Pyewackette

I always find the discussions of success interesting. Success is such a hard word to pin down, what some people consider success to others might be laughable.
A potter making 50K a year in profits(not revenue) might be wildly successful to themselves, but someone else might consider that awful with the amount of manual labor it took for a person to do that in most cases. Making pots as an individual is really hard work no matter what techniques you use.
Success is really up to the individual, if you are happy making 10K a year in profits and are securing your lively hood through another manner, congrats you are happy and successful!
Pottery as a business is probably one of the most challenging forms of art type business you can take on. The equipment is large, the materials are heavy, the ingredients are a hazard and the time and manual labor that goes into each piece is usually under valued.  If you sell in person, you have to haul tons of stuff to a fair or show. If you sell online, you have to package and ship materials that are fragile and cannot be easily replaced. Neither of those things are optimal. It really is one of the most challenging sole owner businesses out there. Which probably explains why there are not a lot of individual million dollar potters, but plenty rich in livelihood, joy and a good bit of money.
I had a fundamental problem with pottery and turning it into a business, it doesn't scale very well. At some point you are going to cap out on the amount of shows you can do, pots you can make, and boxes you can pack. If you want to push into 6 figures you have to be really smart with what you do and be savvy in time management. It isn't easy to do and as others have shown it definitely is possible to do; but other types of businesses can scale so much easier with a single person and modern machinery.
I really like making pots and I like selling them too. Knowing someone is drinking out of my cups year after year experiencing joy is a nice feeling. It is one of the best reasons to be a potter. Not many forms of art are used daily in such an important thing as nourishment of our bodies.  I still think being rich in joy is way better than being rich in money. Unfortunately you need both!
I think I agree with GEP on this subject of instagram. Those people with millions of followers are wildly successful at getting likes and follows, but really they are earning way more money for instagram than themselves. That being said I know that instagram can add to your sales and get visibility to your shop, but I think the potters who utilize it the best are not the ones who have the quarterly flash sales, it is the potters who have a constant online shop available for the impulse buys. When someone is scrolling through their feed and the algorithm places one of your pots on their feed, they click through, click to your website and convert. That conversion can be a newsletter signup, clicking your show dates, or buying a pot from your shop. If you don't have any thing like this available and you are on instagram, then you need to make an adjustment.

These are the most “successful Instagram users.” Not to be confused with “successful potters.” You can’t deposit instagram likes in the bank. What looks shiny and pretty on social media can be 100% a facade. 
I know successful potters from my real life, because doing lots of high-level shows allows you to meet the real deals. Some of them are great with social media, some are bad at it, and some of them don’t do social media at all. There is no correlation. 
My advice to anyone who wants to be a serious pro: don’t place any value on social media popularity. Do it for fun, if you want, but that’s all. 

+1.
I would expand this to include hands on experience with everything from making pots and glazes, working on kilns and selling pots. Real world experience. 
Wouldn't this depend on who and where ones market and / or audience is?

just finished reading this from the OPs opening sentence. 
at 83,  i may be the oldest potter in this group, old  means i do not work in my studio every day.  when i do, i enjoy every part of what i do.
over the last year i have been knocked down with a strange physical problem that has not yet been solved.  losing over 60 pounds without trying is a very scary thing.   i have seen all kinds of specialists and had some treatments of a minor nature but nobody has said "you have XX and need to do ZZ to cure it".   i have to guess that if i had the big C i would know by now, so i am looking at a total change, maybe turning the studio into a B and B like my neighbors did.
when do we give up?  this is the far other end of the continuum.
 

I can lose a day working in my studio,  even recycling clay and cleaning  time fly's by.   My husbands loves to work on cars but hates lawn work.  We hire a man to help us with outdoor work,  last summer the front end on his car broke.  My husband  agrees to fix his car instead of paying him for his work that day.    The hired man comments later  that he has never seen someone so happy to be working on a car.  My husband spent his life writing technical books on amusement rides, plane, trains and construction  equipment.   But is happiest when he is working with his hands.  Denice

I don't think that 'work' in itself is the issue. Rather, it's the type of work. Some people can work for hours and hours with spreadsheets on a computer and have no problem with it. Some folks install shingles all day or frame houses. Some teach kids. I can work hard all day in the studio but I would hate other jobs. It's a matter of finding the work that you enjoy, and if you're not totally into clay then it's not going to be work you want to do all day.

As a Laguna distributor and with lots of  full timer Potter friends I hear things.
Right now custard feldspar due to supply issues is now at 200#s per customer (including me) with Laguna clay
I'm in the ordering mode this week  so I found out about the 200# limit per customer on Custar
.There are rumors  Custar may be going aways but they are just rumors at this point.So thats a heads up. If I where able to by a lifetime supply  right now I would .Just saying
The other news is Kemper tools may not be around for long as the owners are selling the property they have been on for many decades in fact at least since 1947
Now someone could set up and buy the equipment and supplies and move the business but I would not hold my breath on this. The tool business has been defuzed in the past 20 years with so many other tool makes as well. So I ordered what kemper tools i like and there are only a few like the pro needle tool thinking its my last kemper order. So if  you use kemper tools just beaware they may go away soon or not if its bought up.
Well sorry to have such bad news but thats what I have heard all in the past few days after being away on a long trip and just returned.
 

you may find this helpful
Just a late add here, @Dick White summed it up well. For the final segment ….. generally folks use the center column of Orton and most kilns can maintain with elements in reasonable condition.. So 108f per hour is a nice final segment speed in the last 180f or so to hit the predicted cone at the corresponding peak temperature within that column. (See chart) The added benefit of reduced speed in the final segment is the tendency for firings to be more even compared to higher speeds.

Yes, the Orton table shows 108F/hour for the medium speed. Bartlett programs the cone-fire profiles at 120F/hr. That's why I caveated my comment with "depending on who you ask..." I have no clue why Bartlett is using a different rate, but my kilns seem to bend the cones just right at 120F/hr. And yes, I know they are going at 120F/hr - I have Genesis controllers and I download the log files to keep track of exactly what the the kiln is doing.

The reason I asked for your firing schedule is I suspect a technical nuance is at play here. Cones deal in heatwork - time and temperature. Nothing new with that idea. If the ramp rate in the final 2 hours is aggressive (relative to the Orton table, which depending on who you ask, what book you read, or what kiln controller you have, medium speed to cone 6 is 120F/hr to 2232F), the cone bends at a higher final temperature, and vice versa, a slower ramp will bend the cone at a lower temperature. Nothing new with that idea either. Your ramp 5 is set for 200F/hr to 2200F, which is pretty aggressive. Putting that into the Orton cone calculation spreadsheet, that would give you a cone 5.5, and even the 20 minute hold doesn't quite get to 6. However, the nuance that isn't always seen is that as the elements wear with usage, the actual ramp rate attained by the worn elements falters (and in the most extreme case, simply can't heat the kiln in the final segment and the controller errors out). While the cone-fire programs in the Bartlett and Orton controllers have an adaptive feature that monitors the actual final ramp rate and adjusts the target temperature to produce a good cone bend, the custom ramp hold programs do not have that capability. In ramp hold, the controller will keep chugging until the programmed temperature is reached regardless of how long that might take (unless it determines the rate is futile and it errors out). As the elements wear, the final ramp rate slows down and the cone should bend at a lower temperature, but the controller keeps going until the programmed temperature, and now the cone is overfired. Going back to the Orton spreadsheet, a ramp of 100F/hr to 2200 with a 20 minute hold should give you a cone 7, which it did. So, my suspicion is that your elements are wearing out, the programmed 200F/hr final ramp rate is bovine droppings, it's actually only making 100F/hr, and from here, it will get worse. Check the resistance of the elements and be ready to replace them as they drop too far out of spec. In the short term, drop you final temperature to 2185F and that should give you a nice cone 6 when the kiln is chugging along at the best it can do.

If I was starting over now I'd invest in nitride-bonded silicon carbide shelves, not necessarily Advancer brand, there are lower cost options from other suppliers.  The lighter weight, durability, and ease of cleaning glaze drips are worth the investment in my opinion.  

Yeh well, aussie here, I built a vent above the stack and suspended a flue pipe  above the short stack with enough room to operate a damper. It reached up a few fluepipe lengths into the hood then to outside I was firing inside a shed so  needed to draw the fumes up into the hood a ways.
Fibre kiln. .fired fast up, (only used tge pilot lights for first couple of hours), and dropped down  very fast unless sorted.

I did fire a second time. I did not get the bagwall in because it takes too much space. first I stacked the kiln with a whole shelf 7 cm from the kiln floor, but after reaching 400 or so C I stopped because it went up way too slow. I did let everything cool down unloaded and then loaded once again but this time the lower shelf only 2.5 cm from the floor and voila it climbed nicely! The firing is finished in due time and tomorrow I'll see weather the pieces came out nicely.  Cone 10 went down when my pyrometer said around 1235 C or 2255 F for those  on the other side of the planet, but it did so before. 
The weird thing is that when the kiln hits around 840 C  (1544F) I reduce, but when I wanted to open the flue it goes down. Picture 2 shows how far the flue is closed (well the picture is crap). It went up very nicely when I opened the air at the burners fully and the flue at least 3/4 closed. 
I wonder whether there is a problem if after 900C it's fired in reduction all the time.
It's the second time this happened to me. I had the same issue with my old kiln once changed the way I stacked and it would not go up. IMO one of the most important issue in gas firing is the right stack! 

the only time i fired a gas kiln was when a friend broke her arm and i did it all while she was not in the studio.   i staggered the shelves so the flame path made a repeat S pattern moving sideways as well as up and down.    she said the results were better than she had experienced and she was going to load that way afterward.
is the previous owner close enough to give you a lesson in exchange for lunch or such?

I feel you.  My now 20 year old Skutt failed to reach temp on a firing for the first time recently and gave me an error code that suggests either the elements or the thermocouple are failing.  Ugh.  With the price of rhodium gone through the roof, that could be costly.  Tbh I haven't replaced ANYTHING on this kiln, or my Olympic, since I got them new 20 years ago with the exception of the relays - and I have used them a lot.   The relays went out on both kilns in the past year so they are brand new.  As much as I have used the heck out of my Olympic Doll E, I have no clue how on earth I haven't had to replace anything else in all these years.  I've just been amazingly lucky, I suppose.  My SKutt however was in storage for about a decade and has been used a great deal less than my little Olympic.
Good news is I found a platinum rhodium replacement thermocouple S out of China that only cost $15 shipped (instead of $400) but I haven't tested it yet.  It is supposed to be good to fire up to cone 16 and since both of my kilns only fire up to cone 10, that would do very well if it works.  I'll be swapping it to test shortly but hadn't gotten around to trying it yet. 
Alas, testing my elements on my big Skutt showed a lot of resistance and one bad element.   No wonder my electric bill has been going higher and higher when using the Skutt.  Thankfully a full set of 4 new elements for my KM1018 have come down in price.  During COVID I had already priced them and they were about $400 USD with shipping.  OUCH.  But now I got them for $253 postage paid.  Whew!  That is a nice surprise.
 

I bought a 500$ new washer just for clay stuff and its out next to studio and drains to my timber bamboo patch. I use only cold water and never any soap. You will have to clean out rubber trap under washer every now and then as clat settles there.I would never wash clay stuff into a house drain system especaily ours on a septic septic system

Update: Fred Olsen came over and reworked the entire gas line setup properly. It was NOT set up right and could have blown up. It works beautifully now and we are having fun firing cone 6. Thank you all so much!

Ok my reduced gas line to new kiln was unable to fire the new kiln and it shut off at 2100. I fired the other two kilns. Today I fired that Geil kiln off in 8.5 hours to cone 10. Paul Geil expalned the pipe size issue and my 1 inch flex is on the way from Supplyhouse.com.
I will see those pots on friday as that kiln is super insulated and is a two day cool like all my kilns now.

Well I spent 5 weeks this summer getting ready ,pouring a 2.5 yards concrete pad ,moving  kilns around and bringing a new used 18 cubic foot Geil into the mix -got it all vented and organized did the 1st bisgue in the Geil a few days ago and today I have all three kilns glaze firing a 12 cubic and 18 cubic and a 35 cubic car kiln. I'm a bit worried the gas system may be streched to thin volume wise (all two inch supply) and we shall see later today.I have not had a new gas kiln here for about 4 decades. I have a few unresolved issues with the Geil like new 14x 28 advancers that I yet do not have. I'm firing 3 typrs of sheles in that geil thaty came with it.
The hollow core type -4 brand new and they will warp soon at cone 11,4 old style silicone carbide which will warp soon as well . (I fired this style alot in the 70s -80s but not since then have I used them and the cheap Chinese recystilized sic shelves which will warp soon as well.I need to order about 14 of the advancers  which will cost as much as the kiln did (6K). I keep reminding myself I'm slowing down.
all this will equal 664 cubic feet of glaze wares-I hope the Geil helps with my rutile pitting issue I have been fighting with all year. 
On the pitting issue many I know are struggling with the same rutile issues as well currently . I have used rutile for 50 years an seen alot of woes with it but nothing like now.
all three kilns have oxy probes and I can tell easy about reduction atmospheres in each.
I have my only art fair this year coming up this weekend (its my 49th annula show  there) and am almost done packing up a huge wholesale order (20 banana boxes which will fill our Forester Subaru).
I'm working hard to get out of the country for 4 weeks of diving in Indonesia soon-I know tough life

I’m beginning to get the impression that this is the Yugo of kilns.  
I now have drill bits for 40, 5/64, 50, and 60…I’m getting seriously good at that.  No two sources have said the same thing.
It doesn’t help that the manual is so horribly done and that Olympic is …well…not in the running for when I upgrade.
I would prefer if they just said “that model is obsolete, you need a new burner system” instead of wasting my time.

I went from firing three manual kilns to,  a LL with Genisis controller,  a Paragon Caldera test kiln with a Genisis controller and a small Duncan manual kiln.   I decided to go with the controllers because of my age and my MS,  I was afraid I would forget that I was firing.   The last couple of months I have had trouble with my memory and concentration,  I managed to get through a manual firing and a controller firing.  It really scared me how fuzzy my brain was,  it was a MS relaspe.  They can last several months or never clear up,  my brain is clear now .   I am so happy that I have automated  my home and studio.    Denice

Lot of good information here @neilestrick, good of you to address all the points in such detail!

@Pyewackette A 28" quad ring weighs 78 pounds, and it's terribly awkward to lift and carry alone.  A 23" quad ring weighs 61 pounds, and is still unwieldy enough that I wouldn't try to lift it by myself over a piece in the kiln.

I'm checking on this. I'll get back to you.
You don't want a 36" tall version of the eQuad because you won't be able to reach into the bottom without pulling it apart. Only 6'4" tall people can reach the bottom of that kiln. You need the Jupiter if you go that tall.
Correct. As I said, the eQuad uses the same elements for both single or 3 phase for each voltage. They'll only need to change elements if they need to run it on 208 volt service.
Bottom elements are only needed if you are firing really heavy loads like a kiln full of plates or tiles. The Jupiter is a bit more customizable, so they offer it there. The eQuad is sold as-is, no customization, mostly because the control box can't fit more stuff.
A nice simple control box that doesn't have a bunch of external cords, so fewer parts and easier maintenance.
Correct.
The Quad elements last a lot longer, so they pay for themselves and you don't have to change the elements as often. The difference in hooking up 100 amps vs 80 will depend on a lot of factors, so you'd need to get quotes from your electrician.
Firing bisque and cone 6 (40/60), standard elements last about 130-150 firings. With the quads they last about 250 firings or more. I've had customers get 300+. The more you fire to cone 5 and above, the greater the benefit of the Quad elements.

Done, will start a new thread with it in Studio Operations and Making Work.