We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a jewelry making business:

#1: Connie Hung, founder of costanté:

We chatted with with Connie, founder of costanté ($75K/month). In our interview, Connie says:

Everyone thinks owning a business is cool because you can set your own hours and don’t have to report to anyone. What no one tells you is that now you have no guidance and no one to hold accountable but yourself.

Additionally:

Email marketing is extremely effective and because we didn’t take down any emails, we lost the chance to reconnect with the hundreds of people we met that weekend.

Further:

Feeling of fear, uncertainty, and failure is integral to the journey; the journey is what will get you to where you want to go. It sounds simple, but most people are always looking for the result instead of focusing on the process.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Diane Lawrence & Dawn Pochek, founder of Inspiranza Designs:

We chatted with with Diane, founder of Inspiranza Designs ($400K/month). In our interview, Diane says:

Only spend what you have.

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#3: KC Holiday, founder of QALO:

We chatted with with KC, founder of QALO ($2M/month). In our interview, KC says:

In the early days, don’t waste time and money trying to market five different products. Find the one that makes you unique, build a community then evolve from there.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: KC Holiday, founder of QALO:

We chatted with with KC, founder of QALO ($2M/month). In our interview, KC says:

Neither of us had any background in manufacturing or building eCommerce websites, but that wasn’t going to stop us.

Additionally:

Shamelessly, we sent emails and product to anyone we thought could prove the concept, as well as having an impact on a larger group.

Further:

You are so passionate about your company, you want the world to know. It just doesn’t happen overnight. Have a long-term vision, and set short-term goals.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Nicolas Tranchant, founder of Vivalatina Jewelry:

We chatted with with Nicolas, founder of Vivalatina Jewelry ($16.7K/month). In our interview, Nicolas says:

Start with a goal for the year and a detailed plan of action of what to do each month to reach that goal. Track the results, successes, and failures and improve semester after semester.

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#6: Jina Chang, founder of Girls Crew:

We chatted with with Jina, founder of Girls Crew ($0/month). In our interview, Jina says:

Showcasing at flea markets really allowed me to not only build a strong customer base and gain brand recognition but to also learn what it’s like to run a business.

Additionally:

I wouldn’t be anywhere without my team. I would say that hiring the right people is one of the key factors to determine your success. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know everything--I certainly wish I did.

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#7: Pragya Batra, founder of Quirksmith:

We chatted with with Pragya, founder of Quirksmith ($40K/month). In our interview, Pragya says:

Don’t try to create a perfect website with all features on day one. As website visitors start growing, new features can be added.

Additionally:

The more customer pictures we shared, the more comfortable women became posting online because there were so many like them who were posting their pictures wearing our designs.

Further:

Be aware of the primary reason you want to be an entrepreneur. Decisions and trade-offs (especially trade-offs) become very easy if you have that clarity.

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Alex Moore, founder of Gold Pan Pete Design:

We chatted with with Alex, founder of Gold Pan Pete Design ($2.5K/month). In our interview, Alex says:

My best piece of advice for anyone who is interested in starting their own business and has a good idea would be to just go for it. Take things in baby steps and gradually get bigger and bigger.

Additionally:

My best decision for marketing and advertising was to teach myself how to become a better photographer and how to use Instagram properly for my business. These skills have truly paid off.

Further:

I think I got one sale from the campaign. That taught me a lesson to not get my hopes up and see the dollar signs with something is not guaranteed.

Read the full interview ➜

#9: Alex Moore, founder of Gold Pan Pete Design:

We chatted with with Alex, founder of Gold Pan Pete Design ($2.5K/month). In our interview, Alex says:

You will make mistakes and you will fail. Use these to learn something and improve for next time. Be resilient and keep going!

Read the full interview ➜

#10: Lindsay Ann Gottschall and Courtney Joy Bleier, founder of Ann + Joy:

We chatted with with Lindsay, founder of Ann + Joy ($1K/month). In our interview, Lindsay says:

Within our first 3 months, we sold over 100 orders, resulting in more than $3,000 in revenue. By the end of our first year, we had sold over 2,300 orders, resulting in more than $65,000.