How to finance a new business! Please help!

lb364

hjc1305 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. yes perhaps I do need to relook at my prices. I find it hard to price up my pieces I must admit. On ebay I find all the charges mount up, £14.99 a month for the shop, plus insertion fees plus the percentage they take at the end of it, then paypal take their bit too. Think I might just put it on ebay but without having a shop, I am not sure what their rules are, will need to check that out. Also with the school fetes etc I feel that people would only want cheaper jewellery and not expect to be paying £20 for a bangle etc. I have been doing the arts/craft fair in Southampton last year but it gradually got pushed into the regular market with the really cheap jewellery which is not handmade but brought in bulk from abroad. It's difficult to find the right sort of fairs. Anyway thank you for looking at my site and for offering your advice.
Heidi

I can't actually find your ebay shop - does it have a different name?
Maybe you could 'close' your ebay shop until your business is a bit bigger and be sure to include your website address with every item you sell on there - I've visited many sites from the address that arrived with the item.

Also, at the fairs, have signs advertising that they're real silver, handmade etc. if you don't already, it will emphasize the difference between you and the cheap, bulk supplies.

At school fetes, take along lots of children's jewellery and perhaps the bookmarks you sell and just a few bits and pieces of the more expensive stuff - parents may want to treat themselves after-all! Also advertise that it's all X amount cheaper than RRP (the newly-increased prices on your site)

Good luck!

hjc1305

Hi
My ebay shop is the same name, TrinketsbyMoonlight. Not sure why you can't find it?
Thanks for all the advice, it was all great to hear your ideas, thanks.

paulwf

Caroline73 wrote: »

You'd struggle to get a business loan if you can't show any profit. If you got a loan, how would invest it and how can you turn this into profit?

Exactly. OP, I think you should be splitting this into two questions. Firstly "how can I make my business viable" and only then "how can I get funding".

At the moment you haven't really demonstrated your business is viable...perhaps this is just due to keeping things brief on the forum. However I would be wary of throwing more money at this project until you know it will work as it sounds like you can't afford to take on more debt. £1,000 is already quite a sizeable investment.

OP, would you like to ask the first question and back it up with more details? I'm sure some of us would love to help.

pitkin2020

Ebays shops are great if your listing a lot of items at once, if your listing only a few items at a time its a waste. I'm guessing as your making bespoke items you only carry a small amount of stock? Would you not be best to get shot of the Ebay shop and just list your items like other business sellers.

As for raising a bit of cash flow I don't think your going to get a venture capitalist to invest in you some how, but you can look closer to home. If its merely a few hundred "Bob" you need you may find friends and family are more than willing to help.

I'd also sit down and look at your costs and see where you can save some cash, the Ebay shop, suppliers costs etc

grey_lady

Take a look at notonthehighstreet.com they're UK based, and seem to be aimed at more upmarket crafts.

Horace

I agree with the others - your prices are too cheap for bespoke items and therefore you need to raise your prices. If you are making a loss on ebay it should tell you that your prices are too low.

Try selling some of your silver stuff at wedding fairs - brides love earrings and pendants and will sometimes be looking for bridesmaid jewellery too.

Visit some of the boutiques in your area and see if they will sell your jewellery for a share of the profit - look at craft shops, bridal stores, clothes shops. Think about Southampton University too - there is a ready market lots of students, and from my experience of universities they have student unions full of shops/stalls selling stuff to students...students love spending money.

I doubt that you will find a business angel to invest in your business because at the moment you are running at a loss and investing in a loss-making business is illogical.

Sell what you have before you start investing in anything else.

Caroline73_2

hjc1305 wrote: »

I have obviously been doing craft fairs!!This is where I focus my selling and I have searched high and low for ones in my area but believe me they are far and few between and the majority of them allow people to come along and sell the cheap brought in crap from Hong Kong. I have already got a website up and running which didn't cost thousands as a friend did it for me, this has been up and running for about six months now. I just need funding for me to build up stock and pay for the more expensive craft fairs.

Many craft fair organisers will let you pay at the end of the day/weekend as long as you pay a deposit. You can negotiate terms, that how I started out.

If you borrow to go to a craft fair and sell nothing or very little - how will pay that back?

You didn't answer my question on mark up but you need to address that. If you aren't making a profit, then the prices are too low. If people won't pay a higher price then your business is not viable.

Anastasia

Any investor is going to want to see your business plan. Google for help with writing one. This will help you to price your items as well.

Would advise not to put any more money into this venture until you have worked out that you are going to make a profit.

cottager

Purely on the website design, which I know isn't what you wrote about, and I hope you won't think this over-critical.

It's very nicely done and the overall impression is fine, I like it; but as a browsing visitor I'd personally appreciate more 'visible' text. For instance, in the Products sub-links at the side, the 'Silver Jewellery' heading and the others like it are clear, but the sub-links beneath them, e.g. for Silver Necklaces, Silver Bracelets and Bangles, and Silver Earrings, are all but invisible unless you scroll the page and catch them over a slightly lighter part of the background. If they're there, they need to be seen. In the section listings: details in the light panels show up clearly, but the black prices in the alternate entries between are well nigh impossible to make out against the dark blue background.

But in particular the text on the other pages (excluding the home page): About Me, Events, Parties, Ordering etc - I wanted to read what you had to say, but again it's lost on the dark background. In your blog the silver text shows up much better. It's obvious you've taken care to write these pages, but visitors need to be able to easily read them. Clarity and readability on a webpage are everything, even for those with perfect vision; but you also need to consider those who don't quite do... but who nevertheless may have £15, £20, £25 to spend on a nice piece of your handcrafted jewellery.

brownbabygirl

pelirocco wrote: »

Mind you posting on forums is a good way of advertising your site:rolleyes:

hilarious!:rotfl: