The best advice I can give anyone starting a jewelry business is to use quality products. To start beading, the basic materials that you will need are: needle nose pliers, scotch tape, beading wire, crimp beads, wire cutters, a clasp of some sort and the actual beads you will be creating with.

The needle nose pliers can be purchased at any hardware store. I use needle nosed pliers to crimp the crimping beads. Many people market and sell a crimping tool.

I have found in my experience that the crimp that the crimping tool makes does not hold as well as when you use a set of pliers to smash the crimp bead.

A crimp bead is a round metal bead (best if you use sterling silver or gold) that hold the wire in place after you have attached the clasp.

You can start to make your own designs with a minimal investment. The beading wire, crimp beads, wire cutters, clasps and the beads themselves can be purchased from local beading stores or online resources.

Some places to check out are:

http://www.firemountaingems.com
http://www.ebeadshop.com
http://www.riogrande.com

These vendors will send you a catalog upon request. They DO NOT REQUIRE that you have a business license.

Other great sources of affordable beads are traveling gem fares and bead shows that come to a city near you.

If you happen to be traveling through California, there are many more gem shows to choose from. A good website to check out if you live in the West is:

http://www.Lapidaryjournal.com

Even if you don not live in the West, you will probably find a show that is near your area.