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Guest: Farah Qureshi, ethical jewelry designer and founder.
Host: Kevin Mako, founder of Product Startup and the leading expert in hardware startup consulting. A hardware entrepreneur since 1999, Kevin has advised more than 1,500 founders and built and scaled MAKO Invent through its acquisition by TriMech in 2024.
Using Live Customers to Validate Creative Products
Farah Qureshi explains how she develops new jewelry collections and tests subjective design ideas with real customers. The episode explores pop-up shops, ethical materials, audience feedback, and the challenge of validating products where personal taste plays a central role.
Episode transcript
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Filip Valica: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Product Startup Podcast, a podcast that helps bring your product idea to life by chatting with successful inventors, product designers, and other industry professionals. This podcast is run by Mako
Filip Valica: Design + Invent and hosted by Filip Valica. Our goal here is to get to the bottom of what makes a product successful. From initial idea to putting your product on the shelf, we're taking you step by step to build a functional product and scale your product business. Now onto the show.
Filip Valica: The Product Startup, Episode 38. In today's episode, we learned from Farah Qureshi about this. Designing and making jewelry and precious materials using ethical, silver, and gold.
Filip Valica: Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Product Startup podcast, where we talk about turning ideas into successful products step by step. I'm Filip Valica, and thanks for listening today. In the last episode, we talked to Ruth Stone of Boxhead Crafts.
Filip Valica: Boxhead Crafts is the world's only manufacturer of blank boxheads for kids to design and decorate. So make sure to check out episode 37 to look at what it takes to launch a product inspired. by the popular computer game, Minecraft.
Filip Valica: I also wanted to thank everyone that sends in feedback on the show. Feel free to shoot me an email at philip at theproduct startup.com or by going to the product startup.com and clicking contact me. So let's get started with today's episode. Hi, Farah.
Filip Valica: Thanks for coming on the show today.
Filip Valica: You're welcome. It's great to have the opportunity to talk to you and to explain the work that I do.
Filip Valica: You get your inspiration from botanical imagery and organic shapes, and you also design your jewelry using ethical, silver and gold. Can you talk a little bit about what that means? When I start the design process,
Filip Valica: I research ideas that I have a great interest in. So botany and the natural world has great appeal because of the shapes and the forms and the structures.
Filip Valica: so it's very inspiring for creating shapes for the jewellery that I make and I'm also inspired by travelling abroad going to different places, visiting different cultures
Filip Valica: other subjects such as found objects and going to museums so there's quite a broad spectrum with the ideas behind the jewellery that I create
Filip Valica: and then the next phase would be to collate ideas based on the research and then to develop the designs
Filip Valica: which are then made into ethical gold and silver and the ethical stance comes from my using recycled
Filip Valica: materials I'm very much into being a green business and I specifically look to buy recycled gold and silver.
Filip Valica: And also, I've recently become a fair trade gold licensee so I can now use the fair trade gold hallmark and whenever I use this particular gold it means that the people from the mines
Filip Valica: and the communities around them
Farah Qureshi: will benefit greatly from chuelers purchasing the fair trade materials. You mentioned that you travel a lot to get some inspiration. Before the interview, we talked a little
Filip Valica: bit about that you're on a short list to receive an award. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of an opportunity that would create for you? Sure. So I've been shortlisted for an award that's called the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Award.
Filip Valica: And if people are successful, they're able to do a fellowship internationally relating to their
Filip Valica: industry or the work that they do so if I am successful it would give me the
Filip Valica: opportunity to go to different countries to research a jewellery technique that I have a great interest in and then I would be able to bring back the
Filip Valica: information and relay that to the UK and I would also be able to
Filip Valica: integrate what I have learned into the jewelry that I make, hopefully incorporating the technique
Farah Qureshi: in new and fresh ways that are very contemporary as well. So it would be very excited. It would give you a chance to learn something new and bring something refreshing, hopefully,
Farah Qureshi: to your industry and business, as well as feed some of that curiosity that you've got deep down. I wanted to ask you a little bit about what your motivation was for creating your business.
Farah Qureshi: I think a lot of people will pursue money or some sort of a lifestyle with their business,
Filip Valica: but I think some of the strongest motivators can be a deep core motivation that goes beyond that. Some want to make the world a better place. Can you talk about your motivation for doing that? Sure.
Filip Valica: So my motivation for developing a jewelry business comes from my love of art.
Filip Valica: and design and craft. And I started to make jewelry as a teenager when I took part in a jewelry-making course for a week.
Filip Valica: And since then, I've developed a huge interest in the subject.
Filip Valica: So I'm developing a business that I love and that I enjoy greatly and that I find very rewarding.
Filip Valica: And also I want to develop a business that's green and eventually I want to be able to employ people
Filip Valica: and to help them with their careers as well.
Filip Valica: So I like to look at the business that I'm creating in quite a holistic way, which fundamentally I find quite enjoyable.
Filip Valica: that gives me the inspiration to continue and the determination as well. You mentioned having employees. Do you have employees now? At the moment I work for myself, so I'm self-employed,
Filip Valica: and then I get a lot of help with the making of the jewelry with particular techniques. So there are very specialized stone setters in London, in an area called Hatt and Garden.
Filip Valica: which is the jewellery quarter,
Filip Valica: and they will do techniques such as micropave setting,
Filip Valica: which involves using microscopes.
Farah Qureshi: I also use casters and laser cutters and plaiters.
Farah Qureshi: So I do get the help from the experts with the creation of my collection.
Filip Valica: Yeah, I like that you mentioned all that because I think, people have this presumption that they have to do everything on their own, but in this case, you're the project manager and just making sure that it's executed to your vision. Can you talk
Filip Valica: a little bit about your design process, how you come up with a new design? Sure, so I'm currently extending a collection and the collection is inspired by microscopic algae,
Filip Valica: which under the microscope looks very beautiful.
Filip Valica: And so I started by doing some drawings,
Filip Valica: creating a couple of pieces with colourful gemstones and gold. I'm now extending the collection further, so I'm developing new pieces,
Filip Valica: earrings,
Filip Valica: necklaces,
Filip Valica: rings.
Filip Valica: So it will be a complete collection.
Farah Qureshi: So often I will start by creating one or two pieces,
Farah Qureshi: which then extends out. I love to work with different ideas. So, yep, I'm constantly making different pieces, which will then become collections later.
Filip Valica: That makes me ask the question, how do you test your ideas and make sure that they're going to be selling? Because if you're coming up with something new that you find interesting,
Filip Valica: How do you know that other people will find it worthy to add to their own personal collections at home? That's a really interesting question. I think it's fascinating, actually.
Filip Valica: I think that subconsciously designers tap into what is current, not necessarily highly fashionable. However,
Farah Qureshi: designers can tap into what will become a trend and often a design can be quite
Filip Valica: relevant and current and hopefully something that customers will see as being relevant and that
Filip Valica: will go with what they're wearing and the style that they have. I guess in a way you're hopefully looking to inspire them a bit. Have you noticed that you push your customers out of their comfort zone sometimes, but they end up liking the result?
Filip Valica: That's another very, very interesting question.
Filip Valica: Hopefully
Farah Qureshi: they will be taken out of their comfort zone to try something a little bit different and to buy something that isn't just run-of-the-mill,
Filip Valica: highly commercial so yes that's great when customers do and then they have the opportunity to wear a piece of
Filip Valica: jewelry for a long time when you first got started what was it like trying to get maybe some of your first customers did you feel that you were starting to sell to friends and family and that
Filip Valica: kind of expanded or was it a little bit more a tactical where you you know you put up a website
Farah Qureshi: and you started to market directly to a certain audience?
Farah Qureshi: I think in the beginning I did use to sell to family and friends, actually,
Filip Valica: and then it's expanded from there.
Filip Valica: So I would say that my friends and acquaintances were very supportive in the beginning and family members as well. And then it's just broadened out from there.
Filip Valica: Yeah, and you just built on the existing audience. and I assume that you look at some of the common characteristics between the people that buy and kind of extrapolate that out into thinking, okay, this is who I think that my buyer is?
Filip Valica: Yes, I think actually from taking part in events and pop-up shows and craft exhibitions,
Filip Valica: the jewelry that I make reaches a much broader audience.
Farah Qureshi: And I think from things, There, I've gauged an idea of the kind of customer that's interested in my work.
Farah Qureshi: They can be similar to the friends and acquaintances that started by my work from the beginning. And they can often be very different as well. So it's very interesting.
Farah Qureshi: And then I sell my work through shops, though I don't get to meet the customers. So, yes, that's a different customer base again. Again, it's a very interesting question.
Filip Valica: That's a good point about meeting people face-to-face. I think people fail to do that nowadays because it's so easy to go online and put up a website and create some profiles on social media and start posting articles and photos and pictures
Filip Valica: but that lacks some of that face-to-face interaction and you definitely don't get the
Filip Valica: qualitative feedback that you would if you were meeting them at a pop-up. What would be your advice to someone that's basically? at that stage. Actually, I'll take that back. What is the right stage where you should be considering
Filip Valica: going to some of these events in person, and how would you go about doing it for the first time? I think if I were just starting,
Farah Qureshi: I would do an inexpensive event to begin with and would take a cohesive collection along,
Farah Qureshi: and hopefully the event would be marketed well. so it would be well attended.
Filip Valica: And then it would be good to do the event as a marketing exercise to hear the feedback and to start to build up a mailing list as well.
Filip Valica: Although the online way of selling work is also very, very good,
Filip Valica: I think it's also fantastic to take up the opportunities of selling directly as well. go both tracks and see which one is giving you some feedback and giving you some sales
Filip Valica: and hopefully put some more of your effort and time into growing that part of the business. What would you say is a good place to start looking for these types of events or would you hold your own event that you have to market yourself?
Filip Valica: I think both ways can be very, very good. So in London, there are many different ways of selling and there are some very good organisations that designers can join
Filip Valica: where those organisations organise events that designers can apply to and they can be very inexpensive to do.
Filip Valica: Sometimes the organisations have their own small galleries and pop-up shops that designers can hire at reasonable rates for,
Filip Valica: one week or two weeks and then there are the bigger fares that require some investment and then those big events do
Filip Valica: a lot of PR and a lot of marketing for the designers so usually they get a good audience coming along to the event and sometimes those events
Filip Valica: can be very successful They are great for building up mailing lists for the designers.
Filip Valica: And then the designers get extremely good feedback for their work as well.
Filip Valica: And another route would be that designers could do their own pop-up.
Filip Valica: There are many venues in London that designers can hire at quite reasonable rates.
Farah Qureshi: They could collaborate with other designers or they could do stand-alone events and then they could market the events through social media, through their blogs,
Farah Qureshi: through their mailing list, newsletter or hopes that customers will come in off the street.
Filip Valica: They can give out flyers to local cafes, bars,
Filip Valica: other types of shops as well.
Filip Valica: And if those events that are at a prime time like Christmas or Valentine's Day or if the pop-up is in a place that attracts tourists,
Filip Valica: so designers could do a pop-up at the height of the tourist season, and then that could attract some passing trade,
Filip Valica: and those events can be quite successful as well.
Filip Valica: So there are many different routes,
Farah Qureshi: as well as selling through big websites such as Amazon and other companies as well. Yes, definitely sounds like a lot of avenues to go down.
Farah Qureshi: When you're just starting out, it might seem a little bit overwhelming to decide
Filip Valica: you know, what direction to take and how much time you should spend on working on your designs and products versus marketing and selling them. Have you found the ideal balance there between
Filip Valica: the two sides of the business? I think when I started, I used to spend a lot of time with the designs and producing the collections and the actual making. And then I discovered that it's
Filip Valica: really important to do the marketing as well. So it's quite hard to strike the balance and I think it's really important to do the marketing. However, that can take over as well.
Filip Valica: So it's sort of really creating a schedule whereby I can create the jewelry and new designs
Filip Valica: and also find time to do the marketing and the selling as well.
Filip Valica: So it's a continual process of finding the right balance to do all the things that are involved with starting a business.
Farah Qureshi: Yeah, I could definitely imagine, especially when you're just starting out. Can you talk a little bit about your design process? And after you create your designs, how do you communicate those to the people that produce the work for you? Well,
Filip Valica: I actually create the designs and then I do the prototype and from there I can create a master pattern that's sent to a casting company.
Filip Valica: The casting company can produce multiples of that master pattern. Often I will take the multiples that have been produced and then I will create the pieces of jewelry.
Filip Valica: and if they have stones to be set, then they would be sent off to a stone setter or they would be plated.
Filip Valica: So even though I delegate work, I also will do part of the making as well.
Filip Valica: So it's a case of actually producing the designs, finding which technique will be most suited to those designs.
Filip Valica: and then sending those out to a company to help with the next step.
Filip Valica: And then I will put those designs together to then send to a stone setter or for another process. Right. That way you can control all the steps. And you also get some of that feedback on the quality.
Filip Valica: So if you see that one of the vendors isn't producing something to your spec, you can kind of send it back or ask them to rework it. Have you had any negative experiences with vendors? and I don't want you to name anybody by name, but is there any learning experiences
Filip Valica: that you can share about working with third parties? Yes, absolutely. So it's trial and error as to finding the right companies to work with.
Filip Valica: I have some very good casting companies that I work with, and they're excellent.
Farah Qureshi: And the laser cutters that I work with as well are fantastic. And the stone setters.
Farah Qureshi: A long time ago, I had one experience with a stone setting company, and that's just part of the process.
Farah Qureshi: It then encouraged me to find stone setters that I work with who are fantastic.
Filip Valica: I would say that the only technique that I possibly would have an issue with would be plating.
Filip Valica: I have a company who does the work very well and works to a good standard. However,
Filip Valica: occasionally, if I've been to a company who is inundated with work and they maybe have too much to do,
Filip Valica: sometimes the quality can not be as good as they are capable of doing.
Filip Valica: and then I will just be quite straightforward with them and give them my constructive feedback and hopefully they would take that on board.
Filip Valica: There are always other companies to go to. If something doesn't go right, there are always very good companies to work with. So even though I've had a couple of experiences that haven't been completely positive.
Filip Valica: I think that I've found people that I can work with who do work to a great standard.
Farah Qureshi: Sounds like a really good experience that you've had. I've had my own nightmare experiences, I suppose. It's hard to get out of a contract sometimes or start using different companies
Filip Valica: if they're in the middle of producing something for you and they have some of your stock. I think those relationships and cultivating those is certainly very important.
Filip Valica: Have you found a lot of these vendors and contractors through some of these meetups and events, or do you just seek them out and visit them individually? That's a very good question.
Farah Qureshi: I've sought them out.
Farah Qureshi: Sometimes people have come through recommendation,
Farah Qureshi: which is always really good,
Farah Qureshi: and I've now built up a good list of people that I can work with. Sometimes the contacts have come through initiatives,
Farah Qureshi: so in the past in London there have been some initiatives for jewellery designers which have been funded by the government
Filip Valica: and they have been a great help with actually directing designers to particular companies that can help them with the design process.
Filip Valica: And over time,
Filip Valica: I've been able to build the list. Sometimes when I've done a trade event, the companies will actually go around to visit the designers to tell them about the work they do.
Filip Valica: And so I get to meet the companies occasionally through these type of events face-to-face. So I get an idea of what they're like and then just take a chance. sometimes to see how it goes.
Filip Valica: And more often than not, it works out quite well. Yeah, so the takeaway there is to start small maybe and work on a smaller project
Farah Qureshi: and see how they perform and then give them more work if you feel that they can handle it. Absolutely. I think that it's always good to try. And if they're just helping with maybe one or two pieces,
Farah Qureshi: you get an idea of how they work and the standard that they work too. And then it doesn't really cost very much to do that to get one or two samples. Right.
Filip Valica: And especially with your line of work with jewelry, I think you're working in generally in low quantities and high unit costs per item. So compared to most of the products that we have on the show, actually, in a way you have
Filip Valica: this benefit that there's some more margin per item to kind of work with versus maybe the traditional product that might be mass produced. margins are very slim, so any kind of mistake gets amplified across the entire line.
Filip Valica: Yes. What would you say that the disadvantages are in working with jewelry? A disadvantage could be that if a designer produces a lot of stock, then that can be quite
Filip Valica: hard because then the financial side of the business is tied up in the jewelry.
Farah Qureshi: So I think it's probably best when producing a collection to start slowly with gauging how people
Filip Valica: see the work, how they like it, which pieces they're going to buy, the most popular pieces, and then to go from there, rather than building
Filip Valica: up lots of stock initially, and then hoping that it will all sell. So I think I've learned over time just be slightly more cautious and to gauge a reaction
Filip Valica: rather than just sort of leaping in and producing lots of multiples because sometimes it can take some time to sell a high quantity of dogs.
Filip Valica: Like you said, it depends on how well that product is received in the market and there's really no way to gauge some of that until people will take out their wallets because people will tell you that something is interesting, but until you make that sale, it's all just
Filip Valica: lip service, so to speak. Have you found ways of kind of cutting through some of that noise to
Farah Qureshi: see if something will sell before you invest too much into the manufacturing of it?
Farah Qureshi: I think when I've sold online, if it's on a big website, that can be quite a good way of
Farah Qureshi: marketing the work and then seeing which pieces are the most popular as well. And people can be
Farah Qureshi: quite immediate when they purchase online. So that's been quite interesting. It really varies actually. I think you're right. And also it depends on which time of the years that they're
Farah Qureshi: purchasing. So around Christmas time, people may have a particular budget. So things up to a certain
Filip Valica: price point will sell. And then above that, maybe it would sell at a different time of year. I think it's a case of trying different ways of selling.
Filip Valica: So when you first started selling and you started selling in pop-up shops and then you slowly expanded online,
Farah Qureshi: did you find any challenges along the way in terms of scaling the business? Did one part grow faster than you could keep up with?
Farah Qureshi: At the moment, I'm scaling up. So I think I've yet to reach that stage where I'm going to feel over. So,
Farah Qureshi: I think I'm in a fortunate position, actually.
Filip Valica: I can sort of still try different things and different ways of selling and gauge when I need to take on staff and to just progress with the business.
Filip Valica: So I have only felt overwhelmed when I've had a big order and I've had a deadline with
Filip Valica: that order and I've had to produce quite a few pieces quite quickly. And I think if the opportunity
Filip Valica: happens again, then I will delegate and get help with the making of those big orders. Yeah, it sounds like you had some late nights then.
Filip Valica: Yes, absolutely, yeah, yep. What it takes a lot of times to succeed, and I personally like that connection to the product in the service and even taking on some of those big orders because it helps you kind of understand
Filip Valica: some of the implications of taking on the work and carrying it through and what steps in the process can be rushed and then when you speak to some of these vendors you have these educated
Filip Valica: questions in the back of your mind to say well how are they going to do this if I really struggled with it as you're growing through your business now and you're starting to like you said to spend more time in sales and marketing,
Filip Valica: what have you found to be a good use of your time when marketing both online and in person?
Filip Valica: So when you say in person, would that be my sort of marketing to magazines myself or
Filip Valica: marketing through social media or marketing by creating leaflets? Your marketing strategy online with social media and magazines and things like that is one thing that can scale.
Filip Valica: But then when you start to do things in person like attend those pop-up events and other shows, you can't really be doing too many other things at the same time.
Farah Qureshi: And so some of those events are hard to scale. And they may cost even money to pay for booth fees and things like that.
Filip Valica: What is your most effective use of your time and money when it comes to marketing? or do you find an even blend to be the answer?
Filip Valica: I think that it's good to do the marketing in a variety of different ways. So I think it's good to do the PR to the magazines which are printed and which are online.
Farah Qureshi: It's also good to do the social media, such as Instagram and Twitter, Facebook,
Farah Qureshi: Pinterest. perhaps not all of those, perhaps maybe choosing one or two, and to do those in a more in-depth way.
Filip Valica: And then if I do a pop-up event, I think it's good to create some leaflets and flyers to distribute.
Filip Valica: So I would say a mix, although I think in time I may narrow down the marketing when I see which areas are more successful than others.
Farah Qureshi: I also do newsletters as well. So I try to cover quite a broad spectrum at the moment.
Farah Qureshi: When people do the bigger event, hopefully most of that marketing is taken on by the organisers and then the PR as well.
Farah Qureshi: So hopefully that frees up the designer's time to perhaps sit down and produce particular pieces of work for those shows.
Filip Valica: I think there's more pressure when designers are doing a standalone pop-up or if they're collaborating with others
Filip Valica: because then the marketing is a much bigger project and it involves thinking about how the marketing is going to be done.
Filip Valica: And what I found is that I tend to do that over time so that it's sort of done in sections over two or three.
Filip Valica: three months. And then I think that that helps actually with then fitting in the designing and the making. So if it's organized, it's
Filip Valica: really. Yeah, I can imagine that can get challenging, especially if you're changing your marketing to be specific to that event. Yeah, absolutely. Directly to a specific audience. Yes, yes. So everything has to be sort of inter-tailed
Filip Valica: actually. I think possibly a good way forward would be to do a few events rather than two.
Farah Qureshi: many events because that could be quite overwhelming and then do
Farah Qureshi: the marketing well for
Farah Qureshi: those ones that are
Farah Qureshi: the designer. Have you found any techniques that help you connect to your audience a little bit better? Is there a way that you speak to your customers and get some of the feedback that they give you and repurpose that in your marketing?
Farah Qureshi: Gosh, that's a good question actually.
Filip Valica: I think that maybe it would be good for me to ask more. pertinent questions to find out what works for my customer.
Filip Valica: So I've not really looked into that in such great detail to see what works for them. But that's a really interesting question. Some of the guests that we've had on the show have had good
Filip Valica: luck to mirror the feedback that they get in their marketing, mirroring that sentiment. So it's almost sounds like a testimonial and they've found that it speaks to that audience very well.
Farah Qureshi: So I was just curious if you've used any of that. But you did mention some work in magazines, and I wanted to dive into that a little bit because they seem to be really expensive on the front end because you need to buy advertising space
Farah Qureshi: and several issues, and the ad space is going to be expensive. Have you had a different experience with that? Or do you have any tips that you could share with that?
Filip Valica: I never actually do any advertising through magazines, and what I aim to do is to gain editorial exposure through online and through printed media
Filip Valica: so I contact the magazines and send them a press release and I hope that on occasion they will be interested
Filip Valica: and they will take the information further and use the press releases and images in the magazine and over the last year, 2016,
Filip Valica: I found that going down that route has been
Farah Qureshi: quite successful so I think I will continue in that way rather than taking on the expense of advertising which perhaps in the future will be a very good idea. However,
Farah Qureshi: at the moment
Filip Valica: I prefer to do the PR and to gain press through the that route. A bit more organically. No, and I totally agree with what you're saying. It's just not
Filip Valica: enough budget to support some of the advertising and some of these magazines. It's interesting that the magazines are able to run with your press release. In my experience, they've gotten a bit pickier in the content that they'd like, and I guess it depends on the industry. But some of the
Farah Qureshi: magazines that I've pitched, they almost want to see full written articles before they're willing to air anything. So it's good that you're getting some success with press releases. Yeah, it depends.
Farah Qureshi: I think the press release needs to tie in with what the magazine is looking for.
Farah Qureshi: And if the press release is relevant, the magazines may be interested.
Farah Qureshi: However,
Farah Qureshi: if the jewellery images that I send are not relevant,
Filip Valica: then they may wait for a different collection or a different item of jewelry. It depends whether it fits in. Also with their philosophy as well.
Filip Valica: So if I send my jewelry to an ethical magazine, they may have some interest. So it depends on the market that I'm sending the images to.
Filip Valica: As we've talked this last hour, I've realized that it takes a lot of different skills to be successful in what you do.
Filip Valica: And I'm wondering if you think that you have some unique skill set or superpower that has led you to this point. Like if you think that you do something particularly better than other people that's helped you be successful?
Filip Valica: Well, I don't think I have any superpowers. I think that I have great determination and the will to want to be successful.
Filip Valica: And I think that that pushes me forward. Even though there are sometimes when maybe I don't feel so motivated, that's just a passing phase.
Farah Qureshi: and the motivation always comes back and then I just want to drive the business forward.
Farah Qureshi: So I would say that that is the force that is kind to me as a person that I will not give up
Filip Valica: and that I will just continue until I reach the level of business that I want. Is there something that you think of when you get yourself out of bed in the morning, especially when it's really cold outside, like right now in the winter,
Filip Valica: that you think, you know what, I don't want to get out of bed, but I really want to tackle this problem.
Farah Qureshi: Yeah, well, thankfully, being self-employed means that, you know, my time is very, very flexible. So,
Farah Qureshi: say,
Farah Qureshi: I have a late start, I will finish late.
Filip Valica: So I can always make up the hours,
Farah Qureshi: even, you know, say it's cold and just need a bit of rest. I will definitely put the hours in and work late, maybe.
Farah Qureshi: So, yep.
Farah Qureshi: Thankfully,
Farah Qureshi: the time is flexible, so I can fit in the hours. Benefits of being your own boss for sure. Absolutely, yep. Is there something that you feel that can't be really replicated easily about what you do?
Farah Qureshi: And, you know, off the bat, it sounds like you do some really specific custom work, especially when it comes to using non-conflict materials.
Farah Qureshi: And it sounds like that niche is something that's pretty narrow, but that you would still have some competition. Do you think that there's still something that you do uniquely that other people aren't doing that gives you that edge?
Farah Qureshi: Yes, you're right. The green approach to a business, the ethical approach, and the fair trade stance is growing in popularity. which is fantastic actually
Farah Qureshi: and hopefully it's something that won't be questioned within the industry it will just be the norm and that's something that people just do
Farah Qureshi: so yes that wouldn't necessarily be a unique selling point in the industry that I'm in I think that designers are all individuals
Farah Qureshi: and we have our own unique outlook on life and the way that we see the world and the way that we look at things.
Farah Qureshi: And I think that when designers pick up their ideas and develop the designs, hopefully this is an area where they all have their own unique qualities in the designs that are produced and that are created.
Farah Qureshi: And I think that this gives the designers their unique selling point from others because We've got our own view of how we make, how we design,
Farah Qureshi: and how we create. Definitely have your own perspective on how you see the world. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you again for coming on the show. How can people find your designs and buy your jewelry?
Farah Qureshi: People can look at my website, which is www.fara-kirashi.com.
Farah Qureshi: My work can also be seen on a big website called Not on the High Street, and it's sold through select
Farah Qureshi: boutiques and shops in the United Kingdom as well. Perfect, and we'll definitely link to all of that in our show notes. So Farah, thanks again for coming on the show and being so transparent about your business and the work that you do.
Farah Qureshi: And thanks again for sharing all those details with us. And you're welcome. It's been a pleasure to speak to you. I hope you enjoyed that interview. Here are three of my takeaways that we can apply to our businesses. Number one, find your core motivation.
Farah Qureshi: Farah is really inspired by designs found in nature and really wants to make a difference in the jewelry industry by using materials from ethical sources. This pushes her forward when she hits the inevitable roadblock.
Farah Qureshi: For more on finding this core motivation, see the Product Startup Episode 34. Number two, host pop-up shops and events. Validating your product and audience is critical. One of the best ways of doing this is meeting people directly and getting their feedback.
Farah Qureshi: Getting this data is especially important before you launch a brand when honing your marketing. Number three, let your individuality show through your product. Farr is not concerned about all the competitors in her space.
Farah Qureshi: She doesn't have any patented technology, but the sum of her values, ideas, and experiences is incorporated in her product. She continues to create these new lines and differentiate from the rest of the market.
Farah Qureshi: If you've got any questions or comments, I've put all the links that we've covered under the show notes posted on the product startup.com slash 38.
Filip Valica: Join me next week as I speak with Tim Pannell. He's developed an award-winning machine called the refinator, which he manufactures and sells to farmers and contractors across Australia.
Filip Valica: The reefinator converts shallow rocky soil into deep productive soils for an economical cost, We dive into the details of creating industrial machinery. So tune in next week to hear that episode.
Filip Valica: I've also set up a phone number for you to call and leave a question or feedback about the show. And you can also pitch your product startup to the show audience. So leave me a message at 681-3211-1-5.
Filip Valica: If you're going to pitch the product startup audience about your product-based business, please keep your pitch to 30 seconds or about the time that you'd have to talk to someone. want in an elevator.
Filip Valica: Don't forget to include the problem you're solving and the call to action what you need us, the listeners, to do for you. Thank you again for joining me today and I'll see you next week.
Filip Valica: Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Product Startup Podcast, the show that teaches you what it really takes to bring your product to market and turn it into a big success. This podcast series is brought to you by Mako Design + Invent, the first firm in North America
Filip Valica: to provide global caliber end-to-end physical consumer product development to startups, inventors, and small product businesses. If you're looking for product development help on your invention, head over to Mako-design.com. That's m-a-k-o-design.com for a free consultation
Filip Valica: from one of Mako-Design's floor design studios from coast to coast. Thanks for listening, and see you next time.
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