I Turned £10 Jewellery Supplies Into £21,000 A Month Business
- Nina, 22, began making jewellery to pass the time with £10 of supplies
- After months of hard work her business was making a whopping £21,000 a month
- She currently works with four freelancers and is aiming for a digital nomad lifestyle
The average monthly salary in the UK averages at £2,000 a month, but imagine if you owned a business which was making £21,000 in the same time period?? That’s the reality for one savvy young woman, who launched a jewellery company during lockdown and has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Nina Alston, 22, from Melbourne, Australia, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘I started creating jewellery as a hobby to pass the time. I love jewellery and during Covid I was unable to afford any of the cute pieces I would see online.
‘I’ve always been interested in arts and anything creative so I started buying chains, cutting up old jewellery and creating new designs. With the excess, I made pieces to sell on Depop!
‘With the money I made from selling on Depop, I bought more supplies, invested in higher quality tools and I started uploading more products to Depop. It never was intended to become what it is today, I purely started as a way to keep my mind occupied during Covid and I’ve never stopped.
‘The business grew purely because I kept thinking - how can I sell this necklace to have money to buy more supplies so I can make more jewellery? What started off as cutting up and creating jewellery out of £10 worth of supplies, has now snowballed into a £21,000 a month business! Obviously a lot of work, long hours and nights spent on the laptop were involved - however, I wouldn’t change a thing!
‘When I first started, I was very concerned about what others would think of me. I kept it a secret for a few months until a few people I knew bought our products via Depop and only realised it was me when their PayPal receipt was sent from my personal account (whoops)!
‘When I first started the business, my mental health was not in the best place and so every comment and remark that was made towards me or the business had a major effect on me. I remember having a Zoom meeting with another business owner and I had applied makeup and later on had dinner with some friends. They asked why I was wearing makeup and weren’t convinced when I told them I had a meeting. As if my job was not important enough to have meetings!!
‘Now when this happens, it goes completely over my head. At the end of the day, I know my own self worth, I’m enjoying the life I’ve created for myself and I’m so excited to watch The Messy Archive grow.
‘I genuinely love the products I sell and it’s so easy for me to talk about what I do for a living and what we sell. It’s more than just jewellery in my opinion. We’ve created a community of lovers of fashion, cool nail art and fun and affordable jewellery. I never started the business with the intention of wanting to sell it for millions, or to hire and outsource the second I could, I just genuinely really love jewellery and having the flexibility of working for myself.
‘We definitely had a lot of people, freelancers, creators and agencies try and reach out to me convincing me that I need someone like them to help the business. I definitely believe some agencies are genuinely there to help businesses, however there are lots of people who will try and jump onto your success. I have used agencies which have drained our profits, however I am now in a position to know my own value, trust my own gut and know that nobody will ever truly love or know the brand like I do.
‘The business was definitely not an overnight success. I worked hard for months with hardly any sales before our sales were starting to become more consistent. We haven’t had a TikTok video go viral - it’s just been hard and consistent work from the start. After nearly 2 years, we are now at a place where we sell consistently which I am very grateful for.
‘Sales have thankfully stayed consistent, however the start of the year are always typically slower months in any industry. I expected our online sales to plateau during this time, however we have also prioritised pop up events, markets and in person retail events to make up for the loss during this time. In person shopping events also allow us to communicate with our customers and understand their needs and wants which makes designing new collections easier!
‘There are so many women in business who are accomplishing amazing things, however I’ve never seen myself as a business figure. Instead I see myself as working for myself, doing a job I truly love and selling a product I genuinely like.
‘My idea of success is to wake up everyday knowing I’m going to a job I love and that has given me the opportunity and flexibility to work from wherever I am in the world.
‘I currently work from my home studio, however I also love working from overseas when I am able to as well as local cafes! We have an off site storage facility where all our extra stock and packaging supplies are kept. I’m working towards a time where I can work from anywhere in the world with my laptop!
‘I currently have four freelancers who help me work on our Google presences, all advertising and marketing on Facebook and Instagram as well as a content creator.
‘We are currently averaging between £16,000 and £21,000 in sales per month - however our focus this year is to ensure a steady growth during the cost of living crisis.
‘My advice to anyone wanting to start a business is to not overthink anything, and it’s always easier selling a product you actually love and care about. I love jewellery and so designing, creating and selling jewellery has been almost natural to me. I’m always wearing my pieces and constantly talking about the brand and I believe this love I have towards my own brand can be seen by others.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Nina has achieved the kind of financial success many of us can only dream of. She’s so young that it just goes to show anyone can do incredible things no matter where they are at in life. I’ll have to show this site to my girlfriend, I think she will love it!’
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Wow Nina Alston. You are a genius to start off so small and grow your business into a very successful one. Well done.