Starting a diamond business

[expressionatusa]

Hi,
I am presently taken the GIA diamond grading lab course and have family back home in the diamond business. I have their support and great connections to get loose diamonds and have them set in any metal. I need help in how to get started here in US to set up a diamond business. Which should be the approach - be a supplier for loose diamonds or do retail with diamond jewelry. I am based in Maryland and would like to what kind of investment is involved and where to begin.

Thanks,
ExpressionAtUSA

 

[CharmyPoo]

If you need to ask these questions on a public forum, I am concerned for your readiness to enter into this highly competitive and networked industry. Have you taken business courses as well?

 

[armywife13]

If you need to ask these questions on a public forum, I am concerned for your readiness to enter into this highly competitive and networked industry. Have you taken business courses as well?

This!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Sounds like you should go back home and work for the family business for a few years to get some experience before entering into a business that you presently know little about. Good luck!

 

[Amys Bling]

Sounds like you should go back home and work for the family business for a few years to get some experience before entering into a business that you presently know little about. Good luck!

ditto this.

 

[oldminer]

Maryland is not the home of the diamond biz, that's for sure. There are many struggling retailers there and being a supplier to those who may not be able to pay their bill is not a great business model. Becoming a diamond wholesaler based on your family's diamond business overseas is possible, but you will need to know a lot about business before you can do well with diamonds as a business. Your family won't tolerate many bad mistakes most likely. Why not have the family arrange for you to work with some relatives or close family friends in the diamond trade in New York, Chicago, Miami or LA for a few years to get you well grounded in the essentials? That would be a safer and better way to get going. Much luck!

 

[denverappraiser]

A bit of time at a business school will benefit you far more than a week long grading class. Acutally, a few years 'in the trenches' will benefit you far more than either one. Get a job. Work it for a few years and see where it takes you. I may be a bit of a hayseed and Denver isn't exactly the beating heart of the jewelry world either (I started out in Boulder Colorado, which isn't even the suburbs as far as this stuf goes) but I'm confident that there are some fine jewelry/diamond companies in Maryland. If that's where you call home, I would start there.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Nothing takes the place of working in the "trenches." It's a real world experience
that can't be taught by any school or institution. I know that we all started out that way
before we became professional appraisers (Dave, Neil, and myself).
I also know that even though each one of us has 30+ years in the jewelry industry..we
are still learning every day and will continue to do so.

Good luck ...but know that there are no shortcuts to success in this business and baby steps must be taken before you can leap.