Digging in to ensure that I always have a big inventory.

I decided today that instead of striving to make 2 pieces a week, i'll make 4 pieces a week.  I want to have a healthy inventory so that I won't be wiped out if a store decides that they want to sell 20 pieces at a pop. It really won't be too bad so long as I make them simultaneously (saw out the main shapes at the same time, make the holes at the same time, etc.).

I'm a very habitual person (i'm a stalker's dream because i'm very predictable), and I want to get used to steadily making jewelry now, before I incorporate the business.  My plan is to work on jewelry on tuesday nights (jewelry class), friday nights (jewelry open studio) and a little bit on each day of the weekend. With my full time job, making jewelry every day would be unrealistic.

Next step has been accomplished..travel display supplies ordered

I had a hard time wrapping my mind around what I needed to get as a portable display set up when bringing my jewelry to boutiques.  I wanted something that fit my needs, wasn't expensive,looked professional, and wouldn't involve me unrolling and unwrapping 4 different cases when shop owners only had a limited amount of time to spend with me. I ended up being creative when the jewelry display cases I found weren't cutting it.  I'm getting a black leather hard case caboodle case (you know i'm posting the link......  http://www.amazon.com/Caboodles-13-Black-Ultimate-Organizer/dp/B0017KGOY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=beauty&qid=1298125913&sr=8-1 ).  I'm going to hold the jewelry(necklace chains or nice ribbons will be separate) in see through organza jewelry pouch bags. I like my choices because the case is a solid color, it stands upright so I know the jewelry won't fly around too much inside of it, and it is something that I can easily spread out on a table/counter where the owner/employee and I can look at the items quickly and easily.

iddy biddy baby step in the right direction.

I'm still two months away from going through the steps of incorporating my jewelry business, but I have a layout for how I want things to roll in my head.  I've found a way to kill two birds with one stone. I want to learn the ropes, but I also want to make contacts. Sooooooo, one way i'm going to do that is by trying to have a local jewelry boutique take pity on me and help me figure out retail prices for my jewelry for my price list. I don't have a whole lot of shame, and if two boutiques say they have no interest in communicating with me, and one does...that one may be the one who sees i'm a nice person to deal with, with unique jewelry that stands out, and they will want to sell my stuff when the time is right.

The iddy biddy step was that I asked a jewelry classmate if she thought her boss (a jewelry store owner) would be willing to sit down with me so that he can size up my jewelry. Wholesale is easy for me to figure out, but it's the retail that I don't have a concept of. I figure it's worth it to sit down with a shop owner so my price sheet doesn't look ridiculous.  She recomended a nearby boutique (these are all within walking distance of my court job :)...if i'm downtown for 9 hours 5 days a week i'm going to make my job and my jewelry career flow together!). I'm going to contact that boutique once I get a jewelry display case, so i'll be prepared if they ask me to bring in my jewelry. 

Once i'm incorporated I want to take it very slow so that I don't overwhelm myself. I'm going to one store at a time, and wait a certain amount of time so I can get a sense of how much the possible restocking takes a chunk out of my inventory. Once i'm confident that I have one shop's needs under control, i'll move on to a second shop.