Business
Key success factors for success in jewelry and woodwork crafts including customer expectation
Jewelry and woodwork crafts provide business savvy people an opportunity to earn a living while expressing their creative art nature to the universe. However, Berrett (2012) suggests that the mistake that most people make when starting an art related business is to neglect the business side of the startup. As a result, most businesses fail due to mismanagement and poor planning of the venture. This is a mistake that Aguirre Jewelry and Wood Work Crafts will not succumb to because of the extensive planning analysis and planning that is going behind this venture in its planning stage as well as after it is launched.
Callahan (2011) suggests that uniqueness as well as functionality is the next factor that will ensure that the venture is successful. Aguirre Jewelry and Wood Work Crafts realizes that customers wear and decorate their homes with artistic pieces to create a distinction from the general population. As a result, the contemporary and whimsical direction that the business will be based on will ensure that customers buy crafts from us and keep coming back. Since the jewelry will be crafted from titanium, its hypo allergic qualities will ensure that anyone can wear them.
Accessibility of the jewelry and crafts will ensure that we tap customers on all platforms. The business will be able to achieve this through establishing a good online presence, as well accessing customers through a network of galleries and art fairs and shows. In addition, the business workshop will also function as a retail point where customers can meet with the creative team and feel the inspiration, which will promote returning customers.
Weigh each factor to reflect its relevance to success in the industry
As stated earlier, most artist want their art related businesses to be enjoyable, expressive, and relaxed and that is why they forget the business related aspect of a business. According to Berrett (2012) creating a business plan, marketing plan, as well as other business related activities will ensure that the business taps all the potential it can from its external environment as well as people related to it.
Uniqueness is the single most important factor in creating art related pieces. Since the business will engage in unique ideas to create its art pieces means that the business is most likely to be successful. A plan to use some craft pieces to display the jewelry on the website and other places creates a unique nature, therefore, giving the business an edge.
According to Callahan (2011), accessibility is the next most important factor for an art related or any other business out there. Since the business will be spread on so many platforms, it will be easier to build a reputation in the art world. However, it is important to note that creating such a presence will require so much capital and, therefore, the business should start small.
Two competitors in the industry
The jewelry and crafts sector has been growing rapidly for several years now. Statistics reveal that there has been a 9% increase in the jewelry industry. As a result, there are numerous jewelry and art businesses today. However, the most significant competitors in my community include Rustique Art and Gems from Loa.
Evaluate your competitors and your venture against those key success factors, assigning weights
Rustique Art has been up and running for two years while and Gems from Loa has been established for six months. While I do not know if they had proper business planning from the start, I have evaluated how business is run in the two businesses through observation. A woman and her daughter who both possess wonderful customer service skills manage Gems from Loa. However, the two have distinct taste in art and often present art that is disjointed though tasteful as individual pieces. The two have also established a very distinguished online presence as they advertise on social media and have a website that they display their art very tastefully.
Rustique art on the other hand has amazing whimsical and contemporary art displays that may have helped the business survive for such a long period. However, the gentleman who runs the business has invested too much on the art side, which may soon hurt the business. This analysis is based on observation while visiting his displays. Unfortunately, he has not established a good online presence since he does not update his creation often enough.
Sum individual ratings to get overall measure of competitive strength for each rival and for your new venture
The two businesses pose a great competitive advantage over Aguirre Jewelry and Wood Work Crafts especially since it is a startup (Callahan 2011). However, despite their strengths, they also have weaknesses. Rustique Art for example greatest strength is in the uniqueness of its craft display. However, the business is poorly managed since the deadlines take a very long period to be completed as well as average online presence. Gems from Loa on the other hand have a thorough online presence as well as wonderful customer relation skill. However, their artwork is disjointed because of the two different personalities involved in the creation of art.
Evaluate your venture’s overall competitive strength relative to rivals and to customer expectations
Because of the integrated crafts and jewelry theme, the art from Aguirre Jewelry and Wood Work Crafts will have a distinct creative and unique nature to its element. In addition, because all the jewelry will be titanium based, this will attract more clientele. The business will also have a well-established online presence, as it is vital for business in this generation (Berrett 2012). Besides, there will be a very good customer relation quality in the business. Therefore, the venture’s overall competitive strength compared to the competition is very strong and the customer expectations will be adequately met.
Determine a course of action to enable your venture to achieve competitive advantage in your industry relative to the industry’s key success factors and the position of your competitors.
After extensively done market research, I have identified that amassed a considerable amount of knowledge regarding customer preferences, likes and dislikes regarding designs, and prices of the merchandise. Part of the market research involved participating in art shows and festivals with different pieces to determine the acceptance of the products. The results revealed that the pieces are widely accepted by customers. The unique ability of the team behind the art pieces is incredibly modern and fashionable. Using the said skills, the business wishes to bring a new perspective in the art related market, which will lead to improving the customer’s outlook in life and creating a movement to support the kind of art that the business is looking to present.
References
Callahan, A. (2011). Joanna Gollberg. Ornament, 35(2), 28-33.
Berrett, D. (2012). Business and Liberal-Arts Professors Discuss How to Improve the Business Major. Chronicle Of Higher Education, 58(30), A19.
