Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in fashion accessories but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sam Mamane, founder and president of Italgem Steel, located in Mont-Royal, Quebec, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Italgem Steel is regarded as an innovative alternative metal jewellery brand. It is one of the leading premium lifestyle companies with a globally present multi-channel strategy. Delighting its customers with unique designs, Italgem Steel specializes in conceptualized designs for today's modern man.
Resourceful tools such as Facebook and Instagram have a lot to do with our capacity to target men of all ages. Millennials, in particular, are driving men's jewellery sales, generating half of the growth, followed by Gen Z and Gen X. Men are becoming more fashion-forward and are now viewing their jewellery as a part of their outfits. The jewellery's language keeps the accessories masculine while keeping up with the latest designs and trends.
Tell us about yourself
Looking back in hindsight, I was entrenched in the jewellery business from my earliest days, having grown up in a family of highly regarded jewellers. I began my career path in the gold and diamond wholesale industry. At the age of 23, I started my very own distribution company of fine Italian gold jewellery. In 2008, with the incremental cost of gold and the consistent lack of high-quality men's jewellery, I ventured into pursuing a different path and designed a branded collection of men's fine stainless steel jewellery. I have since then been passionate about creating my unique designs as a form of creative expression, in addition to my innate talent and intrinsic knowledge.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Italgem Steel's success is primarily due to our ability to come up with our own formula. We pride ourselves in our unique designs, learning what works and what doesn't, while continuously striving for improvement, growth, and expansion. Surrounding myself with a strong executive team as well as dynamic staff members allows us to operate a very successful corporation while ultimately achieving our goals.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
In what can sometimes be a volatile market, the ability to easily adapt to the sign of the times is the key factor in surviving and overcoming hardships as a learning experience rather than a hindrance. Our business, like any other, must stay abreast of the needs of the ultimate consumer, all the while plummeting through the ebbs and flows during the journey.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Firstly, striving to deliver an unparalleled product while providing optimal customer service is key. Forging strong and meaningful relationships with retailers and consumers is one that we believe must be valued tremendously.
Secondly, it is imperative that a business such as ours continues to know what the customer wants and how to deliver it. Distinguishing yourselves from others accomplishes this while continuing to create exclusive designs at an affordable price.
Finally, Innovation is the final key in always producing and creating new designs. We think about the ultimate consumer and the emotions they will exude from the materials themselves or by the sentiments they experience when they complement their look with one of Italgem Steel's unique designs.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
From a humbling beginning, Italgem Steel is globally celebrated as a brand that continuously pushes the boundaries of jewellery designs from multiple angles resulting in a prominent international men's stainless steel collection. Italgem Steel goes beyond business; it is shaping the confines in men's jewellery towards an extension of lifestyle and personal expression.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://italgemsteel.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/italgemsteel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItalgemSteel/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Italgemsteel1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/italgem/
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.
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