Guest Post: Colette South, Fall 2014 Glamtrepreneur Winner

Hello. My name is Colette South. I've been making jewelry for friends, family, and craft fairs for a little over four years. I thoroughly enjoy thinking of fun and new designs.

My business name and logo is a stylized BBFF, which are the initials for “Big Bold Fly Free” and represents the big, bold attitude, and free spirited thinking of today’s youth.

This bracelet is called “Perseverance”, and is a fashion forward design that holds a lot of significance for Girl Scouts. The two black beads stand for leadership and strength, the six silver beads represent the three Journeys and three Take Action Projects required on a Girl Scout’s way to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award. The many clear beads scatter sparkles, and represent the shining light of Girl Scouting being cast into the world. My target sales audience will be Girl Scouts ages 10-14. My bracelets use only glass and metal beads and metal wire to enhance their appearance and appeal, and are similar in quality to fashion jewelry found in department stores.

The cost of materials is twenty three cents for each bracelet. The bracelets take approximately 15 minutes to complete, so the labor cost per bracelet is $3.00 for a total cost of goods sold of $3.23.

I am willing to distribute the bracelets to the Girl Scout Store for $4.23 and I suggest a retail price of $8.99, allowing the Girl Scout Store to maintain a good retail margin.

I am able to produce about 50-75 bracelets with a two to three week lead time. I would like a 30% advance for the initial order.

I plan to use the money earned from this venture to save up for the Girl Scout Experience trip to London and Switzerland in 2016, after setting aside portions for charity and future college expenses.

My advice to young entrepreneurs is to stay strong and to never give up. If someone gives you negative comments heed them, see what you could do better, then fix it! If they still find faults them they don’t have to buy your products.

If I had unlimited resources I would wrap some of the beads in wire so that they were more unique and provided another texture on my bracelet. With my business marketing plan I would have other people make the bracelets for me then sell them to a retail store.