If you have a handcrafted bead jewelry business of any sort then you’ve probably learned that running a business is not always as easy as it could be. You probably have lots inventory, lots of customers, plenty of invoices to print and some messy methods for keeping track of all your materials including your wires, clasps and even beads. You probably enjoy making custom jewelry, but you’ve probably had a heck of a time figuring out how much to sell your jewelry for and what price level gives you a decent profit margin.
There are actually a lot of different options you can use when it comes to choosing software to run your jewelry business, from homemade spreadsheets and databases to spending a thousand dollars or more on some sophisticated jewelry store and business software packages. Here are three features you’ll definitely want to have in any software package you buy to handle your bead jewelry business:
Jewelry Pricing Calculator: Keeping track of what materials you have in stock is important for ordering and making sure you don’t run out of essential items, but you should also be able to enter the items used in each piece and the software should be able to calculate the amount of money it costs to produce each piece. This will help make sure you’ll never make a bead jewelry piece and sell it for less than you paid for the materials.
Invoicing Ability: If you bought an elegant piece of gemstone jewelry would you really want a receipt that’s scribbled on a thin yellow piece of paper covered with carbon paper marks? Of course not! You’d expect a professional receipt. Being able to produce business-like and easy-to-read invoices helps makes your business look more professional and more established, whether it’s your first piece sold or hundredth piece sold.
Reasonable Price: When you’re starting your beaded jewelry business you may not have a lot of money to spend initially, but you’d be surprised how quickly a good jewelry program can pay for itself in saved time and professional results. Generally, you should expect to pay about $90 to $140 (but no more than that) for a decent bead software package.
When you first start shopping for a software program you may be a little confused by all the options, but the features above are something any program designed for bead jewelry should have. Even if you aren’t comfortable with computers you’ll quickly see how much time you can save with the right software, which will give you more time to make your beautiful bead jewelry!
