By Stuart Overlin

A love of gems isn’t always enough to maintain a business and remain a competitive force in the jewelry industry, says Ed Balian, Ph.D., dean of the new GIA School of Business.

“Seventy-five percent of all new businesses fail within a year, but 98 percent of those that failed had no serious business plan,” he says. “They were practically destined to fail.”

That is why GIA continues to expand its School of Business. In addition to its recently launched and widely successful Jewelry Business Principles (formerly Graduate Retail Management), Jewelry Finance and Merchandising learning modules, the School is scheduled to launch a fourth, U.S. and International Business Law and Trade, beginning in April 2003. 

Each learning module provides a solid foundation to jewelry business owners, executives and aspiring leaders working in the industry, says Brook Ellis, vice president of Education at GIA.

“GIA was the natural choice to offer such a revolutionary array of business courses that are specifically tailored to the jewelry industry,” he says.

Jewelry Business Principles provides a solid foundation in marketing, retail management and entrepreneurship, while the Jewelry Finance module teaches essential business math, managerial skills, accounting and economics. Merchandising focuses on the fundamentals of retail product management. You’ll learn buying strategies that take many factors into account including: sales forecasts, merchandise budgets and assortment planning. When it debuts in April, Business Law will teach students U.S. and international trade laws and ethics.

Each learning module, available at the Institute’s Carlsbad campus, is comprised of three college-level courses and can be taken individually for a letter of completion, or as a set. Students receive the Jewelry Business diploma upon completion of all four modules.

The courses emphasize small-group projects, interactive case studies and a compelling guest speaker series. Previous speakers have included Marty Hurwitz, president of MVI Marketing Ltd.; Abe Sherman, CEO of Buyers International Group; Shelley De Witt, owner of De Witt’s Antiques and others.

“I was impressed by the caliber of instruction and the great speakers,” says Cynthia Sliwa, an attorney from Hermosa Beach, California, who completed GIA’s Graduate Retail Management (renamed Jewelry Business Principles) module in August.

“The program offered solid, practical advice geared to the jewelry industry. It’s an amazing value, at a fraction of the cost of an MBA program, where you wouldn’t have the focus on jewelry. The GIA program was brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed.”

Sliwa is now working in image consulting for the jewelry industry. She said the GIA program offered her great networking opportunities. One of her first clients is a classmate.

“We got to meet speakers from all areas of the industry, retail and wholesale, hearing real-life lessons about inventory and time management,” Sliwa says. “The same diversity was true of my classmates. I studied with people from all over the United States, as well as India and Japan, with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests.”

GIA's Jewelry Business Diploma

Jewelry Business Principles (January, April and October 2003)
• Entrepreneurship
• Retail Management
• Marketing
Classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays

Jewelry Finance (Summer 2003)
• Applied Business Math
• Managerial Accounting
• Economics of the Jewelry Industry
Classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays

Merchandising (January and October 2003)
• Merchandising Principles
• Merchandising Media
• Sales Management
Classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays

Business Law (April 2003)
• U.S. Business Law
• International Law and Trade
• Business Ethics
Classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays