How did you acquire the skills?
Yea, I can say I had a flair for making of jewelries. I remember, I would buy a piece of jewelry then maybe I don’t like the length or design, I will just change some things on my own. So I actually had the flair for jewelry making but i had to learn despite the natural interest. So when I stopped working, I actually went further to learn from people that are into bead making and jewelry.
How much did it cost you and what was the duration?
At first it cost me about N50,000 to get the basic training. And I can’t really put a tag of how much have spent so far. But jewelry making and bead making is an on-going thing. And it is a very wild scope that you cannot finish learning, even as new designs spring up everyday. And you might not know the new designs, so you have to go out and spend money to learn it .During the time I acquired the skill, tools were expensive and I spent over N30, 000 to acquire the tools. Adding this, I spent about N90,000 to train.
For training, people would say two months or three months but it depends on the learning ability of an individual. I trained for a month, but for some people it might be shorter or longer because people learn differently.
What advice would you give to a new comer who wants start bead making?
Basically, I do bead making and jewelry. When you are looking at jewelry making in general, it is a very interesting thing. Some venture into it just for their own use. You can do that and at the same time, you can make money from it. It is like enabling yourself. It’s not so difficult to learn, it’s not like you have to go to School to learn. An illiterate can do it, a well educated person can do it. And it is not until you have customers or clients out there before you can actually go into bead or Jewelry making. It is something you can do, put it on, then someone sees it and says Oh! I like what you are wearing, then you say, it’s my job, that’s how you get patronage. You don’t have to own a shop before you can do it. Because people do it from home. It’s something that a housewife can do, It’s a craft that empowers women. So you don’t have to sit at home and be complaining of no money or start-up capital. You can actually start bead making as small as N10, 000. If you are somebody who has a flair for it, you can go higher with basic knowledge. It is a very good business and it makes you creative.
How much can you recommend as start-up capital?
My start-up capital was N500,000 because I sell beads and beading materials but capital for just bead making can be as low as N5,000.
How long have you been in the business and what are the prospects?
I started bead making and Jewelry for five (5) years now and I can say it has actually been very profitable. I started small, started with a few people but now, I have so many customers I made jewelry for and I also sell materials for bead making. I have trained so many people as well. It’s a business that you can never make a loss, and one interest thing about the material is that they don’t get spoilt, so it’s not like you are afraid that you buy materials and they go obsolete. They can be used over and over again. Sometimes I remodify old piece as well and use it to make a design. And another interesting part of the business is that I do it at my own convenience. Beads are becoming an integral part of dressing in Nigeria; as a result the prospects are getting higher.
What inspires your design?
The truth is there are designs I have done in the past and sometimes I see it in magazine and decide to make such designs by addition one or two things or changing one or two things. There are designs I have actually come up with on my own, but basically my designs are inspired by colours, the beads I actually have, other things like flowers, rock, stones, and abstract things makes my design.
Steps on how to make a lariat bead-design?
A Lariat design, is a design that is usually longer than 22 inches and falls down to your tummy. This is a design that any bead materials can be used to achieve it. The name actually has to do with the length. For a two-layers lariat design, and a petal on top, the following steps are needed: get your fishing line, your beads, start stringing your beads for the first layer, there is a hook at the back, you pass your fishing to the hook at the back, you string down to the length and you finish at the top with size 6 crystal beads. Then you apply this to the other side, the second layer but with a longer length, so you put them together at the middle to make a four-droppings of beads at the middle. For the petal, it’s actually done by using a needle and a fishing line. You pick a sand bead depends on wide you want the petals to be. For a row of nine beads, you interlock them to make them align together. For the second line, you do 8 inches, as you progress you keep reducing to 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 inches till you get to the last part which is 1. Then you come back again and apply it to the other end. We did this petal on five places depending on how wide you want the job to be and then you stitch them together with a fishing line. So we stitch 6 inches together for a two-layered lariat bead. We stitch a pearl on top of it, then you attach it with a lariat that you have done. This design depends on how many layers you want.
Note that petals made with sand bead can be exchange with the use of all already-made brooch for it.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to go into bead making?
I always tell anyone who wants to go into bead making to pay attention to details because in everything you do, finishing is paramount. If you know how to do bead and jewelry, you need to train so as to get the knowledge that is required of you in the course of your job. For basic bead making, I don’t train bead making without jewelry because there are so many things you need to know from wire works for you to do a good job. If you don’t have the knowledge of wire works there are so many designs that will be difficult to achieve when making beads. I learnt my skill from a shop, a bead and jewelry maker. I didn’t go to School. So I trained for bead and wire works, I train for N50,000. So for someone who wants to improve on their knowledge of bead making, I test them first, and train them for N30, 000. The duration varies because some people learn fast while some are slow in learning. But basically, the duration is two to three months, if person is a fast learner, then the person can do it for one month.
How do you source for materials?
Beading materials can be found in local shops, or online stores and nearly everywhere. But I source for materials in trade fair (Aspamda off Badagry expressway, Lagos).
Can you talk about the types of beads and tools needed?
Beads come in different colours, shapes and sizes. We have the coral beads which comes in different shapes and sizes. We have the coral chips, light corals, broken corals, regular corals and coral petals. Crystal beads: This is the kind of bead used mostly in this part of the country. It comes cheap, with so many colours, shapes and it is very bright that makes it attractive. We have the pearl beads, angel’s skin known as stone beads which comes in different sizes. We have precious stones: These are quite expensive and can’t be seen like other beads. We have sand bead and so on.
The basic tools needed are: Multi Mandrel to create shapes, drop plate, wire twister, cutter, fishing line, stoppers, beads, scissor, hooks, needle, round nose, pliers and wire. So the wires come in different colours and sizes.
How do combine your roles as a mother, wife and an entrepreneur?
I always place my home, my marriage first because this was the first reason I resigned from my job. I had to quit because I wanted to raise my children and have time for them as well. My home comes first in whatever I do, because most people complained that I don’t open shop late and I close early. But I tell them I have children and also look out for their well being.
What are the challenges?
The challenges’ is that first, we have so many untrained people who are into beads making. And secondly, beads are being underpriced because most people don’t place much value on hand-made jewelries. Also, most clients’ are difficult to satisfy.
How many days does it take you to make a design?
As a family person – a mother and a wife, for me, I do bead and create a design for two to three days depending on how complicated the design is. For example, a lariat design can take a day while others can be two to three days.
What are the attributes needed by a new comer to succeed ?
In this business, we need a lot of patience because some customers can frustrate you and you also need a lot of courage and determination to scale through. You have to be creative as well, be able to think out of the box, look out for ways your job can be unique for others to see.
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