[Jewelry making - Article 00513] - Re: [Orchid] Trade success stories

[Stephen Walker]

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Hi Rachel,

>     is this the only way most jewelers are surviving and thriving? By
>     having a partner with a 'real' job? I was hoping to be able to
>     support myself and make a living as an independent jeweler, but I
>     keep hearing the same thing from everyone. Tell me it ain't so! 

    No, it is not the "only" way. My wife is also my partner and
    business manager. We both work at our jewelry business full time. She
    had a "real" job years ago, but for most of the 26 years we have been
    married we have paid for our own health insurance and saved for
    retirement. On the side of personal finances, it has helped that we
    live where property is cheap, so the purchase price of both my home
    and my workshop is less than many people pay in a single years rent.
    I have never bought a brand new car, but I have sent 3 kids to
    college and have 3 more still in public school. I went right from art
    school to a year and a half working for another craftsman. From him I
    learned a lot about business and keeping my nose to the grindstone.
    But I didn't get very good wages, so there was nothing to loose when
    I set out on my own. Since 1984 I have been self employed and have
    never regretted it. It took about 8 years before we started to have
    an OK income, but then it got a lot better. I think that you have to
    expect it to work. When I hear from people who say they have to keep
    their day job to support their business I wonder how they have time
    to make the business viable. It seems like that shows a great lack of
    faith in the business plan. I have often heard artists and craftsmen
    who have relied on other jobs for a living say "I could never earn
    enough from my art to do it full time" My answer is that you could if
    you had to. If you are smart and talented you have as good a chance
    as anyone else. But you will have to do some things very differently
    that if you are in it for a living, rather than a hobby. 

Stephen Walker
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