GEP Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 Hi everybody, This is the last installment of my project ... covering the Open House I had last weekend. It was a doozy. http://goodelephant.com Enjoy! Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 Mea, Glad to hear your open house was a success and really surpassed the other venues. Thanks for the documentation of your experience. It is very informative. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 Hi everybody, This is the last installment of my project ... covering the Open House I had last weekend. It was a doozy. http://goodelephant.com Enjoy! Mea Hi Mea: You have an excellent project here which shows a relative return for the various types of venues you participated in. For me it wold be more valuable to see the hourly return placed in the context of an annual income since hourly returns can be quite high for a short duration yet not provide a sustainable income for a longer period. I don't need specific figures but it wold be nice to know if your annual return from your potter was in say the mid 5 figures. Knowing the annual reurn would porvide a context for the hourly figures. I know from my analysis of my own production I have very high income periods intertwined with very low or non-existent income periods. Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted December 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 Hi Charles, Well I don't want answer the annual income question specifically, but I will confirm that I supported myself financially in 2010 with my pottery business. And that's without any financial support from anyone else. I also teach two pottery classes per week, the extra income helps but I would have made it without that income. I think it's important to mention something every working potter already knows, that living frugally is part of the equation for making this work. I noted early on in my project that I can't work for 8 hours a day like a regular job. It's too taxing physically. My typical work day is 3 to 5 hours. But this past year I worked almost every day. For the past two months of holiday sales, it's been 7 days a week. Because my business is roughly half wholesale and half retail, that provides income year-round. I spend February-July making wholesale orders, and July-December at retail events. But having said that, yes the holiday season yields more income than the rest of the year. And I'm glad that you noted the project is about "relative returns" for different selling venues. The specific numbers don't necessarily apply to anyone else's business. Hope this satisfies your questions, at least enough to start figuring out your own numbers. Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 Hi Charles, Well I don't want answer the annual income question specifically, but I will confirm that I supported myself financially in 2010 with my pottery business. And that's without any financial support from anyone else. I also teach two pottery classes per week, the extra income helps but I would have made it without that income. I think it's important to mention something every working potter already knows, that living frugally is part of the equation for making this work. I noted early on in my project that I can't work for 8 hours a day like a regular job. It's too taxing physically. My typical work day is 3 to 5 hours. But this past year I worked almost every day. For the past two months of holiday sales, it's been 7 days a week. Because my business is roughly half wholesale and half retail, that provides income year-round. I spend February-July making wholesale orders, and July-December at retail events. But having said that, yes the holiday season yields more income than the rest of the year. And I'm glad that you noted the project is about "relative returns" for different selling venues. The specific numbers don't necessarily apply to anyone else's business. Hope this satisfies your questions, at least enough to start figuring out your own numbers. Mea Thanks Mea for your response: I really wan't prying, just tring to put thinggs in perspective. there are many variables including the economic area on lives in. I suspect since you appear to be in the Washington DC area that your expensies and costs of living are much higher than someoone in the heartland. My area also is very expensive to live in here and that needs to be taken into consideration. You are rignt abour frugality being a part of the equation. The fact that you support yourself completely without any input from outside is very important. I really appreciate your keeping track of your expenses and time. I guess with my engineering training and experience everythings gets converted into quantifiable and therefore understandable figures. I love my spreadsheets, and have historical information on most everything I do. Again not trying to pry just professional curiosity and I fully apreciate your privacy. While your numbers don 't specifically apply to anyone elses business there are extrapolations that can be made. I know my numbers, I just like to see if I am doing better or worse than the norm Thanks and Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted December 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 I actually think it is a myth that living in a metropolitan area needs to be expensive. It's only expensive if you are "keeping up with the Jones." It helps to hang out with potters, who don't care if you drive an old car :-) And the flip side is that there are lots of potential customers here, folks who have disposable income, and are educated enough to buy handmade. Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 I actually think it is a myth that living in a metropolitan area needs to be expensive. It's only expensive if you are "keeping up with the Jones." It helps to hang out with potters, who don't care if you drive an old car :-) And the flip side is that there are lots of potential customers here, folks who have disposable income, and are educated enough to buy handmade. Mea Hi Mea: Perhaps living in an urban area may not necessarily have to be more expensive than living in a rural area but it is not wholly a myth that certain parts of the country have higher living expenses. For instance here in California with 10% sales tax in some urban areas, gasoline that has to meet an arbitrary composition only available from some refineries and is currently at $3.18 in my town as well as property values that are higher than 90% of the country would make some areas much more expensive to live in than others and in many cases prohibitive. I am fortunate to be able to have other streams of income which allows me greater flexibility to live where I wish but it is not a myth that some areas have much higher basic expenses than others. Potters aren't the only people to live frugally, I could care less about what the Joneses think. I'm frugal by nature and have always bought used cars because cars are such an awful expense and lose a large portion of their value when driven off the showroom floor. I actually bicycle locally wherever I can. I have seen my grocery bill rise 15% since last Summer, in part because of profligate public spending. I'd challenge anyone to live as comfortably on the same income in the San Francisco Bay Area as they do in Fort Smith. Arkansas . Just as a comparison the median price of a home in Ft Smith is $224,000 while in the San Francisco Bay Area the median home price is $628,000 and the average rent for a two bedroom apartment is $2,800/month. To put it into context the median household income for Ft. Smith is $37,000 and in the Bay Area $70,000. Twice the income but three times the housing cost. I have no idea what your area averages but I suspect that many fewer potters can afford to live in the San Francisco Bay Area than in the Ft. Smith area just based on the cost of housing. Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted December 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 Charles, The SF bay area is a very unusual example. I have siblings who live there, so I know what it's like. You're right, the costs are very high, but many other urban areas are not like that. Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 Charles, The SF bay area is a very unusual example. I have siblings who live there, so I know what it's like. You're right, the costs are very high, but many other urban areas are not like that. Mea I agree Mea: There are urban areas that not as expensive and yes San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Orange County, Portland, Seattle, Boulder, are all special. You can imagine my shock when last week I was asked to consult on a major engineering project in China. It has been a many years since I lived and worked in Asia and the cost of living in Shanghai makes San Francisco look like a veritable bargain! Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Well, no matter where a potter lives, it is really hard to earn a living. The hours needed to keep your business profitable just seem to be growing rather than leveling out. Wholesale, retail, private shows, Internet, websites ... It's crazy! I am trying to think if there is any other business where the creative people also have to be ... the nuts and bolts business brains ... the marketing branch ... the IT peeps... the shipping department ... the public relations dept ... the sale force ... the lab techs ... the clean up crew the repair and maintenance crew ... Not to mention the Mom, the Dad, the wife or the hubby ... the Grandparents ... No wonder we are all a little crazed at times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 I am trying to think if there is any other business where the creative people also have to be ... the nuts and bolts business brains ... the marketing branch ... the IT peeps... the shipping department ... the public relations dept ... the sale force ... the lab techs ... the clean up crew the repair and maintenance crew ... Not to mention the Mom, the Dad, the wife or the hubby ... the Grandparents ... Chris, I think that might sum up the basic lives of most self-employed people these days. The real issue for potters is that we produce what might be considered a somewhat non-essential product for what might be called the average person. A self employed plumber, who is doing all the same stuff,..... is on the other end of the spectrum...... and grosses just slightly less than Bill Gates . best, ............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 Well, no matter where a potter lives, it is really hard to earn a living. The hours needed to keep your business profitable just seem to be growing rather than leveling out. Wholesale, retail, private shows, Internet, websites ... It's crazy! I am trying to think if there is any other business where the creative people also have to be ... the nuts and bolts business brains ... the marketing branch ... the IT peeps... the shipping department ... the public relations dept ... the sale force ... the lab techs ... the clean up crew the repair and maintenance crew ... Not to mention the Mom, the Dad, the wife or the hubby ... the Grandparents ... No wonder we are all a little crazed at times! For me Chris, I think you omitted the most onerous task of all: that of comptroller or as I like to put it, chancellor of the exchequer. Perhaps it is because we are nearing tax time again but going through my bookkeeping: I use Quickbooks and Turbotax but as good as computers are for crunching numbers I still have to do a lot of preparation in advance. I find the whole process onerous and non-productive. Yes, I realize I save money but it's money I already earned so I'm really not saving anything I'm defending what's already mine (I earned it, it's mine) mine from being grabbed. Anyway the 1st quarter of each year is soured for me by having to take the time to do my taxes. sorry for the rant! Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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