The trick to beginning any business is to actually begin. The first few steps are the hardest. So many people have terrific business ideas that they never implement. Once you overcome inertia, the business will seem to take on a life of its own. Then the remaining steps and the related business decisions will appear and you will not have to go after them.



Step 1 Select a Jewelry Store Name and Domain Name.

This step is difficult and extremely important. You should select a name for your online jewelry store that is easily remembered. It should be catchy. Do you want your jewelry store to be elegant or perhaps trendy? The name will set a tone for your business. The corresponding URL should be easy to remember. I would avoid using hyphens or underscores in the URL since they are hard to remember. Register all reasonable variations of the name that you selected for a one year period. You can always renew them next year. This will protect you from potential cyber-squatters in the future.

Of utmost importance is selecting a name that is not currently in use by another online or offline business. This includes names that may be considered confusingly similar to an already existing business. Once you decide upon the name, contact a trademark attorney to see if the name is already trademarked. If it is available apply for the trademark. This step is very important. Your site can be taken away from you in the future if someone wins a trademark infringement suit claiming you are infringing upon their registered trademark. All your effort and marketing expenses for that name will be wasted.

Step 2 Select a legal entity for your business.

Many businesses begin as sole proprietorships, or DBA's. This is the easiest and least costly way to begin. You will need a business license from your locality. The downside of this form of business is you can be held personally liable if you are sued. All of your personal assets will be at risk.

The next option is to incorporate. This is more costly to set up. It can be done online without an attorney if you are comfortable setting something up yourself. This would be the least costly way to set up a corporation. The upside to a corporate entity is that the corporation is a separate legal entity. Therefore, your personal assets should not be at risk if you operate the corporation as a separate entity. You should consult an attorney for further details on the appropriate legal entity for your business.

Step 3 Select a service to host your website.

There are many services out there with many different price structures. Check at least three references before proceeding with any service. Look at the sites they maintain. Are their customers satisfied? Do they have good customer service if you have problems? Are the sites operating properly? Are the sites up and running all the time? Are there periods when your site may not be online due to system problems?

Step 4 Design Your Website.

If you can design your own site there are many software programs available. Some of them are excellent, but they are also very complex. If you are able to do this yourself you can save a great deal of money. However, if you don't set the site up properly it will not be indexed by the major search engines. Your internet search traffic could be negatively affected by mistakes. So, if you don't feel comfortable doing this yourself then a web designer would be appropriate. They can be found online. Again, check references and ask to see other sites that they designed before making a commitment. Make sure they are aware of good search engine optimization techniques.

Step 5 Buy Jewelry to Place in Inventory.

You will need to decide what types of jewelry you will sell. My suggestion is to begin with lower cost inventory at first to begin building your site. This would include sterling silver and semi-precious gemstone jewelry. Add higher value gold, diamond and gemstone inventory as you progress and begin to build an online reputation.

Of course there are many more steps to building your online jewelry store. But if you get through the beginning first steps the momentum will build and you will be on your way. The ideas that you have pondered for so long will finally begin to exist. It is a wonderful feeling. Good Luck!