Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in jewelry but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jeff Ross, owner, and inventor of Dimples, located in Uxbridge, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
At Dimples, we believe life is a collection of remarkable moments shared with the ones we love. Each of these moments leaves a mark on us. A Dimple. At DimplesCharms.com, we design and craft personalized fine jewelry to help the world capture and forever cherish life's remarkable moments. We occupy a unique niche at the intersection of fashion and sentiment. Our customers are fashionable yet sentimental who celebrate life's moments and milestones with meaningful jewelry.
Tell us about yourself
Believe it, or not, before starting a jewelry brand, I was a microbiologist. Although I was tremendously fascinated by the subject matter, I found inoculating test tubes and petri dishes dreadfully monotonous and boring. I need creativity. I need meaning. I need to have something tangible to show for my efforts at the end of the day. I am able to satisfy all these needs, and more, run my own company.
I am motivated by my wife and my three amazing kids. Their smiling faces, creative ideas, and boundless energy are an inspiration. On top of that, my dreams, goals, and plans for the future also propel me into new and inspired action.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
At one point in the not-too-distant past, our brand was sold nationwide through a network of almost 100 retail partners. We attempted to roll out a cloud-based interactive design kiosk to that network of retailers. The kiosk enabled the end-use customer to design their jewelry, see it on screen in 3D, make any desired changes, place their order, and have the item manufactured local to them or the shipping destination.
Unfortunately, most of the retailers were located in shopping malls which, as we discovered, had horrible connectivity. The entire project had to be scrapped. Sounds horrible, I know. There was a silver lining, though. What we discovered was that we had developed an online business. Our biggest accomplishment so far has been the rapid pivot and transition from a B2B business model to a B2C online model selling directly to customers worldwide online.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
You are going to pour your heart into something with 100% faith that it will work. I sincerely hope that it does. In fact, my wish for you is that your idea and plan work flawlessly and all your dreams come true. However, there may come a time when you become aware that it won't work the way you thought it should. One of the hardest things that come with being a business owner is when you realize that something you dedicated yourself to just isn't going to work. At that moment, you must accept the truth that something has to be changed and immediately decide to find a solution. You don't have time for a pity party. You must immediately seek new ideas and new action. Awareness, acceptance, and change are difficult things for most people. Your comfort level with them will determine your level of business success.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start with your customers in mind. Make sure your product fulfills a need for a large enough market. If you didn't start this way, find a way to market whatever you do have in a way that fills a need or modify t so that it.
- Focus on sales first. The most successful startups are those whose leadership is sales-focused.
- Don't give up. Persistence is the key. Fail fast and fail forward. Sometimes success is as simple as staying in business long enough to figure out how to make money.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://dimplescharms.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dimplescharms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dimplescharms/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.