Turning a hobby into a business

Rhodochrosite pendant

It has been nearly 4 months since I created Jaka Gems. I had been considering it for some time and on 13th September 2012, I created the first piece of Jaka Gems - a Facebook page. This was the day that my hobby became a small online business. My intention is not, and has never been, to make a fortune (lets be honest, cabochons are a very small niche market item which can be supplied far cheaper through Asian markets, particularly China), I simply set out to share my love of lapidary and stones with anyone that was interested, and hopefully the hobby would end up paying for itself.


Agate Cabochon - The first stone cut on my new machine


I had been cutting stones for many years, but not publicly. Many of my friends were surprised when Jaka Gems began.

None the less, I bought some new equipment in August after taking a bit of a hiatus from cutting. Needless to say, I have been really enjoying cutting again and have been trying quite a few new things. I have now started making simple jewelry items, cut scales for a Swiss Army Knife, and even cut scales for a large bread knife. The next big step in this little adventure will be to put my wife through a silversmithing course so that we can create together! I am really looking forward to that!

Ironically, the first stone I sold as Jaka Gems was the first stone that I cut on my new machine - The agate cabochon you see here.

Silver Banded Obsidian Cabochon (Free Form)

The very first thing I learnt in this caper was that running a small online business is hard. Very hard. Trying to get exposure is an ongoing battle, you cant afford to slack off because as soon as you do, your online reach drops off dramatically and you have to work your way back up again.

Mahogany Obsidian finished with a Sterling Silver bail

There are thousands of blogs out there that tell you how to increase exposure for your online business. I've got to admit, I have read quite a few of them, some of them have been helpful, others not quite so. And honestly, if I did everything that these blogs and websites say I should do, I wouldn't have time to create my stones!

But as I said earlier, It has only been 4 months, I am still working on getting an idea about what works and what doesn't. One thing for sure that I can tell you is that this blog has been a great assistance! 'Create consistent and high quality content' is the general idea that gets bandied around when it comes to blogs. Well I hope that what I have been producing for you as part of this blog is keeping you interested in what I do. Perhaps I will let you know the secrets of internet exposure one day, of course, I need to figure out what those secrets are first! Until next time!

Picture Jasper Cabochon - Free Form