The Journey of April Leigh Jewelry

About one in four small businesses fail in the first year of operation. Over half will fail in the first five years. However, the sole proprietor of April Leigh Jewelry, April, has been able to persevere and make her business successful. April has been running her own business for almost five years now, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down or stopping. She has 16,000 sales to date, which is a huge milestone that not many achieve. April’s business consists of creating handmade jewelry, mostly earrings and necklaces. She loves the work she does, even if it means working 14-hour days with only a short break for lunch. April is very dedicated to her work, and her success as a business owner shows it. She is a large inspiration for many, including myself. April has overcome a variety of challenges that prove she is above the rest.

April’s business may be running smoothly now, but that wasn’t always the case. She has faced many difficulties, especially in the beginning. One notable challenge was at the start of her career, when she first started shipping orders out. She wanted to compete with the cheap goods market that has become very popular recently, so she sold her earrings for very cheap with free shipping. This led to some problems, however, as shipping a small box was around three dollars and fifty cents at the time and she sold each piece for five dollars. So, she had to be creative. She recalled, “I was selling them for four dollars and ninety-nine cents, but I was like, okay, if I put them in these like thin mailers, and I put two stamps on them, then I only have to pay a dollar and that would cover the shipping.” Shipping them in these mailers had some problems. They had to be perfectly flat, but her earrings weren’t. The earrings bumped up in the center which caught on the machine that checked the height of the package, which either tore the mailer and sent a damaged product or got sent back for being too tall. She thought about it and put a piece of foam on the sides so the machine wouldn’t catch the earrings. This sometimes worked, but the package was still too tall. April was at a crossroads. She didn’t want to raise the price because she thought she’d be outcompeted by large retailers selling for much less, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She almost quit her business from this problem. She ended up raising her prices to eight dollars and ninety-nine cents and using that headroom for real boxes. This act
saved her business from failure, preventing her business from becoming another statistic.

A quote from April that I really enjoy is, “Use your creativity and add something of value to the market. If you’re interested in something, there’s a good chance other people will like it too.” April used this idea to start her business. She only started it because she liked her product, thought it was unique, and assumed other people would like it too. It began as a casual hobby, but April soon realized she could make money from it. Starting college, she was broke. She totaled her car, and the repairs drained her bank account. April said, “I started freshman year with like a twenty-dollar bill.” She needed a job, trusted her ideas, and it brought her to where she is today.

Starting a business is step one. Getting customers is step two. April is great at attracting customers to her store. She rarely pays for advertisements, usually relying on two free methods of exposure. One of her main methods is social media. April mainly posts on Pinterest, Instagram, and occasionally uploads videos to YouTube. She makes at least five Pinterest posts a week, a few Instagrams a week, and a video about once a month. She usually shows her face in her posts. Her method of advertising is great as it shows who is really behind the business. Another topic of her posts is manufacturing methods and how to grow a business. She inspires many other people just like her though videos detailing a great way to start a successful business. The other method of advertising is an email list. When customers purchase a product from her, their email gets added to a list. April sends promotional emails, such as newsletters or gift guides, to her previous customers. Around 35% of her customers are repeat, which is high for the industry. She sends this email about once a month. It’s a great way to keep people interested and up to date with her items. The high quality of her pieces and high reviews make sure her customers come back.

April has many plans for the future of her business, but they are all centered around the same idea. She explained her principle, “I just want to keep creating items that are high quality, comfortable, and for people of all ages, but at a larger rate.” As of now, she is the only person who makes her jewelry. This will soon change, though, as she recently hired an employee to create some of her pieces for her. The reason why she can’t scale her business yet is because she is limited by how many pieces she can make in a day. She can’t advertise very much, either. If she did, she couldn’t keep up. Another large goal she has had for the past couple of years is to get into Scheels. Getting her jewelry into a large retailer would open many doors for her and would bring her company to the place she wants it. Another goal she has is to expand her products into other areas. She plans to make even more types of products, including clothing. “I just want to make accessories, whether its clothes or just other things down the road, I don’t
know,” said April. “I’m reaching my potential and I’m not even advertising.” Lastly, April wants to drop the jewelry part of her name, becoming ‘April Leigh’. She wants to make her brand synonymous with luxury and high-quality products, and with the name change, her brand would be much more recognizable and welcoming.

April is a very intelligent young woman with a business mind. She has led her business to
sustainability, which isn’t easy to do. She has many memories of challenging times in business. However, she overcame them all. Managing and growing her business is also a large priority for her. April wants to bring her business to the next level by hiring employees and broadening her brand. She still has a lot to learn, but I am confident she will adapt and take her business even
further. April has a wide array of knowledge, and it’s very easy to learn something when talking to her. She has one of the most inspirational success stories and I hope I can be like her in the future.