I’ve got some exciting news to share with you. After a long hiatus, I’m back to being an entrepreneur again!
I’m joining forces with my brother-in-law Dante and his business partner Noli to take their 3 year old biker jewelry business, 13 Lucky Monkey, to the next level. Dante and Noli are both avid bikers, and both have design backgrounds — Dante in graphic and industrial design and Noli in sculpting.
13 Lucky Monkey specializes in handmade silver jewelry, with an extensive skull ring collection. Each design has a limited run of 26 pieces. Dante and Noli draw inspiration from “vintage motorcycles, dirty engines, rock ‘n’ roll, tattoos, and the kustom kulture movement.” They sell their skull rings in specialty stores in Manila, and to customers around the world through their blog. If all goes according to plan, they hope to bring their jewelry to Singapore and Hong Kong later this year.
When I started researching this niche, what impressed me the most was the sheer number of searches for skull rings online. Although I can’t claim to be a connoisseur of all things biker related, I know what I like and, for me, 13 Lucky Monkey’s design aesthetic is far superior to the competition’s. Dante and Noli’s skull rings are more masculine yet more sophisticated than what I’m seeing others sell online. After doing my industry and competitive analysis, nepotism aside, I knew I wanted to be involved in this business.
My new role will involve building an e-commerce platform and driving targeted traffic to the new website. With everything I’ve learned about search engine optimization and traffic generation in the 9 months I’ve been blogging, I feel up to the challenge.
So what does this all mean for Franchise Chatter and for you, my dear readers? There will be no major changes. This blog will still focus primarily on analyzing various franchise opportunities because that is what you’ve come to me for.
Right now, my plan is to write about this new skull ring business only on the weekends, when my blog traffic usually dips. (You can always get more detailed news and updates by signing up for my jewelry business newsletter on the sidebar to the right.) Depending on your response, I might add a few extra posts during the week, while still maintaining my usual number of franchise-related posts.
Eventually, I’ll create a separate website for 13 Lucky Monkey, where customers can purchase items from the entire line. In the meantime, you can order any item from the skull ring collection or collaborate with Dante and Noli on a custom design by emailing me at franchisechatterblog@gmail.com. The skull rings retail for USD$350 to USD$420, depending on the level of detail.
I hope you continue to drop by often to read my random thoughts on franchising. And while you’re here, stay a while and allow me to share with you another aspect of my life as an entrepreneur.
Congrats on the new business. In the meantime, as a newer company in the Franchise world, I am finding your posts very valuable! It is really helpful to see the metrics of other companies and to get your feedback on each opportunity. So it’s great you can continue to write the blog in addition helping build 13 Lucky Monkey.
Thank you, William! I’m really excited to do something entrepreneurial again. Best of luck to you as you grow your company through franchising! Please keep in touch and let me know how things are progressing.
Best regards,
Ambrosio
Ambrosio, best of luck with the new venture. They are wise to recuit you to help with their site. I’ll continue to enjoy your site.
Thank you for the support, Mike! Launching an ecommerce business is something that’s completely new to me, but I hope to draw upon my experience as a franchisee and blogger to make it happen. This is going to be fun!