Paul Borian on sun 29 jul 07
I understand the context that David Hendley was speaking in when he made
this statement but he went on to depict a rather dismal picture of a
studio potter's life and from what I could tell, most agreed with him.
Tgi Fridays and a movie? LOL I wouldn't set foot in either of those
places if you paid me. Seriously though I know that was just humor - and
I am not about to "brag" about my income since I know it would be
considered modest by today's standards, but it is increasing every year
and my expenses have pretty much peaked out and will most likely
decrease considerably next year. I keep an impossible stack of wholesale
orders on hand at all times and cash as many of them in as possible
after each firing. I don't feel at all like I am struggling financially
- is this really an exception for a potter?
The only obstacles I have at the moment are a few minor tech issues that
are in process of being solved but it can only happen so fast. In all
likelihood my product line will be 99% reliable within the next month or
so and then I am expecting another substantial increase in income
because it will put me in a position to actually fill all orders I get,
and fill them faster which can really help increase sales because the
sooner the stores get the pottery (at least the really good stores) the
faster they sell it and re-order.
Is it really that hard to make money as a potter? I would be interested
to hear what others have to say. I don't have a problem with providing
specific details about how I run my business, what my sales/expenses are
but I know that it is generally not considered polite to talk about how
much money we make but it could be of some help to others if this topic
ever turns into an open discussion.
Basically, I think that any working potter should have a lucrative
business on their hands (even if it would not be worth much to sell
someday) and if they don't, then they need to take an honest look at why
they don't so they can make the needed changes.
What do others think?
Paul
KATHI LESUEUR on mon 30 jul 07
On Jul 29, 2007, at 7:56 PM, Paul Borian wrote:
> ............I don't feel at all like I am struggling financially
> - is this really an exception for a potter?
>
> ........ In all likelihood my product line will be 99% reliable
> within the next month or
> so and then I am expecting another substantial increase in income
> because it will put me in a position to actually fill all orders I
> get,
> and fill them faster which can really help increase sales because the
> sooner the stores get the pottery (at least the really good stores)
> the
> faster they sell it and re-order.
>
> Is it really that hard to make money as a potter?>>
No, your story is not an exception IF you are young, healthy, and
have nothing else interfering with your life. I was in your position
twelve years ago. But, in 1995 I moved my parents to Ann Arbor
because of their ill health. I spent the next five months trying to
make a living while helping with my terminally ill father's care. I
had to cancel shows and wholesale orders to do it. Three years later
I went through the same thing with my mother. I don't regret spending
the effort on their behalf, but it was costly. In between those two
problems I had shoulder surgery. Just as I was getting back on my
feet I had three major wholesale accounts go out of business. Two
were from illness and one from a death. The stores just closed
overnight. Those three accounts represented thousands of dollars in
income. Last year started out great. We had photographed all of the
new work for our catalog and were setting up a website, planned to
join Wholesale Craft Online. Then in February my partner was
diagnosed with breast cancer. She spent the rest of the year in
treatment and was so weak that she couldn't work. On top of that, the
chemo affected her cognitive ability so that she couldn't use the
computer to do the catalog or the website - or even read a book..
So, my advice to you is to be happy with your current success but
prepare for a future that may not be so bright. Your fortune can turn
on a dime. Put away as much money for the future as you possibly can.
What saved us is that we carried no debt at that time but our
mortgage and we had invested every penny we possibly could. That and
the most wonderful and supportive friends anyone could ever hope for
got us through. But, I'm sixty now and it's much harder to recover
from these kinds of crisis.
Good luck with your future,
Kathi
David Hendley on mon 30 jul 07
Hi Paul, of course there are potters who make a good living.
It is hard and it takes years of work to get there, but it is
certainly doable.
Kathi's story in reply to your posting is a great example for
illustrating why being a potter is not the same as owning
most businesses, such as Jamie's example of his parent's
restaurant, which they ended up selling for a big price.
Waitresses, cashiers, and pizza cooks are, as the saying goes,
a dime a dozen. Unless she is totally incompetent or
dishonest, one cashier is pretty much the same as any other
cashier. If one gets sick or quits, the owner can hire a new
one in one day. The owner or someone from his family could
even fill in for a while if needed.
If an independent studio potter suffers a debilitating illness
or injury, all work stops. There are not many skilled, experienced
potters who could, and would, step in to take over. In most
cases there would be no money to pay them anyway.
What if a tree branch falls and smashes your kiln? Four weeks
before your biggest sale of the year?
As a somewhat trivial example, last Friday (10 days ago) I
suffered a non-pottery related finger injury. I was completely
out of commission for a week, and it will be at least another
week until I will be able to throw. This, at the time of year
when I should be working overtime to build up my inventory
for my October shows. Ouch to the finger and to the bottom line.
So, if we compare being a potter to more traditional businesses,
and I swear I'm not trying to set the bar impossibly high here,
he is what I think is required for a potter to say that she has
"a lucrative business on their hands":
~A reasonable level of "by-the-hour" pay for all the direct
work performed to produce and sell the ware and run the
business. I have a master's degree and 30 years experience -
how much should that be worth per hour?
~Income to pay all overhead and expenses.
~Even more income, as payback for making the investment
in the studio and being the business owner. If you spent
$20,000 setting up the studio, it would be reasonable to
expect an extra $1000-2000 (5-to-10%) per year. This is
the "opportunity cost" of not having your money available to
invest in other ways - such as CDs or the stock market.
~Even more income to pay for health insurance. It is either
included or heavily subsidized for most long-term career jobs.
The potter is on her own.
~ Even more income to put into a retirement fund - at least
the current maximum ($4000) for an IRA. This is to replace
the 401k that most jobs offer. Heck, my daughter, in her first
job out of college gets 401K matching from her employer (they
literally give her an extra percentage for every dollar she puts
in the retirement fund).
~And don't forget, if you are self-employed, you pay all of your
Social Security and Medicare taxes, which is 15% right off the
top.
Whew, it takes a lot of mugs and casseroles to bring in that
kind of income. And, as Kathi says, your situation can turn
on a dime for any number of reasons.
If you are in it for the long term, I would echo her suggestions
that you incur no debts and save significant amounts of money
for that rainy day and for your eventual retirement now, while
things are going good for you.
I am certainly not complaining about my situation as a potter,
and, honestly, I don't really look forward to TGI Friday's as a
big night out on the town, but I like the mental picture....
I have a wonderful life and, thanks to conscientious and determined
planning starting at age 25, I should be able to quit working
and enjoy a well-deserved retirement.
My goal is to get beginning potters to think about what is really
required to make a lifetime career out of being a studio potter -
it is doable but requires skill, knowledge, and tenacity, and often
an adjustment of typical middle-class expectations. The rewards,
of course, are worth the effort.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
I understand the context that David Hendley was speaking in when he made
this statement but he went on to depict a rather dismal picture of a
studio potter's life and from what I could tell, most agreed with him.
Tgi Fridays and a movie? LOL I wouldn't set foot in either of those
places if you paid me. Seriously though I know that was just humor - and
I am not about to "brag" about my income since I know it would be
considered modest by today's standards, but it is increasing every year
and my expenses have pretty much peaked out and will most likely
decrease considerably next year. I keep an impossible stack of wholesale
orders on hand at all times and cash as many of them in as possible
after each firing. I don't feel at all like I am struggling financially
- is this really an exception for a potter?
WJ Seidl on tue 31 jul 07
Um, David, guess again.
As self-employed, you're (and I and a lot of us) are paying BOTH the
employer and the employee share.
Social Security is 6.2% this year (12.4% total)
Medicare is 1.45% (2.9% total)
So for the two taxes, you are correct...15.3%
But that's not all. You forgot the biggest chunk.
The base (starting) percentage for Federal witholding this year appears
to be 20.4%
now add that in...so...41.7% total, less deductions...
That's a WHOLE lot of work.
Best,
Wayne Seidl
David Hendley wrote:
> SNIP
>
> ~And don't forget, if you are self-employed, you pay all of your
> Social Security and Medicare taxes, which is 15% right off the
> top.
>
Jonathan Kirkendall on tue 31 jul 07
I would echo what Kathi said.
10 years ago I lived in a very cool, very hip loft space in downtown
DC. My studio was just down the alley, a full two story carriage house
built in the 1800's, with running water and electricity. $100/month
rent for the studio, $700/month for 1100 square feet of loft space.
Every Sunday I got up at 7 and loaded my truck and went to Eastern
Market to sell my wares, coming home with anywhere from $50/day to
$500/day. I helped design service ware for three restaurants in town,
and had steady orders from them. I had work in several galleries. I
had waiting lists for my classes. I made good money, and really thought
"Wow, this is easier than I thought it would be..."
What changed was something completely out of my control, and was not
necessarily tragic: DC's economy got BETTER. Downtown began to
develop. Two blocks from our house, four city blocks of empty lots
became One Big Hole and construction for the city's new convention
center started. We were ok for a couple of years, but not for long.
When we got news that our rent was going from $700/month to $1100/month,
we realized it was time to think about buying a house. When we moved
into the Shaw neighborhood in 1997, three story row houses were going
for around $160,000. In 2001, they were going for half a million. We
had to move, and had to find a place in a not so hip, not so cool
neighborhood.
The down side of all this is that my studio (in my basement now) has
little light and is not at all accessible to those with both time and
money who wanted to take classes. The restaurants have gone through
several changes in management, and while I still do some service ware
for them, new managers have new ideas about what they want the stuff to
look like. Eastern Market has also gone through changes (not the least
of which was a fire this year that took out half the building). I own
my house, and to pay the mortgage, I had to really set to work to
develop another career, and in doing that, I could no longer keep the
Sunday hours there. Not to mention the effect that 9/11 had on every
aspect of the economy in DC for a full year. That's a lot of change to
have to constantly adapt to.
Don't get me wrong - there is an upside. I am one happy home owner, and
the reality is that my pots are much better than they were 10 years ago,
and quite frankly sell for more $$$ than they did 10 years ago. I have
much more fun developing new pots, and still have AHA! moments in the
studio and make new forms that catch people's eyes. But I make less of
them. And gone are the days when I went from craft show to craft show.
I am in good shape and fit - but at 46, I have noticed that when I'm
done - when I"m worn out and tired, there's a whole lot less pushing
myself that I can get away with.
Change happens.
Jonathan in DC
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