stuff. Striking that balance took time, but having a supportive husband and sometimes supportive teenager helps!

Where do you see the business developing over the next 5 years?

Bigger and better hopefully! On a serious note though, I’ve been very lucky that things have started so well for me and all my attention has gone to getting going, seeing if I have products that sell, can I handle all aspects of running a small business, so over the next couple of months my plan is to pin this down and work out what I want, over the next 5 years. My initial plan for this year is to broaden my reach and customer base through bloggers and influencers (I’m 53 so this is a learning curve!) and media coverage. I am also planning to get out and about more, to get feedback from potential customers at artisan markets, pop up shops, corporate events and trade fairs, with the latter to start the process of my goal to get my products stocked in both online and physical stores.