Press Release - SS14 Launch

Jewellery designer Shen Wong launches her first official collection for SS14

Shen Wong, a Dublin based jewellery designer, set up her business in October 2013 and has already won the ‘Key To The City’ business competition, met the Lord Mayor of Dublin and been interviewed on Dublin City FM. Her Facebook page ‘Shen Wong Jewellery’ has attracted 500 fans and is growing daily.

Born in Hong Kong, Shen and her family moved to Ireland when she was 18 months old. Having grown up in Ireland, she often surprises the people she meets with her combination of Asian looks and Dublin accent. Shen graduated with an MA in PR and an MBS in Marketing. After working in the marketing industry for six years, Shen decided it was time to follow her passion for fashion accessories and set up her own online jewellery business.

The designers’ first collection features handmade jewellery using her own unique technique, which she calls ‘wired by Shen’. Using Swarovski pearls and crystals in her designs, she has developed a range of high quality yet affordable jewellery with prices starting at only €30.00. Shen makes every piece of her jewellery by hand at her home studio in Dublin. To complete the handmade experience for her customers, Shen packages her jewellery into hand folded origami jewellery boxes, offering a truly unique shopping and gifting experience.

This SS’14 Collection is Shen’s first complete collection. Her designs feature Swarovski pearls and through the use of a range of pearl colors, Shen’s unique wirework technique and combination of Swarovski crystals, the creative designer has injected a fun twist to the traditional pearl look.

Hand crafted jewellery by Shen Wong can be purchased online at:

www.ShenWong.com

3 Steps To Getting Financial Support

Many people may be put off setting up their own business due to tight finances. But with some savings and a bit of financial support from the government, your dreams can be within reach!

How I got financial support:

1. Applied for the Back To Work Enterprise Allowance,
2. Prepared a detailed business plan,
3. Applied for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance with the Tolka Partnership.

          Weekly allowance approved!

After I left my job, I knew that I wanted to set up my own business. This will be a slow process as there is a lot of set up work and I will not be bringing in much money within the first couple of months.

To overcome the lack of income in the early stages of my set-up, I applied for the Back To Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) otherwise known as the dole or scratcher. This is a fund for people who are unemployed. Until I've created business viable products, I considered myself to be an unemployed person pursuing on a VERY expensive hobby/idea. On that basis, it is fair for me to avail of this fund.

Recently I completed my online shop set up on Etsy, and made some sales, so it was no longer fair for me to be on an unemployment allowance. I have since successfully applied for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA). This pays the same as the BTWEA and for the same nine month period, but rather than coming out of a pot for unemployed people, it is for start up entrepreneurs. 

Benefits of STEA over BTWEA

• Money is paid straight into your bank account.
• No need to sign-in anymore at the unemployment office.
• No need to attend meetings with case worker.

Note: You cannot get the STEA grant if you are registered as a sole trader.

The resources I mentioned are only available in Ireland. But there should be support in most countries. Remember, Google is your best friend for information!

Resources

Read more about Irish government support and process > here.

Application for STEA form > here.

How to apply for STEA:

- If you live in an area covered by a local development company (xls) (LDC), apply to the Enterprise Officer.

- If you do not live in an LDC area, apply to the Jobs Facilitator in your social welfare local office.

Interview with Clothes.ie

My First Interview!


















This month I was invited to my first interview as Shen Wong Jewellery with Clothes.ie. This is very exciting as Clothes.ie are a Fashion website in Ireland that are really starting to take off!


How I Did It!

I simply reached out and tweeted Clothes.ie that I would like to feature on their website. To sweeten the deal I offered them an item from my product line for their readers as a competition prize. They responded positively and arranged the interview within a month.

If you are in a similar startup situation, I would advise you to start small and contact new or small fashion sites and bloggers to feature your products. It will help you gain a bit of experience and exposure before you move up to the likes of Vogue or So Sue Me!

Tip: Always ensure that the interviewer includes a link to your website and social media pages. Not only can it increase sales opportunities and connections, but it can improve your Google search rankings.

I hope you found this post helpful. Please leave a comment to share your thoughts and ideas.

Read my interview with Clothes.ie here.

How to Win an Award - Then brag about it!

How to Win an Award in 3 Steps

Step 1: Be in to Win!

Find a competition in your field/industry/business that you feel is worth entering. Most importantly, one that you feel there may be a chance of winning. 

For me, as a new start-up business based in Dublin, Ireland I wanted to establish myself as a reliable business. At this launch stage I don't have the results yet to prove myself for a national award, nor do I have the fan base for a big support. So I opted for a local business competition that no one really knew nothing about, Key To The City. 

Key to the City is a competition for Dublin businesses. Winners are the top three businesses with the most votes via a Facebook app. This sounds like a competition that I can win as initially there were only 40 entries, plus the business at the third of the league only had 170 votes. I know that if I put in the work, I stand a real chance of beating this. 

Step 2: Spread The Word

Promote your entry. Even though you are only at the nomination stage, share it across all social media. Fans want to hear about your business. Plus, they want to know how well you are doing.

If you entered an online voting competition, then this is the perfect opportunity to spread the word about your business to everyone, while asking for votes!

How I asked shamelessly asked for votes:

- Post on my Facebook business page

- Post on my Facebook profile

- Called all my friends to ask them for support & to vote for me

- Emailed EVERYONE on my email address book

- Messaged individually every Facebook friend

- Post on Google+ page

- Join & post on Google+ communities

- Post on Twitter

- Post on Twitter & tag community pages when close to winning

- Ask all families & families of friends

- Post on forums

- Post on LinkedIn

- Message everyone on LinkedIn

- Post on community forums (Etsy where I sell have their own forum)

- Join & post on relevant Facebook communities

- Join & post on communities for all educational institutes attended

- Invest in Google Adwords to promote

- Invest in Facebook Advertising

- Write a blog about it!

I also asked everyone I met. There is no limit as to who you can canvas votes from. You just need thick skin.

While conversion rates for votes can be low, when you do everything, it all adds up. Plus every time you mention your business, you are spreading the word about your brand. This is particularly good, if you are looking to sell internationally. I would really only do this at the early stages of the business, you want to be careful not to cheapen your brand. I wouldn't canvas this way regularly either, it will get very annoying!

TIP: When asking for votes, make sure to provide a motivation for the public. For my competition, the organizers are offering a €100 shopping voucher for all voters. I lead with this when I am doing a generic post on my Social Media walls. If there is no prize, then maybe you can offer a prize of your product/services.

Step 3: Brag About It

If you picked the right competition and put in the hard work, hopefully you will come out on top. Even if you don't get the award, you can still be a 'winner'. I intend to promote my result even if I'm just in the top 10 - 'Top 10 business nominated for...'. If I do win, I will be incorporating the words 'Winner of The Key To the City Award 2013' to my marketing materials, both digital and print! 

Of course I will also be entering jewellery making competitions as that is the industry that I am in. I have entered two so far, hopefully I will win one soon!

Aside from the honor of winning an award, there are also other benefits.

Benefits of Award Nomination:

- Improve your credibility to customers & investors,

- Improved brand awareness (to voters & other nominees),

- If your business fails, an award or good result will look on your CV, 

- Can improve your website search results as the host should include a link to your page on their website.

I hope you found this post useful. Do you have any suggestions on winning awards or gaining votes? Please do leave a comment as I would love to hear your thoughts.

7 Questions to Ask Before Quitting Your Job

The 7 Questions...
...I asked myself before I quit my job to set up my own business

This month I finally took the plunge and quit my day job so that I can focus 100% on launching my jewellery business.

Before I came to the decision of leaving my full time job, I had to ask myself 7 questions:

1. Have I stayed motivated in developing this business for at least 3 months?
2. Do others believe that I have the skills, and does the market has the need for my business?
3. Has at least 3 people purchased something from me?
4. Can I sustain 4 months without a salary and still pay my mortgage?
5. If the business failed to take off, will I be able to find a job within 4-6 months?
6. Will I regret it if I don't take this chance?
7. Will I be a happier person if I pursue this business?

After I confidently answered 'Yes' to all these questions, I knew that it was the right decision.

The most important question to me was number 7. To me happiness is the most important consideration as there are ways to work around everything else.

Is there anything you would add to this list?