We have received a couple of inquiries over the past few weeks from individuals from Uganda and abroad thinking about starting or investing in jewelry cooperatives like Women of Kireka. We thought it would be useful to share some of these “lessons learned” on the blog:
1. DEVELOP AN ORIGINAL PRODUCT: The jewelry market is saturated with paper beads. If you are about to start a new jewelry business, think outside the box. If you are starting a cooperative with a group of people with a shared passion and goal, learning new skills to build on the old should be your first priority. Recycle these skills and make something totally new.
2. KNOW YOUR MARKET AND OFFER VARIETY: While you may be tempted to stick to something with regional flavor or ‘African,’ it is (most likely) not entirely worth it. North Americans and Europeans (our international market) eagerly buy jewelry. But jewelry that is stylish, of good quality and original in the context those people are in. Unfortunately, while paper bead necklaces are different they aren’t generally what the ‘average’ person is looking for. Find out what the latest trends are and stay up to date with them. Keep a few timeless classics and develop models for a range of budgets. If you are not coming from a fashion or jewelry-making background or interest, find people who are.
3. FIND THE ‘GOOD PEOPLE’ & BUILD A COMMUNITY: This may seem self-evident, but finding the right people for the variety of work required to make a cooperative successful is hard and requires a lot of patience. It took us three years to find someone who was naturally – i.e. without constant supervision – enthusiastic to sell our products (and good at it). The people behind the project also keep it going: encouraging each other when one wants to quit, setting up meetings when everyone is distracted by other responsibilities, making a big sale when you need it, connecting you to someone enthusiastic when energy is lacking. Give yourself the time to find these individuals and the ride will be a lot smoother in the long run.
4. BRANDING, BRAINDING, BRANDING: A great logo and tag goes a long way. We take great pride in the message behind our logo and seeing this attached to one of our beautiful paper pieces not only increases sales, but also drives us as a team. So settle your brand early; know the story behind it and find a way to sell that. Additionally, make sure you are selling the story behind the products that your brand is on, not the story of the people the proceeds help. One builds brand strength, the other elicits brand sympathy. Brand strength builds a loyal customer base that loves your products and what your brand stands for. Brand sympathy creates one-time sympathy buyers that will make a token purchase – and not because they love the product. This is not a sustainable business strategy.
5. QUALITY MATTERS
Once you have decided on that unique product you are going to create and market, think quality. Nothing transitions sympathetic buyers to brand loyalists and ambassadors than great quality. Pay attention to every detail; from customer service, to materials, to messaging, to fit and finish, to how you treat your local partners. All of these details contribute to a great story of a product built with pride. Not only that, the product quality will tell your story much better than you will be able to.
6. SALES TAKE UP A LOT OF YOUR TIME: The biggest drain on time in a retail market is selling and moving the product. Incidentally, it’s the one thing that will keep you feeling like you are moving forward (and which pays the bills). You need committed people to help you sell; you also need people who know how to sell products and feel comfortable doing so. There is nothing glamorous in this work, but it’s the base of existence of any business. If you’re not sure that you can do this – or you don’t know anyone willing to do it for you – then think twice about entering this arena.
7. THINK SMALL, FOR NOW: This may seem counter intuitive to some, but the retail market is a hostile place and its best to test the waters to see if your products and ideas will work before establishing yourself. Finally, really consider the goal you are trying to reach: are members looking for a creative outlet and a way to make money or is the latter the most important part? If so, there may be other locally based schemes that will allow you to reach that goal a lot faster.
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