Perhaps some of you
are wondering how it works. How things get done so fast - sometimes, and then
painstakingly slow other times. How things get made, who makes them. Or what
you need to run a business like mine. So here goes.
In my home office,
there's just me and 2-3 days a week, my very cool friend Debbie. Two days a week we're out, making
"runs" in New York.
I work 7 days a week
but not all day every day. I start right after waking up. Etsy questions,
convos, listings, photos. That takes about two hours. When Debbie comes in, she
ships. When she doesn't, I ship. Shipping can sometimes take half a day. Etsy insurance doesn't cover gems, Ship
Station does, PayPal does, the latter only up to $500. So we use different services.
Payment plans require checking for total amount paid before insuring and all
parts of the payment plan (or custom order) need to be checked as shipped. Ring sizes have to be double checked, custom orders
checked one last time, and if a second person is there, all packages are gone
through twice to make sure no content got mixed up.
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| Debbie, My Assistant and Friend |
By the time that's
all done I usually already have more custom requests, so I take more photos and
answer questions. I make a lot of quotes. I go though invoices, do some bookkeeping.
In between we do Facebook, Pinterest, other social media, newsletter, blog, we order supplies and castings. It
easily takes all day.
Most of my time is
taken up with customers and Etsy itself. Most of Debbie's job is shipping and
social media. But we also switch off
with that, with photographs and other stuff.
Twice a week I go to
47th street to process orders. Those are very busy days! I am often
off to a late start because I have so much Etsy traffic. So Debbie gets there
first, going directly from her house, picks up castings and gets them to out pre-polish service - they cut the
sprue, clean and tumble. New designs make it from there to Alex, the engraver,
then go back to Taba Casting for a mold and castings.
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| Buying Supplies in New York City (Actually this is Cheese) |
Our custom orders
each have designated jewelry envelopes with customer name, order date, metal,
size or length and order description or drawing. All the order steps are listed
and get checked as we go (i.e. casting, parts needed, pre-polish, jewelry work,
setting, final polish). Many steps are the same for each piece. So we essentially funnel the envelopes
through 4-6 stops a piece, leaving them at many stops for 2-3 days, and quality
checking each time. Some days we pick up or drop at the lab, requesting
certificates. On other days I have appointments at various gem dealers while
Debbie does the "runs" between stops with the "jobs." We
text each other all day long, double checking what is where or which setting
works or which customer needs what. Some
days we run out of time. Plus I have to take breaks answering questions for
customers (those are the days when you get convoluted convos with many typos).
"After New
York" days are often the busiest.
Custom orders come back and need photos and listings and if possible,
are shipped asap.
I love my New York
days. I exchange news with Pierre the Setter, Vasken the jeweler, Josh from the
lab and Jaimeen from Prima Gems. I find out what's new in gems, what the buzz
is on the street, and I get to be out and about. I can take much of the news
back to my customers.
Often there are errors to correct, and there can be slow downs (a casting has to be redone, a
stone broke, or I don't have all the correct stuff in my bag so a custom piece
is delayed). Debbie and I need to plan our day carefully so nothing is
forgotten and we don't run out of time. One step is missed and we lose half a
week! It happens though. And often it is our fault because there is too
much to think of at once.
I process up to 150
orders a month and half or more are custom. I stick to my wholesale pricing so
getting more staff isn't easily paid for. But I love what I do and wouldn't go
back to my day job for anything.
