Shirley Sanderson Stephens on sun 19 aug 01
Does anyone have a business plan that they actually work from?
How beneficial are biz plans to potters, or is it something for a
banker?
L. P. Skeen on sun 19 aug 01
Biz plans are great to help you think out what you're doing, and the banks
love 'em when you go to ask for $$$. I said awhile back that I would post
mine on the website so folks could get an idea, but have not done it yet.
Perhaps I can get to it this week.....
----- Original Message -----
From: Shirley Sanderson Stephens
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2001 4:07 PM
Subject: Business plans for potters
> Does anyone have a business plan that they actually work from?
> How beneficial are biz plans to potters, or is it something for a
> banker?
>
>
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Richard Urban on wed 22 aug 01
Terrance,
Would you happen to know how much consultants cost? I'm sure they are pricey.
Richard Urban on wed 22 aug 01
My experience with biz plans is that they are very time consuming to put
together. I gave up after a while. I felt a lot like I did when I used to
do my own taxes; sort of a daunting prospect. So that leads me to a
question: does anyone know of a service that will write a business plan for
you? Perhaps grant writers also do biz plans?
John Hesselberth on wed 22 aug 01
on 8/22/01 12:18 AM, Richard Urban at richard77u@AOL.COM wrote:
> My experience with biz plans is that they are very time consuming to put
> together. I gave up after a while. I felt a lot like I did when I used to
> do my own taxes; sort of a daunting prospect. So that leads me to a
> question: does anyone know of a service that will write a business plan for
> you? Perhaps grant writers also do biz plans?
Richard, in my view the only value is in putting it together. The finished
document is generally not worth much--well OK if you are using it to get a
loan it is a necessary thing to have. Unless you are using it for that
purpose, put your effort into addressing the questions a business plan
forces you to address and forget about putting it in pretty form.
Regards, John
Web site: http://www.frogpondpottery.com Email: john@frogpondpottery.com
"The life so short, the craft so long to learn." Chaucer's translation of
Hippocrates, 5th cent. B.C.
Terrance Lazaroff on wed 22 aug 01
Richard;
There are lots of places to go to get business plans written. They are
called consultants. And they cost.
Sherry Morrow on wed 22 aug 01
What aabout the small business administration. They are supposed to have
people to help do that sort of thing, Sher Morrow
Jeremy/Bonnie Hellman on wed 22 aug 01
Hello all,
I agree with John that if you view your business plan as an important tool
in understanding YOUR business, your spreadsheet model will serve the
business well. You must honestly include all YOUR expenses (in the time
period when you actually pay those expenses). You can put together several
different models ranging from the conservative (worst case) to liberal (if
everything goes right and exceeds your wildest dreams). Sometimes when you
see the resulting cash flow, you may change your approach to your business.
And if you are going for a loan, you will be required to have one. Yes, you
can create a work of fiction, but there are real benefits to you to do the
work to try to understand how YOUR business will work.
I believe there are computer programs that purport to walk you through
preparing a business plan, but I've never used them.
I use a spreadsheet and create my own model in each case because each
business is different, and some costs are fixed like rent and others are
variable, and will change depending on volume or use. With a spreadsheet you
can build in the formulas that you need.
Some of the more interesting business plans I've done include preparing a
quickie business plan with a tax client who felt that he'd get rich if he
left his day job and opened a coffee house/snack place near his home. We
looked at all the expenses (approximating where necessary) and concluded
that he would not make enough money, and if someone else also opened a
coffee shop near him, he'd make NO money.
Once I also prepared a detailed business plan for a client who was running
the visiting nurse service in a rural county. She wanted the council to pay
her more money and make certain improvements. That business plan, prepared
conservatively, showed that she would triple her earnings if she started the
business. I liked the plan so much I was interested in being an investor in
the business. Instead she used the plan to talk council into giving her the
raise she originally wanted because she really didn't want to be an
entrepreneur.
I've used the same approach to home budgeting, to understand how much money
we needed to live on. Then I figured out how much money we wanted to live
on.
BTW preparing business plans is one of the things that most CPAs can do with
you and for you.
Bonnie
Bonnie Hellman, CPA in PA & CO
> From: John Hesselberth
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 10:10:34 -0400
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Business plans for potters
>
> on 8/22/01 12:18 AM, Richard Urban at richard77u@AOL.COM wrote:
>
>> My experience with biz plans is that they are very time consuming to put
>> together. I gave up after a while. I felt a lot like I did when I used to
>> do my own taxes; sort of a daunting prospect. So that leads me to a
>> question: does anyone know of a service that will write a business plan for
>> you? Perhaps grant writers also do biz plans?
> Richard, in my view the only value is in putting it together. The finished
> document is generally not worth much--well OK if you are using it to get a
> loan it is a necessary thing to have. Unless you are using it for that
> purpose, put your effort into addressing the questions a business plan
> forces you to address and forget about putting it in pretty form.
>
> Regards, John
> Web site: http://www.frogpondpottery.com Email: john@frogpondpottery.com
>
> "The life so short, the craft so long to learn." Chaucer's translation of
> Hippocrates, 5th cent. B.C.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Paul Taylor on thu 23 aug 01
Dear Shirely
This is one of those short questions answered so easily yes of or no .
But I have been thinking about it a lot ( Spend too much time on my own ).
Have you ever asked yourself why there are so few potters - its not for
want of education there must be thousands churned out of collages every
year.
Also how come some the best potters do not make money while bodgers
regularly do..
I think one of the things that some have is a business plan.
Some people have no difficulty with commerce and will tell you that its
over kill for the bank. These people are naturals their whole life is a
business plan . They can not go into a restaurant with out working out the
restaurants potential turn over. My brothers like that; while I am looking
through the menu to see what I may enjoy, he is multiplying the opening
hours by the cost of the average meal, deducting the running cost and coming
out with an accurate opinion on their profitability . Us lesser mortals eat
on - oblivious.
So when we start a business we have no idea of the considerations, and
certainly do not carry them in our heads. So we need to write every thing
down and reread it and rewrite it and reread it again. Or get a nice part
time teaching job so you do not have to deal with nasties like cash flow ,
margins, overheads etc.
The most frightening piece of planning is to do with pricing lets say you
have a turnover of thirty thousand pounds and you have set your prices too
low say they need to be ten percent higher. You are charging four pound for
a mug not four pounds forty pence that you should have. At the end of the
year that difference amounts to 10% of 30000 three thousand pounds. Over ten
years (how quickly they pass) that thirty thousand pounds. You could have
had a holiday and paid the mortgage on a second house- for want of half a
dollar on the wholesale price of a mug. If you are clever enough to be
retailing ( Here the retailers put 100% mark up) that another 30 000 over
the ten years. If your costs on that 30000 are a third the extra three
thousand is not ten percent of extra income but 3000 0f 20000 which is a
fifteen percent hike in income for a ten percent price rise.
There is another way of expressing the consequences of getting the pricing
wrong instead of doing well your business slowly bleeds to death . You do OK
for a few years but you forgot one aspect in your planning "reinvestment"
(replacing kilns etc). Now you are in deep; no holidays and a failing
business because you did not write review and study an adequate business
plan. You were influenced by all those mucho friends who have no trouble
with figures and they are traveling too fast to care. I am writing this
because this is not you, but was me. Fortunately I survived but I have no
pension plan and failing health.
What is important about the plan is writing down as many decisions as you
can - all the decisions . Unfortunately I thought of a business plan as
something for obscure financial considerations . But most of the things are
fairly mundane. do you retail? or wholesale? do you do fairs or exhibitions?
sell one mug to ten customers or a lamp base to one customer?
I am writing down every thing I do and essential those decisions I take
for granted like making mugs with handles or without and thinking about the
consequences - taking nothing for granted.
And this thinking has revolutionized my work. It is ridding me of many
of the silly things I do subconsciously buy asking the questions that are
the most basic and yet have the most consequences like why make mugs at all.
Why bother with trade shows etc .
A business plan also defends you from the trite advise from well
wishers and 'experts'. Advise like why don't you have a sale ( this advise
nearly ruined me) . Why don't you do market stalls?. ANSWER Because people
expect to buy cheap goods at a market stall where as they expect to pay ten
percent extra at a retail out lett . ALL these are considerations for your
business plan.
Your advertizing, location, the size and sort of shapes, layout of the
workshop, materials and plant have all got to be integrated. Subconsciously
I found the task too daunting because I could not see how a business plan
could ever cover it all accurately. I did not realize that any thing was
better than nothing and that the plan was a dynamic thing that changed with
the circumstances and needed to be in constant review as you gained more
experience and opportunities changed.
I am also one of those people who is forever reviewing - but in my head.
This constant reviewing is just uncertainty. Writing it down gives the
process a solidity and confidence .
So do not do as I did but as I now do . It does not matter how good the
business plan is. If you keep at it has to improve and your decision making
improves. Start with a mission statement, then do the plan to carrying it
out - I found that the most helpful .
Sorry to go on
Regards from Paul Taylor
http://www.anu.ie/westportpottery
Alchemy is the proof that economics is not a science.
> From: Sh irley Sanderson Stephens
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 14:07:40 -0600
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Business plans for potters
>
> Does anyone have a business plan that they actually work from?
> How beneficial are biz plans to potters, or is it something for a
> banker?
Wendy Rosen on thu 23 aug 01
Business plans are often created for the purpose getting
investment money, bank loans etc... and in most cases,
people involved in the "studio start-up" process need something
a bit different than a traditional business plan. Here's the
steps I'd recommend taking before you start working on
any "plan"...
1) Find great mentors, people who have established
successful studios. Find out how they started, why they
make what they make, how they earn a living. (Be sure that
they are telling the truth and not hiding grandma's trust fund) Don't
concentrate on their "style, designs, or processes". Look
at the bigger picture... How do they make decisions about
business. What software do they use. What markets do
they go after. How broad are their pricepoints. What
marketing vehicles are successful.
2) How many income streams will you have. Artists rarely
make a good living off of just one type of work or income...
Will you have a gift line and a sculpture line? Will you have a
gallery? Will you teach? Will you rent a large building and
share space and equipment subletting to others?
3) What makes you most happy about working as a potter?
What is tolerable? What do you hate? (This will tell you
to hire a bookeeper, packer, kiln loader, etc...) Keep reminding
yourself that just as any other job... there are the glamorous
and unglamours parts of the job... (people think publishing a
magazine is glamourous... they don't see me lifting boxes
at 60 events each year!)
4) Know how the cash flows in each business model you
look at... wholesale requires you to wait 30-40 days for $$$...
but in retail you make stuff first then figure out how to sell it.
Don't borrow money! Do have 6 months cash flow before you
quit your job.
5) Know the REAL value of your work... in small town Idaho, New York,
and Carmel, CA... your work gains value as it gains distance from
your home town.
6) Know where to cut costs and where NOT to cut costs.... NEVER
cut out the PROFESSIONAL photos of your work... Never do it yourself!!!
Only one in a hundred slides that come in to our office are GREAT... most
are adequate... there are too many slides in the adequate pile... and
they never
get selected for brochures, advertising or other promotion.
7) Create a step by step plan of start-up costs and operating costs
for each business model... then create a month to month cash flow analysis...
8) The Rosen Group is available for advice... use us! And attend the Crafts
Business Institute (now the Arts Business Institute)
Most craft businesses are started as part-time and graduate to full-time...
it's safer than trying to do it any other way...
--
Wendy Rosen
President, The Rosen Group
3000 Chestnut Ave #304 Baltimore, Maryland 21211
410.889-3093 phone 410.243.7089 fax
AmericanStyle Magazine..... http://americanstyle.com
Niche Magazine and Awards..... http://nichemag.com
Career Services & Mentors..... http://americancraft.com
The Buyers Markets of American Craft
Internships/Scholarships
Craft Business Institute
Market Insider Newsletter (FREE)
Richard Jeffery on thu 23 aug 01
Hi
I'm a consultant - how much do you want to pay?....
(ok - I do - quality assurance in the vocational training industry, which is
really about getting people to think straight, and see what they are looking
at... Funny how many businesses don't seem to believe what they see until
they have paid someone to hold their hand. Not enough for me not to take
making and selling things seriously, though....)
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Richard Urban
Sent: 23 August 2001 03:25
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Business plans for potters
Terrance,
Would you happen to know how much consultants cost? I'm sure they are
pricey.
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Janet Kaiser on thu 23 aug 01
I cannot believe what negative responses various people
are giving about business plans! No wonder studios and
makers are failing the rate they are, if this is the
general attitude. For shame!
OK they are tedious and time consuming when you first
start from scratch, but a business plan is the KEYSTONE
to a venture even existing, never mind becoming a
successful one. It is not just some screwed academic
exercise you know. You can put as little or as much
thought into how you are going to develop this week,
this quarter, this year, next year, the next five
years, over your life time as you want, but without
some sort of forward planning... Well, hells bells!
"Good to have if applying for a loan"? And why is that?
Because any bank manager is going to want to see you
know what you are doing and how you are going to
achieve the aims which will ensure he/she has made a
wise investment in you and your business. They use
other people's money to help you, so they want to make
sure they get it back. Simple economics.
The same should apply to you yourself. If you put X
resources into your business, you need to plan when to
invest, when you can start seeing a return, how you are
going to spread expenditure over time, when you can
start looking forward to making a profit and countless
other aspects. Every bit of your time, labour and
finances should be mapped out to the best of your
ability. That is not just some fancy spread sheet, it
is your whole LIFE you need to map out. It can be an
extremely revealing and creative exercise.
A "business plan" is just a formal way of putting your
life's aspirations, intentions and goals down onto
paper. That does not mean it is written in stone...
Flexibility is also crucial, especially if you are a
single person in business, because illness and accident
can soon affect the best plans in the world. You can
change a plan if you find you are not achieving at the
rate you projected. But not bothering with a business
plan at all, is a sure way of courting disaster.
Janet Kaiser - who is thankfully married to a business
planner par excellence... Yes, the converted are always
the worst! I could not plan a successful piss up in a
brewery!
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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