LJ1178 Posted September 20, 2010 Report Share Posted September 20, 2010 Hello All, Is there any market research out there on the studio pottery business industry? I've done the standard google search, and have not found anything. Thanks, Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 You might need to be more specific. What info are you looking for? Financial? Safety issues? Zoning? Marketing? Feasability? Business plans? You might have to delete the term business industry since very few potters would think of themselves that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Liz, The "studio ceramics" business field, for all the "presence" it seems to have in the media like Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, and so on, is a pretty tight niche market. We are small but we are loud . Likely there has been little formal academic-type study of the field from the persepctive of business. You might look to organizations like the American Crafts Council, the various state arts organizations, and people like Wendy Rosen to see if they have any really accurate data accumulated. I don't think that even the Potter's Council of ACERS (sponsor of this forum) has undertaken any serious formal study of the studio pottery business AS a business venture. There is room there for undertaking such a project, but it would be difficult and expensive to conduct accurately. A lot of artists are not all that skilled as businesspeople....... accounting, market studies, P+Ls, etc. ........ so the types of information that might be gathered easily from most larger businesses might not be solidly available from studio artists. Then there is the problem of limited interest in the results of such a study, and in the justification for most artists for possibly paying to see the data from such a study. Ceramics Monthly magazine has been doing a series of "in the studio" profiles of selected artists over the past year or so. Not specific and detailed business information...... but a tiny glimpse into the business side things. best, ........................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I've never seen a comprehensive study, but I'm not sure it would be useful anyways. I think the success of a pottery business depends so much on the individual potter. What I observed during this bad recession ... some pottery businesses crumpled immediately in 2008, others have been steady and profitable the whole time. It doesn't correlate to the quality of the work. Lots of potters are making high-quality work but running very shaky, unstable businesses. And some are making work that isn't world-class, but operating with a responsible attitude towards business matters (like marketing and accounting). And everything in between. So even if there was a study about pottery businesses in general, it wouldn't matter. For those of you who are contemplating this, you shouldn't decide based on a study. The answer is not related to the economy, or what other potters are doing. Yes, successful pottery businesses do exist, even in a recession, and some even make a living at it. But the question is ... can YOU do it? Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ1178 Posted September 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I am senior undergrad student currentlytaking a small business startup class. Right now, I am writing the part of thebusiness plan that convinces my professor, peers, and potential investors thatthere IS a market out there that wants to buy work and/or take classes…. Myprofessor, understandably want facts and numbers to back up my claim. John-its very helpful to know there hasn’t been a serious formal study of theindustry. It makes sense why there hasn’t been…. I figured if anyone knew of or had access to research, this would be the site to find out. Also, thanks forreminding me of those “in the studio†profiles-those will be helpful! Mea-I see your point. At the same time, there would be some very valuableinformation in a comprehensive study. Thankseveryone! Best, Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I am senior undergrad student currentlytaking a small business startup class. Right now, I am writing the part of thebusiness plan that convinces my professor, peers, and potential investors thatthere IS a market out there that wants to buy work and/or take classes…. Myprofessor, understandably want facts and numbers to back up my claim. John-its very helpful to know there hasn’t been a serious formal study of theindustry. It makes sense why there hasn’t been…. I figured if anyone knew of or had access to research, this would be the site to find out. Also, thanks forreminding me of those “in the studio†profiles-those will be helpful! Mea-I see your point. At the same time, there would be some very valuableinformation in a comprehensive study. Thankseveryone! Best, Liz Liz, No problem. I caught the "tone" of the request in your original posting (in addition to be ing a studio artist, I'm a college professor ) and figured that the nature of the information you were looking for was from the "academic side of life". That is why I answered in the way I did. If you are putting together a business plan for the educational side of things, there is a huge market in providing conferences, workshops, books, DVDs, and so on for the student, hobby, and avocational potter, and also to the beginning professional artists. There are a lot of people who have decent jobs in other fields that are part time or hobby potters who are very interested in learning about the craft, AND they frequently have the money to pay for such offerings becasue of the other jobs. College students in ceramics are a tiny slice of the overall art student part of college enrollments.... which itself is just a tiny bit of all college students. And they are usually scraping to just pay for college let alone anything else. So that market segnemt is a bit limited. FT professional clayworkers are usually working their butts off, and are not typically "rolling in dough"....so that market might be berter than the typical ceramics college students....but not by too much. In the "selling clayworks" side of life, it is a highly competitive field that is very driven by the market segment you attempt to sell your work within. When it comes to that part, like in most fields, the lower end and the higher end are the places to be.... the middle ground is the killer. The high end market is still there and viable....... and the economy does not seem to affect that all that much....... but the people who buy in that market are discriminationg and understand what makes really good work. So the artist's skills had better be there, or it won't work out very well. And it is close to impossible to step directly from being at a "student" level right to the high end. I'd be very interested in seeing your buisiness plan at some point. best, ..................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I am senior undergrad student currentlytaking a small business startup class. Right now, I am writing the part of thebusiness plan that convinces my professor, peers, and potential investors thatthere IS a market out there that wants to buy work and/or take classes…. Myprofessor, understandably want facts and numbers to back up my claim. John-its very helpful to know there hasn’t been a serious formal study of theindustry. It makes sense why there hasn’t been…. I figured if anyone knew of or had access to research, this would be the site to find out. Also, thanks forreminding me of those “in the studio†profiles-those will be helpful! Mea-I see your point. At the same time, there would be some very valuableinformation in a comprehensive study. Thankseveryone! Best, Liz Liz, Not sure if your academic structure would give you time for this ... but rather than looking for a collection of data, why don't you collect it yourself? As you can already tell, such a study would break a lot of new ground. I would happily volunteer to be a subject of such a study. Or if an undergrad senior like Liz does not have the time to invest in this, maybe there's an MFA candidate out there trying to pick a thesis subject? Or a tenure-track junior professor who needs to get published? I agree that the information would have a lot of value, even if each individual potter needs to make the process work for themselves. -Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ1178 Posted September 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 John, You said “the lower end and the higher end are the places to be.... the middle ground is the killerâ€. What is the lower end? All of this is very good insight, thanks again for sharing. This business plan won’t be done until the end of the semester, but I will be happy to share it with you once I’m finished! Mea- You are exactly right. That is what I am going to have to do. I interviewed a potter last week, and will be now looking to the Ceramic Monthly archives for all those in-the-studio profiles John mentioned earlier. Unfortunately I won’t be able to/have time to conduct a formal study…this milestone is due in a week. But I do have a few questions for you, John, and any other potter out there (if you are willing to share). Don't feel the need to answer all of them.... 1. How long have you been in the business? 2. How long did it take to establish your business and/or become profitable? 3. What is/are your market(s) that you sell your work to (who do you sell to)? 4. How do you sell your work? Mostly online, in store, wholesale, etc? 5. How did you go about finding that market? 6. Why did you choose the location of your studio/classroom? Thanks so much for all your help -Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 1. How long have you been in the business? Launched business, part-time, in 2002. 2. How long did it take to establish your business and/or become profitable? It was profitable right away, but didn't become profitable enough to support myself financially until 2010. 3. What is/are your market(s) that you sell your work to (who do you sell to)? Art festival goers in the DC and Baltimore areas. Plus I sell wholesale to galleries around the country. 4. How do you sell your work? Mostly online, in store, wholesale, etc? I try to keep it roughly half+half, wholesale and retail. I don't sell online, but am making plans to do so, on a limited basis, next year. 5. How did you go about finding that market? For wholesale, I attend the Buyers Market of American Craft. For retail art festivals, luckily I have a lot to choose from in my area. But the process of choosing involves a lot of hunting and pecking, trial and error. 6. Why did you choose the location of your studio/classroom? I grew up here, so I chose by default. But I find this is a strong market for both sales and classes. One side note ... I'm not sure I agree with John's comment low, middle, and high. I operate in the "middle-end" of the craft world, and there is a big market for it. i.e. a lot more expensive than off-the-shelf housewares, but less expensive than fine art gallery ceramics. I actually think it's the low-end that doesn't work. It might be easy to sell, but the profit is too small. Good luck to you!! Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sherman Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 I am senior undergrad student currentlytaking a small business startup class. Right now, I am writing the part of thebusiness plan that convinces my professor, peers, and potential investors thatthere IS a market out there that wants to buy work and/or take classes…. Myprofessor, understandably want facts and numbers to back up my claim. John-its very helpful to know there hasn’t been a serious formal study of theindustry. It makes sense why there hasn’t been…. I figured if anyone knew of or had access to research, this would be the site to find out. Also, thanks forreminding me of those “in the studio†profiles-those will be helpful! Mea-I see your point. At the same time, there would be some very valuableinformation in a comprehensive study. Thankseveryone! Best, Liz Liz, I hope this is not too late to be of use to you, but these links are perhaps the quickest way to get to the profiles mentioned: The Ceramics Monthly Studio Visits can be found here: http://ceramicartsda...s/open-studios/ They are kind of scattered in with other posts. We also publish "Working Potters" in each June/July/August issue with marketing information. Each of the following are linked to those articles: 2010: http://ceramicartsda...nthly-may-2010/ 2009: http://ceramicartsda...ulyaugust-2009/ 2008: http://ceramicartsda...junejulyaugust/ We've also conducted a small survey of the emergence of studio tours as a viable marketing tool for potters, but we are compiling the data and publishing it in the November issue---coming right up, but probably too late for your project. By the way, if you discover anything interesting, let us know. We want to do more of this kind of research. All the best, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted September 24, 2010 Report Share Posted September 24, 2010 You might find some info in the Clayart archives; here is one to start: http://www.potters.org/category036.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ1178 Posted September 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2010 Thank you Sherman and bciskepottery for those links- they are useful and much appreciated! -Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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