How wonderful that you want to tell us your story. Tell us something about yourself.
My name is Jacorine, I'm 26 years old, happily married for almost two and a half years, and work as a secretary. I also run my own webshop featuring handmade (clay) jewelry.
I don't get much rest and am always busy with something. Whether it's cleaning the house, organizing a party (because I absolutely love parties and organizing them), babysitting, catching up with friends, doing something for church, or singing—in short: creative and enterprising.
My middle name is Mrs. Dot. I absolutely love anything with dots. It's hard to imagine anything that I don't have a thing for: bedding, tea towels, pajamas, socks, pens, notebooks, bags, clothes, suitcases, candles, you name it.
When I was still living with my parents and I showed my mother what I had bought (there was always something with dots in it) the comment was always 'oh yes, Mrs. Dot'.
How cool, your own webshop! How exactly did you get started selling handmade jewelry?
I mainly make and sell clay earrings, but I am gradually adding new items.
I'd been buying clay earrings from someone else since 2020. They were getting more expensive, and I was sometimes missing some colors, etc., so I decided to buy some clay and a cutter myself. I ended up with quite a stash, but what do you do with so many earrings, colors, and so much clay?
Then I started carefully handing out the earrings to friends, and they were incredibly well-received. Secretly, I'd already been thinking of the name "Mrs. Dot" and had even created an Instagram page.
Eventually, I started selling through Instagram, and it went so well that sometimes the Instagram inbox became incredibly cluttered. That's why I quickly started thinking about setting up an online store.
My goal was to at least recoup my investment and then register with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK). When I was at a market in April and it was going so well, I decided to build the webshop.
On June 14, 2023, I went to the Chamber of Commerce and signed my name, and Mrs. Stip was truly official.
What a great story! Did you encounter any pitfalls along the way to success?
Sometimes it's a matter of finding balance. I choose to make something occasionally when it suits me, and often I don't make that same earring again. It's hard for me to disappoint someone, but to keep things somewhat enjoyable, I have to.
In the beginning, I also made a lot of custom work, but that really put a lot of pressure on me. People really underestimated the amount of work that went into an earring and would sometimes ask me a few days later if I had finished it yet. But then, for example, the color I ordered hadn't even been delivered yet.
That's why I've now chosen to charge a little more for it and also ask when they need the earring.
I was also quite insecure about the earrings at first, because why would people want my earrings and what if I did something wrong with the earring and it broke etc.
Luckily, I have a very down-to-earth husband who would sometimes tackle me.
But honestly, if an earring that took a lot of work doesn't sell or a customer sends a message that something is broken, I'm really upset about it, but ultimately it's handmade and we can solve it together.
And what many people find interesting to know is, approximately how much do you sell per month?
That's hard to say. I was much less active on Instagram during the summer months of July and August, and I've noticed that that really contributes to the number of website visits. And I think people aren't online and don't buy much during the summer months either.
But now, towards autumn, I notice that it is really busy(er) again and people want new outfits to go with their autumn/winter clothes.
Every now and then I also stand at a market and that of course also adds up quite a bit.
I think the average monthly sales are around 50-70 orders.
Is this webshop your main or second profession?
It's a second profession and actually I also call it a hobby.
I save from the turnover I make for new products and I still have a lot of cool plans for the future, so I am not (yet) paying myself.
If I wanted to, I could probably make this my full-time job, but that's a big step, and I think I'll still consider this purely a hobby. But who knows what the future holds!
Can you describe your 'customer'?
Mainly women between 20 and 45 years old I think.
But what was fun was that when I went online on Insta, a friend from our group of friends bought the first set of earrings; as a gift for his girlfriend.
Do you have any tips for other enterprising women who would like to sell polymer clay jewelry?
Just go for it! Looking back, I think, "Why didn't I start sooner?" There's really no need to be insecure. If you enjoy making your jewelry, why not share it with someone else?
There are tons of online stores where you can buy stuff, and if you'd rather not, consider taking a workshop first (at Sieradenstraatje, for example) to learn some basic skills.
Thank you so much for your wonderful story! And... what do you think of Sieradenstraatje ?
A fantastic company with a huge selection of cutters and other supplies. Most of my cutters come from Sieradenstraatje. I also attended the workshop to polish up the details. You can be proud of your business!
Thank you Jacorine! x