Facts
Who: Nicolas Tranchant (Vivalatina)
What: Custom jewelry
Format: Physical product · France, US, Mexico
Started: July 2012
Audience: ~13,000 average monthly unique visitors
Payers: ~33 clients a month on average
Promotion budget: $0
Income: main income
Status: active and growing
Channels: search & AI traffic
The short version
What worked: Google search and SEO – about 90% of all traffic, the only channel used since day one
The result: ~€15,000 a month, ~33 clients, zero ad spend
The catch: Three years of sales too small to live on before the business could support him
Background
Nicolas is a French mechanical engineer. Between 2006 and 2008 he worked and traveled between Australia, Mexico, and Brazil, and met his Mexican girlfriend in Reynosa in 2007. He returned to France, and she resigned from her job as a doctor to try building a life there with him.
He landed back in Paris in April 2008 – two weeks before the financial crisis hit. It took him nine months of basic jobs in Bordeaux before he found a mechanical engineering position, in the small French town of Figeac. His wife joined him there, and to give her some income while she looked for a way to work as a doctor in France, they started importing Mexican silver jewelry and reselling it to friends, family, and on eBay. Having just read The 4-Hour Workweek, Nicolas launched Vivalatina as an online business in 2009. Busy with his own job, he had no real time for it, and it never took off.
They married in 2011. In 2012, his wife decided to move back to Mexico – she wanted to practice medicine again, which she couldn't do in France. Nicolas quit his aerospace job and followed her. They settled in Puerto Vallarta, both wanting to live by the ocean. She went back to work as a doctor. He decided to try the same failed business idea again – this time full time.
Starting point
Nicolas's real opening came from a single client who asked for a custom silver pendant. He had no workshop and no jeweler at the time, so he partnered with a local jewelry workshop just to make that one piece. Promoting that custom service brought in more clients, and custom jewelry became his main growth driver for years – built entirely on Google search and SEO, the only acquisition channel he's ever used.
What worked
From 2012 onward, Nicolas focused on exactly one channel: Google search and SEO. He had no background in marketing, jewelry, or SEO when he started, and it took him about three years before the business could actually support him.
In 2016 he hit a wall with his main local jewelry workshop – he didn't have control over quality or lead times. So he set up his own workshop instead. He's focused on custom jewelry ever since; owning the workshop turned into a real advantage for promoting the service, since he could guarantee both quality and turnaround in a way outsourcing never let him.
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What didn't work
Nicolas made sales from the very first years, but not enough to live on – it took nearly three years before the business could sustain him. He hadn't anticipated how much he'd need to invest in machinery to bring the workshop up to standard. He wanted to quit many times, doubting he'd get through it – but he'd already given up his job in France and moved his life to Mexico to build this, and couldn't tolerate the idea of quitting after that much had already been spent.
The turning point
Setting up his own jewelry workshop in 2016, while staying focused on custom jewelry, is what actually moved the business forward. It gave him control over quality and lead time that outsourcing never could, and it's the point everything since has built on.
Audience
Nicolas's audience is mainly in France and other French-speaking countries – people already searching for something specific or custom in jewelry. By the time they find him, they're already proactive about buying; what tips the decision is the quality of the work and the workshop's reputation.
Looking ahead
Two things currently cap how much Nicolas can grow. His customers are French speakers, and he can't hand those conversations off to his assistant – he has to have them himself. Custom jewelry also means a lot of back-and-forth by email, which eats the time he'd otherwise spend growing the business.
In 2026 he launched his first ready-made collection, Mexica, inspired by Mexican culture, and is promoting it in Mexico, France, and the US. He's aiming for press coverage – so far it's landed 8 small features, with one more expected in September. He's also recently launched vivalatina.mx for the Mexican market, though there's almost no business there yet.
Practical takeaways
A business that fails once, run part-time on the side, can still work – the second attempt, done full time, is what actually proved it out.
One channel, done consistently for over a decade, can outlast the need for a marketing budget entirely.
Losing control over quality or lead time from an outside supplier is worth fixing directly – even if that means taking on the operational weight yourself.
Vivalatina
An online jewelry workshop born from love.
Links
Website: vivalatina-shop.com
Instagram: vivalatinajewelry
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