Back to the Bench: How to Ease Back Into Your Jewellery Business After Summer (Podcast Episode)
After a summer break, it can be tempting to come back to your jewellery business with a huge list and the feeling that you need to catch up on everything immediately.
In this episode, Jessica Rose shares simple ways to ease yourself back into work without becoming overwhelmed, from resetting your workspace and rebuilding your routine to choosing the priorities that really matter for the months ahead.
You don’t need to tackle the whole list at once. Start with one thing, then build from there.
Jess also looks ahead to the busy Christmas jewellery sales season and how you can start preparing now without burning yourself out before it even begins.
A practical reset to help you get back to your jewellery business and back to the bench.
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Coming back to your jewellery business after the summer can feel surprisingly difficult.
Perhaps you've taken some proper time away from work. Maybe your routine has disappeared during the school holidays. You might have been making less, posting less on social media or simply enjoying a slower few weeks.
Then September arrives and suddenly it feels as though you should be doing everything. You might be excited to get started and want to jump on in or you may be a bit daunted about everything you want to do.
You need to make stock. Update your website. Start thinking about Christmas. Send emails. Post on Instagram. Book craft fairs. Finish that collection. Sort your workspace. Reply to everyone you've ignored during August…
It can be tempting to go from zero to one hundred on your first day back.
But there is another way.
In this episode of the Jewellers Academy Podcast, Jessica Rose shares some simple back-to-work rituals to help you ease back into your jewellery making or jewellery business, regain your motivation and build sustainable momentum for the busy months ahead.
The aim isn't to become wildly productive overnight. It's to make it easier to start.
Start small when you return to your jewellery business
One of the biggest mistakes we can make after a break is expecting ourselves to immediately work at full capacity.
If you've had a change of routine, it can take a little time for your mind and body to adjust again.
Rather than choosing the biggest and most intimidating project on your list for your first day back, start with something simple.
You could tidy your jewellery bench, organise your tools, clear your desk or clean up your computer desktop. You might change something small in your workspace, open a fresh notebook or prepare the tools and materials you'll need for the weeks ahead.
It might not feel like particularly important work, but these small rituals can help signal that you're beginning a new chapter.
Think of it as clearing the decks.
You don't need to prove how productive you are on day one. You simply need to begin.
Treat the Christmas jewellery sales season like a marathon
For many jewellery businesses, September through December is the busiest part of the year.
There may be craft fairs to prepare for, stock to make, photographs to organise, website listings to update and plenty of marketing to do. You'll potentially be juggling email marketing, social media, commissions, packaging and customer orders at the same time.
That means September isn't the moment to exhaust yourself.
Think about the Christmas jewellery sales season as a marathon rather than a sprint. If you start at maximum speed, you risk running out of energy just as your busiest sales period begins.
Instead, build gradually.
Ask yourself not only what you want to achieve over the coming months, but also how you're going to look after yourself while you do it.
That might mean going for a walk before sitting down at your bench, protecting some days off, switching off notifications in the evening or making sure you have something restorative planned during particularly busy weeks.
Rest doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. What matters is making it intentional rather than waiting until you're already exhausted.
Make a simple September-to-December jewellery business plan
September is a brilliant time to step back and decide what actually matters in your jewellery business between now and Christmas.
Rather than creating an enormous list of everything you could possibly do, identify your main priorities.
Perhaps you're going to concentrate on two Christmas markets, selling through your website and email marketing.
That might also mean consciously deciding that you are not going to create another new jewellery collection before Christmas.
Knowing what you're not doing can be just as helpful as knowing what you are.
If you're already running an established jewellery business, ideally much of your collection development, product photography and preparation will have happened earlier in the year. The autumn can then become the period when you focus much more heavily on selling and promoting the work you've already created.
If you're only just starting your jewellery business, don't panic. You can absolutely start now. You'll simply need to be realistic about what you can achieve and keep your plans relatively simple.
Decide what you're doing on your first day back
Sometimes a four-month plan feels like too much.
So make it smaller.
What are you going to do on your first day?
Your first day might simply be:
tidy your jewellery bench, organise your workspace and write down your priorities for the season ahead.
That is enough.
Then think about your first week or two.
Perhaps you want to reopen your online shop after your summer break, begin posting regularly again, check your existing stock or prepare for an upcoming craft fair.
Keep the list manageable.
There is very little benefit in writing down 30 jobs if seeing the list makes you too overwhelmed to start any of them.
Your plan should help you work. It shouldn't become another source of pressure.
Try the one-thing-a-day rule
One of Jess's favourite approaches whenever work starts to feel overwhelming is incredibly simple:
What is the one thing I need to do today?
Of course, you may end up doing much more than one thing.
But if your minimum expectation is simply one meaningful action each working day, getting started becomes much easier.
One day that might be photographing a new necklace.
Another day you could write an email to your customers.
Another might be ordering packaging, completing a product listing or spending an hour making stock.
Those individual actions may not seem significant, but repeated consistently they create enormous progress.
This is particularly important if your jewellery business has to fit around another job, caring responsibilities or other commitments.
You don't need to work on your business full time for your work to count.
If you only have one hour this week, use that hour.
Slow, sustainable progress is still progress.
What to do when you don't feel motivated to make jewellery
Sometimes getting back into the swing of things isn't about having too much motivation. It's about having none at all.
Perhaps you've sat down at your bench and can't get started. The solution isn't necessarily to force yourself through the hardest task on your list.
Lower the bar.
If you've told yourself you need to spend the afternoon doing your accounts and you are avoiding them at all costs, perhaps today isn't the day for accounts.
Could you draft an email instead?
Could you spend twenty minutes preparing materials?
Could you photograph one product?
Could you make some jump rings, cut solder pallions, clean your files or prepare fresh emery sticks?
Routine jewellery-making tasks can be particularly useful when you're returning to the bench because they allow your hands and brain to reconnect with the process of making without the pressure of creating something brilliant.
Often, starting creates its own momentum.
Once you've completed one small task, the second suddenly feels much easier.
Be a better manager to yourself
Running your own jewellery business also means becoming your own manager.
And sometimes we're terrible managers.
We tell ourselves we're behind.
We criticise ourselves for not doing enough.
We make enormous lists and then get annoyed when one human being can't complete all of them.
Imagine working for somebody who spoke to you that way every day.
Now imagine a manager saying:
You're back. Brilliant. Let's see what we can get done today.
That doesn't mean avoiding difficult work or abandoning your ambitions. It simply means recognising that encouragement is often much more effective than criticism.
Especially when you're trying to rebuild momentum.
Start preparing your jewellery business for Christmas now
Autumn is also the moment to start gently mapping out your Christmas jewellery marketing.
You don't need every Instagram post or email planned by the beginning of September.
But there are some useful questions to start answering.
What jewellery are you going to sell this Christmas?
Do you have enough stock?
Do you need different sizes or variations?
Will you take Christmas commissions?
When will your commission deadline be?
Will you offer gift vouchers?
Which Christmas markets or craft fairs are you attending?
When is the final date customers can order for Christmas delivery?
Once you know the answers, you can start building your marketing around them.
September can be a relatively light promotional month. Think relationship-building, reconnecting with your audience and starting to talk about what you've been making.
If you're offering bespoke or commissioned jewellery for Christmas, however, you'll want to begin talking about this earlier because your order deadline will naturally come sooner.
Then you can gradually increase your promotion through October, November and December.
You have time.
The important thing is to start building momentum rather than leaving everything until the busiest few weeks of the year.
And do check out our FREE How To Have a £20K Christmas in Your Jewellery Business mini course
Choose three jewellery business goals
If your list of priorities still feels enormous, try narrowing it down to three goals.
At Jewellers Academy, this is something we also use inside the Jewellery Business Academy.
Choose just three things you want to achieve between now and Christmas.
Perhaps yours are:
sell at your chosen Christmas craft fairs
increase sales through your jewellery website
email your customers regularly
Now you have a filter for deciding what to work on.
When you sit down each day, ask whether the task in front of you moves you towards one of those three goals.
If it doesn't, you may have found something that can wait until next year.
Once you've eased yourself back into work, try spending the first part of your working day on a high-impact task connected to one of your goals rather than immediately becoming reactive to emails, notifications and other people's requests.
Even an hour of focused work can make a huge difference.
Create a start-of-day and end-of-day jewellery business routine
Starting work intentionally can help you focus, but ending intentionally matters too.
This can be particularly challenging if you work from home.
There is no commute telling your brain that the working day has finished. Your jewellery business is right there, and there's always another email, Instagram message or task you could complete.
Create some kind of ritual that marks the end of work.
You could go for a walk, take off your apron and tidy the bench, turn off notifications or simply decide that after a particular time you don't reply to business messages.
If you're building a jewellery business around another job, you could give yourself a defined window — perhaps an hour in the evening — and then deliberately finish.
Being constantly available doesn't necessarily help your business.
Having time when you're properly away from work can help you return with much more energy the following day.
Another useful end-of-day habit is writing down your first task for tomorrow.
Then when you sit down at your bench or desk the next morning, you don't have to answer the enormous question:
‘What do I need to do to create a successful jewellery business?’
You already know what comes next.
Give yourself time to find your rhythm again
Ultimately, returning to jewellery making or your jewellery business after a break isn't about creating the perfect routine.
It's about transition.
You are moving from one season into another.
Give yourself a few days to find your rhythm again.
Keep things simple.
Be gentle with yourself.
Choose one thing and do it.
Then choose the next thing.
Before long, you'll find yourself back in the flow of making, marketing and growing your jewellery business — with enough energy left to actually enjoy the busy Christmas season ahead.
Join the Jewellers Academy September Instagram Challenge
If social media is one of the things you've struggled to restart after the summer, we'll also be running a Jewellers Academy Instagram challenge during September.
We'll be focusing on just one prompt each week, helping you build consistency and connection with your customers as we move towards the Christmas jewellery sales season.
The emphasis will be on quality rather than quantity, so you don't need to suddenly start posting every day.
Follow @jewellersacademy on Instagram to join in and share what you're working on this autumn.
And if you're heading back to your jewellery bench or jewellery business this September, remember: you don't need to do everything today.
Start with the next thing.
jewellery business academy
If you’re serious about growing a sustainable and profitable jewellery business, enrolment for the next Jewellery Business Academy will be opening soon.
The Academy runs from Jan to Dec and is our year-long programme supporting jewellers with the business side of growing their jewellery brand, with training, mentoring and support throughout the year.
https://www.jewellersacademy.com/the-jewellery-business-academy
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