French Engineer Makes Silver-Wear in Mexico

Notes from Chris

Episode 1585

In 2009 Nicholas Tranchant was living in France with his Mexican girlfriend Reyna. Although they were young and in love, that isn’t always enough to eliminate all of life’s problems.

Nicholas had a well paying job as an aerospace engineer. Reyna, on the other hand, was unable to work. She was a highly qualified doctor, but unfortunately her credentials were not recognized in France.

Nicholas brooched the subject of side hustling as a way to make some extra money. It didn’t take long to find something that sparkled.

You know where I’m going with this, right? They clasped onto the concept of an online store selling silver jewelry. Not out of passion, but rather opportunity. Reyna had contacts in Mexico who could act as suppliers, and they decided to go for it.

The couple placed an order for two thousand euros worth of different silver pieces. It was a risk as they didn’t see high resolution photos of the items in advance and had no real idea of what designs would be popular with customers. On top of that, they didn’t know how to create an online store.

Then, he stumbled across a better option called Shopify. It made setting up the store dead simple. Viva Latina Jewelry was forged! He quickly moved their products over and waited for the gold rush … or is there such a thing as a silver rush? Regardless, there wasn’t even a bronze medal waiting for them.

He and Reyna decided to move to Mexico so that she could practice medicine again. Nicholas was now determined to make their jewelry store work. He’d dedicate one hundred percent of his time to forging ahead and making it a success.

It came about when a customer asked for a customized piece of jewelry to be made—something they couldn’t find anywhere else. Since Nicholas knew local designers, he was happy to oblige. But he also wondered: How many other people out there were looking for specific types of jewelry they couldn’t find? He looked for answers to that question and developed a solid SEO strategy.

The strategy worked well and turned the business around. Sales went from a trickle to a flood and finally it was going so well Nicholas opened a small workshop and hired his first employee. That meant he would no longer have to rely on suppliers and could manufacture all of his own items for a higher profit margin.

On demand jewelry making, alongside custom orders, is really what helped this side hustle grow into a full time business that now employs three people and earned one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in 2020, a figure Nicholas hopes to double in the next two years.

 

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Nicolas and his on demand jewelry business at his website, VivaLatina-Shop.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Model Turns Designer With Travel-Inspired Jewelry: Stuck at home during the pandemic, a fashion model learns to sell non-binary, unisex jewelry inspired by his travels.
• College Curriculum Developer Makes Minimalist Jewelry: When a professional development specialist can’t find “just the right” piece of jewelry, she makes it herself. Six years later, she’s mined a second income creating minimalist, Boho-chic jewelry.
• College Friends Design Millennial-Focused Jewelry: Two friends branch out from a family business, putting a unique shine on jewelry for a younger generation.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,