Hobby to Business – A Very Good Vintage

Very Vintage is a Jewellery making business in its infancy but designer, EIly, has wasted no time launching it. In less than a year she has put together her own website and Facebook page and made some lovely jewellery!

Elly told us what drives her passion

Time to bead

I turned my jewellery hobby into my business, Very Vintage, in October 2011. I started making jewellery while my husband was in Afghanistan last year, as a way to pass the time in the evenings when the kids were in bed and I was house bound. I started it mainly as I was getting fed up of not being able to find jewellery I wanted on the highstreet!

New vintage

When my husband came home off tour and my friends caught wind they gave me the biggest push ever to take the leap from hobby to business. Without their encouragement I most definitely wouldn’t have launched Very Vintage! I am now 8 months down the line and it is finally starting to take off. However, being an army family, there is always the chance that we have to move and in July we relocated to Kent. So I feel that I am about to start again with getting the business side going in a new area, but with the use of my Facebook page and my Very Vintage website it is not so daunting as I will get to keep my old customer base. Over the past few months I have gained confidence and with no day job when I move, will have lots of time to really focus on the business side of it!

Search for a niche

Currently I am trying to find a ‘niche’ to my Jewellery business to try and set me a little bit apart from other Jewellery makers as well. Apart from a slight obsession with flowers and vintage style, I tend to turn my hand to most things jewellery wise. I would say though that I really love creating jewellery to match an outfit. Much of my business is done this way. There is nothing better than getting a picture of a dress and being asked to ‘go create’!

Helping hands

I have also been involved in some charity work, and I am currently making bracelets in support of a local toddler who needs to raise £72,000 for a life changing operation in America. This has involved making a range of beaded bracelets with 25% of the sale going to the cause. You can find out more about this cause on the Help Oliver Walk fundraising page.

Let’s Party!

My latest venture is my party at home service within the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire area. This is something new that I’m trying to boost business. I take myself and my jewellery to the host’s house or venue and set it up on a table. The night starts with an intro from myself, including how the night will run and a bit about me. I also talk about how I got into making jewellery and the leap from hobby to business. We then play a snatch raffle. This helps the party atmosphere along. I then talk through some of my jewellery ranges, which are then passed round to the guests to look at. I explain that I can change colours to suit their needs and that I also offer a dress match and design service.

There is also an option for a second game – the bead a bracelet game. Guests are given a stretch of elastic. They then have 3 minutes to bead a bracelet with beads from my mix tin. The winner is chosen by the host and they receive 10% off their order that night.
After that the guests have the option to look at the Jewellery and either buy on the spot or place an order. I have a mixture of pieces that are order only and some that can be taken on the night. Orders taken on the night, are generally made up and returned to the host within a week to 10 days.

I am very excited about my party at home service and hope that it will bring awareness of my jewellery to a wider customer base.

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