[Jewelry making - Article 00237] - Re: [Orchid] What to do about competition spying?

[Daniel R. Spirer]

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Karen,

>     They are also the ones who end up running those hard-working
>     businesses out of business, while the honest artist starves and
>     wonders why 

    I've heard this so many times (especially on this list), but quite
    frankly, I don't think it has anything to do with people "stealing"
    designs. One of the most common reasons small businesses go under is
    because they don't have enough funding to begin with. Another
    problem is that just because you're an "artist" or "craftsman" (or
    "master jeweler") doesn't mean you know jack about how to run a
    business properly. You may have the most beautiful designs in the
    world but if you don't know how to market yourself properly, how to
    look at profit and loss statements, how to price your work properly,
    and how to survive the slow periods, you aren't going to stay in
    business. I suspect that very few, if any, people on this list could
    actually prove that they were run completely out of business by
    someone who simply stole some of their designs. And I suspect that of
    those few, if you actually went in and looked at how the business was
    run, that there would be another, far more glaring problem. Actually,
    of those who mention having their designs "stolen" on list, they all
    seem to still be in business. With the amount of arts support in this
    country, IMHO, an "artist" chooses to starve in today's society.
    With the number of institutions offering (business) courses to anyone
    willing to take them, it's incomprehensible to me that anyone
    starting a small business doesn't take advantage of them and first
    find out what's involved. Run your business properly, stay ahead of
    the curve, don't depend on one design and you'll do fine. Ignore
    proper business procedures, get stuck in a rut, and blame everyone
    else for your bad luck and you'll be one of the statistics. 

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
www.spirerjewelers.com
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