If you have a handcrafted bead jewelry business of any sort then you've probably learned that running a business is not always as easy as it could be. You probably have lots inventory, lots of customers, plenty of invoices to print and some crazy methods for keeping track of all your materials including your wires, clasps and even beads. You probably enjoy making beaded jewelry, but you've probably had a heck of a time figuring out how much to sell your jewelry for and what price level gives you a decent profit margin.

You can dedicate more time to designing bead jewelry and less time to pushing paper and running numbers with a good bead jewelry application. After all, you started this business not because you liked typing up invoices, but because you enjoy making and selling handcrafted jewelryThere are lots of different software packages to choose from, but whatever you choose you should make sure you have these three important features:

Inventory Control: Being able to keep track of what jewelry pieces and even what beads, wires and other items you have in stock is an essential part of any jewelry business software package. Keeping track of your beads will also allow you to track material costs and labor and help you set the correct price for each bead jewelry piece you make.

Invoicing Ability: If you bought an elegant piece of bead jewelry would you really want a receipt that's scribbled on a thin yellow piece of paper covered with carbon paper marks? Of course not! You'd expect a professional receipt. Being able to produce business-like and easy-to-read invoices helps makes your business look more professional and more established, whether it's your first piece sold or hundredth piece sold.

Reasonable Price: When you're starting your beaded jewelry business you may not have a lot of money to spend initially, but you'd be surprised how quickly a good jewelry program can pay for itself in saved time and professional results. Generally, you should expect to pay about $100 to $140 (but no more than that) for a decent bead jewelry software package.

Any bead software package you buy should definitely include the features above as well as many others. Remember that a good bead jewelry software package will actually help you make money by allowing you to communicate with your customers in a more professional manner and help you run all the tedious inventory and tracking functions that take up so much time. This way you'll have more time and creative energy to dedicate to designing and making your handcrafted jewelry!