A new local business in South West London has just opened its virtual doors! Offering affordable and unique astrological jewellery, make sure to snatch up LunaNova Jewellery’s stock before it’s all gone.
As part of the ‘Young Enterprise’ programme, Year 12 students all over the country have been brainstorming, creating, sourcing, manufacturing and selling this past year. A local team from the Lady Eleanor Holles School has just launched their own product: astrology and zodiac themed jewellery. Their brand, LunaNova Jewellery, was thought up and built by the company of eighteen from scratch: when they spotted the lack of locally manufactured, trendy and affordable accessories for themselves and their peers to wear, there was only one thing they could do. Create it.
Their chance was the ‘Young Enterprise’ programme. ‘Young Enterprise’ is a national charity which seeks to educate today’s youth in the world of business with a full hands-on approach. Many believe that a purely academic education is beneficial in some ways, but omits some of the life skills that are tantamount to success in any workplace. Students that sign up to the Young Enterprise programme will have the experience of running their own business, almost completely independently. They handle financial accounts and documents, are tasked with sourcing and manufacturing their own product, and have a real business they promote and run. Some choose to take their idea further after the programme, and each year there are many competitions to win recognition for their hard efforts.
Hard efforts have not been scarce this year. Businesses launching during this time, both student companies and actual start-ups, have had quite the share of problems to overcome. LunaNova has, unfortunately, been no exception: after their local supplier’s shop shut during lockdown, and they could not meet up to manufacture or even share their product, the situation looked bleak. Many of the opportunities usually presented such as in-person trade fairs and the option to fundraise were also just not possible, and every team had to find some way to press on and overcome this. Luckily, the team were not going to give up just yet. While many others defaulted to some simpler products such as face masks, they were determined to stick to their original idea, and were able to. Many changes in the process had to be made: new suppliers found, new methods, new plans. Despite the lockdown, weekly meetings were still being held online, where the team were able to convene and track their progress.
After much reorganisation and revising, the company was ready to launch its range of products. Their latest release will be a customisable line of completely handmade and unique zodiac pendants, coming out very soon. They’re hoping to be able to sell as many of the pieces they’ve worked so hard on as they can: if you have a birthday coming up, or want to treat yourself to a fashionable accessory, you can browse their goods here: https://www.ye-tradingstation.org.uk/company/1556 . If you wish to ask them about anything, their email is lunanova100@gmail.com; or you can follow their Instagram @lunanova.jewellery for updates.
