Larry Kruzan on fri 24 dec 04
Hi Folks,
After a couples years of honing my skills and selling a lot of pots,
mugs, etc. to friends and neighbors I finally have decided that it's
time to get serious about pottery and start a business. At 49 I think
I have found a calling or at least an addiction. There are a lot of
things I do not know about business and retail/wholesale marketing but
I have some great support from local guys who have been in business for
40+ years. The one thing they cannot tell me is were the pitfalls are
in our industry.
I'm planning to do the retail showroom - art show - craft fair -
consignment sells - route and any other method you might suggest. I am
very serious about making this thing work and intend to do what is
required to make it go.
I have all the normal equipment and am looking for a suitable building
in a nearby small town. I will be building a reduction kiln at the new
location since the gas kilns I have used will no longer be at my
disposal (I've completed the program), I am planning a 6mo. startup
time frame so I hope to be in full production by June.
I am financially secure apart from this enterprise so I do not expect
to support my family (or myself) in the perceivable future but want the
pottery to be totally self sufficient within a reasonably short time.
I have a lawyer and accountant on retainer so all I have to do is make
and sell pots.
So I turn to you my friends, what do you think?
Larry Kruzan
Lost Creek Pottery
Kathi LeSueur on sat 25 dec 04
Larry_kruzan@INSIGHTBB.COM wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> After a couples years of honing my skills and selling a lot of pots,
> mugs, etc. to friends and neighbors I finally have decided that it's
> time to get serious about pottery and start a business..........
> I am financially secure apart from this enterprise so I do not expect
> to support my family (or myself) in the perceivable future but want the
> pottery to be totally self sufficient within a reasonably short time.>>>
There's a very old joke about the artist who wins the lottery. "what are
you going to do now?" "I'm going to keep doing art fairs until the money
runs out." Making a living as an artist is not easy. It can suck away
all of your available other income. If you don't approach it as a
business that must make enough money to support you and your family, it
will never be sucessful. You will underprice your work because,
afterall, you don't need to make a living at it, just cover expenses.
You won't think about the cost of your time, just cost of materials. You
won't consider wiring lamps in front of the tv as work time, so you
won't charge for it.
The world is littered with people who went into business, and failed, to
have something to do but "didn't need it to support my family".
Kathi
>
>
>
Susan Fox-Hirschmann on sat 25 dec 04
In a message dated 12/25/2004 8:03:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Larry_kruzan@INSIGHTBB.COM writes:
I have a lawyer and accountant on retainer so all I have to do is make
and sell pots.
So I turn to you my friends, what do you think?
GO FER IT!!!
But don't let the "overhead" like paying lawyers and accountants eat up your
profits, which is what I expect you would like to have from this creative
adventure.
I say: design a line of work
create a business plan
try many avenues to sell your work: retail, wholesale, very little
consignment (no money flow there and it holds up inventory that you can sell
and get money for oright away)
gallery sales, etc,
give it a year or 2 and see which of the above is the most lucrative
for you
Keep REALLY good records....of your work, of firings, of sales, of
what is selling
but remember not to forget to "create from your heart" (not to be
lost in the
whole morrass of doing business)
Be open to meeting new people and communicating with them your needs
(unless it is "high finances" don/t let a lawyer do it for you)
Remember: the creator sells the work and shows his energy for the
work better
than any other person can do that for you.
Enjoy the energy that comes from your new adventure!
Best of luck
Susan
Annandale, VA
John Jensen on sat 25 dec 04
I'm sure you will get a lot of good advice. Here's a little piece that
might help you: Take one product (at least) like a teapot, and break =
the
production down into parts. Evaluate the time required for each and =
every
task and assign a dollar value to it based on your hourly income =
requirement
(I recommend $25 as a minimum). Add up the cost of every single thing
required to produce the item, from your clay and glaze, electricity,
equipment, insurance, floor polish, water, garbage pick up, packaging,
advertizing, and so forth.
In other words take a comprehensive, unvarnished look at how much it =
cost to
make something. (this will need to be less than half the potential =
retail
price) Then you will be in a position to try to figure out how to make =
it
affordable. Maybe you will need to learn to throw faster, or eliminate =
some
inefficient glazing practices. Even though you don't need to make a =
living
right now, you do want to make a living in the future. You can't make a
living giving away your work, and you can't make a living charging more =
than
the market will bear.
Best wishes on a very exciting venture.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
John Jensen@mudbugpottery.com
http://www.toadhouse.com www://www.mudbugpottery.com
Larry Kruzan on sat 25 dec 04
> it
> will never be successful. You will underprice your work because,
> afterall, you don't need to make a living at it, just cover expenses.
> You won't think about the cost of your time, just cost of materials.
> You
> won't consider wiring lamps in front of the tv as work time, so you
> won't charge for it.
>
> The world is littered with people who went into business, and failed,
> to
> have something to do but "didn't need it to support my family".
>
> Kathi
Thanks for your insight Kathi. I do hope to avoid the trap of not
pricing my work high enough to make a profit. That is one of the
reasons I AM financially secure - I DO believe my time is very
valuable. What I was trying to say (sorry I did it so poorly) was that
I know that any venture will not reach a break even point for a certain
period of time. I do plan to take a salary but I am glad that I will
not have starve the business of required capital during this first
year, just to support my family. Hopefully it won't end up on the
litter pile, but if it does it will not be because I used it as a
hobby, I plan to work hard and I hope to make a lot of money.
Thanks
Larry Kruzan
Lost Creek Pottery
Lee Love on sun 26 dec 04
Larry Kruzan wrote:
> I am financially secure apart from this enterprise so I do not expect
> to support my family (or myself) in the perceivable future but want the
> pottery to be totally self sufficient within a reasonably short time.
Hi Larry,
I think you are in an ideal financial situation from a
creative perspective. You will not have to make something you don't
want to make, just to feed the family.
So, go for it!
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/ WEB LOG
http://public.fotki.com/togeika/ Photos!
Jennifer Boyer on mon 27 dec 04
The "keep really good records" is great advice:
For my first few years I kept records of the reasons why pots were
coming out seconds. It gave me good perspective as to where my weak
areas were: from year to year I never would have guessed what my most
problematic areas were since the pattern only showed itself when a
whole year's seconds were analyzed.
Also, I use a raffle as a tool for finding out about people's thoughts
on new glazes. I can't tell you how many times I've introduced a new
glaze or brushwork pattern only to have it just sit on the shelf. If I
offer a raffle at my open studio event it gives me names and addresses
for my mailing list( they can opt out of the ML). Also the prize is a
vase in the color of their choice. They need to mark down what their
favorite color is. So it's a popularity poll for my glazes. Now my
raffles are only for folks who buy something, but if I was a new potter
I would open it to anyone stopping at my booth. That way I could get an
idea of how folks feel about my color palette even if they haven't
bought anything. It may cost me 30 or 35 bucks to send a little vase to
someone but it's totally worth it for what I get out of it.....
I also enter all my sales into a Quickbooks program on my computer. I
keep sales records of every sale by item and color, so at the end of
the year I have a list of what has sold. I've had many situations where
those numbers have shown me low or a high sellers that I wasn't aware
of.
Perspective: this is the advice of a production potter who has done
what Mel always espouses: concentrate on the buyers within 50 miles of
your studio. But to do that I have to make what they want to buy. I
have maker friends who never sell in our state of VT even though they
live here. They chose to make a line of work that doesn't sell
here(high end) and then have gone out of state to wholesale and retail
shows to find their market. That has worked for them.
Good luck...
Jennifer
On Dec 25, 2004, at 10:16 AM, Susan Fox-Hirschmann wrote:
> In a message dated 12/25/2004 8:03:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> Larry_kruzan@INSIGHTBB.COM writes:
> I have a lawyer and accountant on retainer so all I have to do is make
> and sell pots.
>
> So I turn to you my friends, what do you think?
>
>
> GO FER IT!!!
> Keep REALLY good records....of your work, of firings, of
> sales, of
> what is selling
> but remember not to forget to "create from your heart" (not
> to be
> lost in the
> whole morrass of doing business)
> Susan
************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
Larry Kruzan on mon 27 dec 04
Hi Jennifer
If you don't mind me asking, are your sells mostly walk-in retail or do
you concentrate on fairs, etc.?
I just bought Quickbooks Pro and find it surprisingly complete for a
mid range product. The report section will let me track much more than
I think I need at this point, however, over the long run the data it
gives should be a great tool for forecasting.
Thanks
Larry Kruzan
Lost Creek Pottery
On Dec 27, 2004, at 7:06 AM, Jennifer Boyer wrote:
> The "keep really good records" is great advice:
>
> For my first few years I kept records of the reasons why pots were
> coming out seconds. It gave me good perspective as to where my weak
> areas were: from year to year I never would have guessed what my most
> problematic areas were since the pattern only showed itself when a
> whole year's seconds were analyzed.
>
> Also, I use a raffle as a tool for finding out about people's thoughts
> on new glazes. I can't tell you how many times I've introduced a new
> glaze or brushwork pattern only to have it just sit on the shelf. If I
> offer a raffle at my open studio event it gives me names and addresses
> for my mailing list( they can opt out of the ML). Also the prize is a
> vase in the color of their choice. They need to mark down what their
> favorite color is. So it's a popularity poll for my glazes. Now my
> raffles are only for folks who buy something, but if I was a new potter
> I would open it to anyone stopping at my booth. That way I could get an
> idea of how folks feel about my color palette even if they haven't
> bought anything. It may cost me 30 or 35 bucks to send a little vase to
> someone but it's totally worth it for what I get out of it.....
>
> I also enter all my sales into a Quickbooks program on my computer. I
> keep sales records of every sale by item and color, so at the end of
> the year I have a list of what has sold. I've had many situations where
> those numbers have shown me low or a high sellers that I wasn't aware
> of.
>
> Perspective: this is the advice of a production potter who has done
> what Mel always espouses: concentrate on the buyers within 50 miles of
> your studio. But to do that I have to make what they want to buy. I
> have maker friends who never sell in our state of VT even though they
> live here. They chose to make a line of work that doesn't sell
> here(high end) and then have gone out of state to wholesale and retail
> shows to find their market. That has worked for them.
>
> Good luck...
> Jennifer
>
> On Dec 25, 2004, at 10:16 AM, Susan Fox-Hirschmann wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 12/25/2004 8:03:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>> Larry_kruzan@INSIGHTBB.COM writes:
>> I have a lawyer and accountant on retainer so all I have to do is make
>> and sell pots.
>>
>> So I turn to you my friends, what do you think?
>>
>>
>> GO FER IT!!!
>> Keep REALLY good records....of your work, of firings, of
>> sales, of
>> what is selling
>> but remember not to forget to "create from your heart" (not
>> to be
>> lost in the
>> whole morrass of doing business)
>> Susan
> ************************
> Jennifer Boyer
> Thistle Hill Pottery
> Montpelier, VT
>
> http://thistlehillpottery.com
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> 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.
>
Jennifer Boyer on mon 27 dec 04
No shows any more. I do walk in sales, web sales, consignment galleries
and some wholesale.
I get most of my info from how I name my items. Most are "sub items" of
a master item: like mugs and bowls being a sub item of dinnerware. Also
there is a "class" and I use that to define each item by color. I can
get a sales report grouped by color.
Jennifer
On Dec 27, 2004, at 9:37 AM, Larry Kruzan wrote:
> Hi Jennifer
> If you don't mind me asking, are your sells mostly walk-in retail or do
> you concentrate on fairs, etc.?
>
> I just bought Quickbooks Pro and find it surprisingly complete for a
> mid range product. The report section will let me track much more than
> I think I need at this point, however, over the long run the data it
> gives should be a great tool for forecasting.
>
> Thanks
> Larry Kruzan
> Lost Creek Pottery
>
>
> On Dec 27, 2004, at 7:06 AM, Jennifer Boyer wrote:
>
>> The "keep really good records" is great advice:
>>
>> For my first few years I kept records of the reasons why pots were
>> coming out seconds. It gave me good perspective as to where my weak
>> areas were: from year to year I never would have guessed what my most
>> problematic areas were since the pattern only showed itself when a
>> whole year's seconds were analyzed.
>>
>> Also, I use a raffle as a tool for finding out about people's thoughts
>> on new glazes. I can't tell you how many times I've introduced a new
>> glaze or brushwork pattern only to have it just sit on the shelf. If I
>> offer a raffle at my open studio event it gives me names and addresses
>> for my mailing list( they can opt out of the ML). Also the prize is a
>> vase in the color of their choice. They need to mark down what their
>> favorite color is. So it's a popularity poll for my glazes. Now my
>> raffles are only for folks who buy something, but if I was a new
>> potter
>> I would open it to anyone stopping at my booth. That way I could get
>> an
>> idea of how folks feel about my color palette even if they haven't
>> bought anything. It may cost me 30 or 35 bucks to send a little vase
>> to
>> someone but it's totally worth it for what I get out of it.....
>>
>> I also enter all my sales into a Quickbooks program on my computer. I
>> keep sales records of every sale by item and color, so at the end of
>> the year I have a list of what has sold. I've had many situations
>> where
>> those numbers have shown me low or a high sellers that I wasn't aware
>> of.
>>
>> Perspective: this is the advice of a production potter who has done
>> what Mel always espouses: concentrate on the buyers within 50 miles of
>> your studio. But to do that I have to make what they want to buy. I
>> have maker friends who never sell in our state of VT even though they
>> live here. They chose to make a line of work that doesn't sell
>> here(high end) and then have gone out of state to wholesale and retail
>> shows to find their market. That has worked for them.
>>
>> Good luck...
>> Jennifer
>>
>> On Dec 25, 2004, at 10:16 AM, Susan Fox-Hirschmann wrote:
>>
>>> In a message dated 12/25/2004 8:03:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>>> Larry_kruzan@INSIGHTBB.COM writes:
>>> I have a lawyer and accountant on retainer so all I have to do is
>>> make
>>> and sell pots.
>>>
>>> So I turn to you my friends, what do you think?
>>>
>>>
>>> GO FER IT!!!
>>> Keep REALLY good records....of your work, of firings, of
>>> sales, of
>>> what is selling
>>> but remember not to forget to "create from your heart" (not
>>> to be
>>> lost in the
>>> whole morrass of doing business)
>>> Susan
>> ************************
>> Jennifer Boyer
>> Thistle Hill Pottery
>> Montpelier, VT
>>
>> http://thistlehillpottery.com
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________________
>> _
>> _______
>> 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.
>>
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> 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.
>
>
************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
Kathryn & Stuart Fields on tue 28 dec 04
A comment about the difference between Quick Books and Quicken -- according
to my favorite tax and accounting woman: If you are dealing only in cash
business, i.e. you sell it and receive $$ or you buy it and pay either by
credit card or $$, then you DO NOT need an acrual system such as Quick Books
or the pro version. Quicken works fine. If you will have accounts payable
or receivable, the possibly Quick Books is necessary. Also, the difference
between Quick Books and Quick Books Pro is whether you track your inventory
and/or have payroll concerns.
We have one umbrella business, with two subsections (at least 2), plus have
sold property and carried the paper as well as tracking rentals -- all with
Quicken over many years. I too enter each and every credit card or other
receipt slip -- you can down load most Visa and MC activities directly into
Quicken (according to the book-- I'm about to start this process so have no
history on success or failure of this method). The point is that Quicken is
easier and more straightforward than Quick Books (QB uses the double entry
system which is a great deal more elaborate than I care for). So if you can
avoid the complecation, it would be worth a try.
Kathryn Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
www.experimentalhelo.com
Inyokern, CA 93527
| |
|
