A group of business students from Vanier Collegiate ran into some unexpected production problems during their semester-long project but smoothly shifted their focus to overcome the challenge and achieve their objectives.
The all-female-led Unity Jewels — “Something for everyone” — was one of two student-run businesses during this year’s Entrepreneurship 30 class. The groups held their board of directors’ meetings on Jan. 24 and summarized how their Junior Achievement projects went.
A golden sheen
Unity Jewels planned to sell 195 items — necklaces with infinity charms, plain gold chains, bracelets with infinity charms and bracelets with plain gold chains — but surpassed expectations by distributing 218 products, the students said.
The company made $1,507.47 in net revenue, and after donating 20 per cent — $314 — to Moose Jaw Transition House, it was left with $1,256.47. This allowed the members to each take $96.65.
“Unity Jewels was … full of 13 strong and independent young women who had a passion for making affordable, yet good quality jewelry,” said co-president Waverley Demassi.
She noted that the three lessons the group learned were being prepared, because some “people are very unpredictable,” clear communication, since that’s important for a successful Junior Achievement business, and solid teamwork, since being present and helping others ensured the company’s success.
The team crafted each piece by hand, which created stress but provided a competitive advantage since customers learned that every item was “handmade with love,” said co-president Ireland Guillaume. Meanwhile, the group’s market research revealed most people wanted gold necklaces and bracelets, so members responded with four unisex options.
“We as a company wanted to create simple jewelry to try and make our target market as big as possible,” she added.
Production problems
During the group’s presentation, several members noted that they ran into production issues with their jewelry.
Jenna Porter said that one product was a necklace/bracelet with a stamped gold pendant. However, members neglected to perform enough research to find the best pendants for stamping, which led to “problem after problem” — specifically, they couldn’t punch customized, shaped holes through the stainless steel.
The business eventually discontinued the pendants’ production and issued refunds. That might have been for the best since they also discovered that some jewelry had tarnished over time.
“In the end, it was fine, but it was definitely a bummer since we were all so excited for it,” Porter added.
An upbeat outlook
While speaking about the business’ marketing and sales, Tito Ogundehin took an upbeat approach to the production process. She noted that one of the group’s major successes was how effective they were in creating their jewelry. Moreover, they were fast enough to keep up with orders but still effective enough that they made each piece well.
“Surprisingly, our production also turned out to be one of our largest challenges … but we powered on and made sure that those who ordered items got their infinity necklaces instead,” she said, “as well as a special bracelet customized to those who bought the bracelets with our pendants.”
Social media
Porter and Krishia Bautista discussed the group’s social media usage, noting their Instagram page was the most successful since they had 135 followers, including people from the Philippines, the U.S., Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
This was followed by TikTok, where they had 45 followers, and Facebook, which had only 12 followers.
“We were not very active on Facebook. We’re too young for that,” Porter laughed, also generating laughter from the adult panellists. “But our Facebook and Instagram were connected, so … that kind of helped.”
Both students said their business had trouble with the website since it couldn’t accept online payments. This proved to be another big challenge, considering they would have been forced to pay for that feature. But they overcame that obstacle, too.
Group highlights
Asked for their favourite memories, members said they formed friendships, developed life skills, stepped out of their comfort zones to speak publicly to customers, learned design skills and developed a work ethic.
