The value of the global ceramics market is forecast to grow to almost $408 billion by 2025, a 78% jump since 2018. Similarly, painting as well as arts and crafts have seen a big jump in interest in recent years.
Combine the two and you have the visually striking world of pottery painting. To learn how you can open your own pottery painting business, followed our detailed steps below.
Summary
Arts and crafts have seen a surge in popularity this year as the pandemic has forced many to spend more time at home and with it pottery painting businesses have been sprouting up due to this market demand.
What is a pottery painting business?
Pottery painting involves an instructor giving step by step instructions to individuals or groups on how to paint an item of pottery such as mugs, vases, bowls, plates, plant pots and more with acrylic paints, a flexible paint that can be utilized to paint almost any pottery item you have.
The session can be a fun activity for work colleagues on a team bonding day out or a great way for kids and adults to detach, concentrate and express their creative side with different color combinations.
From a business owner’s perspective, it’s a lucrative space with contemporary studios charging between $5 and $150 upwards just for the pottery item alone, in addition to painting and tuition costs.
The cost of the pottery classes depends on the location and studio, with prices ranging anywhere between $20 to $40 per class. Businesses also run pottery painting courses where attendees can pay between $150 to over $200 for an 8-week course.
Who can start a pottery painting business?
Anyone can start a clay painting business. Pottery painting studios have become increasingly trendy and you don’t need to have a ceramics background to open your own pottery painting studio, but it does help you guide customers who are new to painting clay.
Opening a clay painting studio in the right location, choosing an array of inventory to paint and providing a welcoming atmosphere will set you apart from other craft vendors near you.
Where to locate a pottery painting business?
Shop around for a location that gets plenty of walk-in or drive-by traffic, so you can get noticed. Make sure there are no competing clay painting stores nearby, since the already-successful store can drive down your business.
Settle on a location that gets lots of visitors, such as a chic downtown shopping area or an upscale shopping mall with boutiques. It may be as simple as establishing a painting partnership with an existing pottery business in one of their side rooms.
Follow up with your local chamber of commerce or city clerk’s office to get information on the type of business permits you need for your location, such as a business license or seller’s permit. Apply for the permits that you’ll need to open. Pay any related fees.
In some areas, you’ll have to submit a “Certificate of Liability Insurance” for a set cost. It’s an essential expenditure, but also an investment that will help things smooth sail in all your future pottery painting projects.
9 tips for opening an pottery painting business
1). Create your business
During your business creation process, you will have to choose a business type that works for you (Sole Proprietorship or LLC or similar).
The benefits of an LLC include your personal assets remaining protected from any business liabilities. For further information on this, check out our comparison of different company formation firms.
When choosing your company’s legal structure you will have to take into account all the parameters, requirements and needs of your business.
Legal platforms such as ZenBusiness and Northwest Registered Agent have been specially designed for professionals who wish to carry out their company creation process online. You can also choose to set up your business on your own.
Get insured
As noted above, you will have to submit a “Certificate of Liability Insurance” to some pottery painting studio locations to be allowed to host a pottery painting in their vicinity. In general, liability and similar insurance products are a good idea in the unfortunate event of a client injuring themselves on the premises.
2). Get financing
Unless you have your own personal funds to invest, you’ll need a small business loan. Starting up a pottery painting business will have certain expenses including paint brushes, paint, a selection of pottery items including mugs, plates, saucers, dining sets and more, depending on the type of pottery painting venture you’re looking to launch.
You may need a business starter loan from your local bank such as Bluevine bank or Kabbage, a Credit Union or avail or start your business with loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. Any lender will want to see a detailed business plan for how and when they can expect to receive a return on their investment.
3). Write your pottery painting business plan
There are 4 key elements to include in any pottery painting business plan:
Customer analysis
Determine the level of interest and demand for pottery paintings in your area and/or target locations. This gives insight into how many potential pottery painting customers you can attract.
Competitor analysis
Identify the current rates for pottery painting classes to determine how much you will charge. pottery painting fees vary based on the area of operation and the level of quality and quantity your client expects.
Marketing plan
This deals with the advertising aspect of your online business. This may range from word-of-mouth marketing to online ads based on behavioral targeting, to attract prospective clients to sign up to your pottery paintings.
Financial plan and projections
Calculate how much capital you will need to run the pottery painting business for the first 6 months of its inception, bearing in mind that investment into plates, crockery and equipment can be expensive.
Ideally, your pottery painting business plan covers the first three to five years of your business, giving you something to work toward.
4). Define your target market
Do your research and find out all you can about typical pottery painting customers. Who are they? Are they schoolkids or older adults? What do they like? What’s in vogue now in the world of pottery painting and trends on Pinterest.
The answers might be very different depending on the different types of customers but you’ll get a clearer picture of who you’re going after and how you can cater towards them.
What is it that makes your pottery painting practice different?
- Do you focus on ensuring you have a fun and friendly environment?
- Do you cater to business people?
- Do you target particular groups of people, like working moms or expats or art students?
Take some time to reflect on this and what works best for you and your clients. Think about who your audience are and how you can best serve them.
Once you’ve found your target audience, run your ideas by some friends and family. What do they think of your selection of pottery, the music you play, the type of pottery you sell and the color selection. Different perspectives will help you tweak your service offering that bit better than the competition.
5). Purchase your pottery painting essentials
You’ll need to go out and buy the necessary items of paint, brushes and pottery as well as a kiln (furnace for baking pottery), ceramic glaze, molded ceramic pieces for painting known as bisqueware, chairs,tables, stencils and inspirational art books.
Since the clay shapes and glazes make the bulk of the experience at your shop, purchase a wide range of colors, styles and shapes so customers will have lots of choices for repeat visits. If you have money left over, get some of the ancillary items that enrich the customer experience.
6). Create a website and leverage social media
When starting your pottery painting business, the goal of the website is simple:
- Let prospective pottery painting clients know your business exists
- Allow clients to see your weekly pottery painting art, range of colors and fun that your customers are having in one of your workshops
- Showcase your pottery painting expertise
Your pottery painting website is essentially your shop’s storefront, allowing potential customers to come and learn more about your incredible pottery paintings, how creative they can be too if they join and of course photos, videos and testimonials from previous customers enjoying themselves.
It’s important that you create a professional-looking website and attract customers who want to learn a new skill and bring out their creative side in an evening session or afternoon on the weekend. Ensure the website allows for an easy checkout payment facility and easy to find contact details for requests.
To start a website, you can build one yourself or commission a web designer, be it a friend or web design professional on a services marketplace like Fiverr. Make sure you have an Bio section describing who you are, your passions and what you offer.
Your website should also have a slick company logo and branding, something which professionals on Fiverr can also assist with.
Leverage social media
Choose a couple of platforms and learn them in and out. For pottery paintings, Pinterest is huge. Other useful sites include Instagram, TikTok and Facebook to garner interest and bookings.
If you spend time on social media, be sure to post content, ideally videos, for when your followers are most active to maximize the engagement.
Ensure your images that you post on Instagram are eye-catching, photos that will make your audience stop scrolling and click onto your profile to see more.
8). Market your business
After identifying your target audience, you’ll need to promote your business to attract these customers. This can be achieved through organic promotions on social media or business directories or paid means using Facebook or Google Adwords.
A successful pottery painting business, like any, should include advertising costs in the budget, especially for a startup — this will help get the word out, at least until you generate repeat business.
You can even consider more conventional mediums like newspapers, business cards and business flyers in areas, coffee shops or gyms where your target audience typically frequent.
9). Launch your pottery painting business
You’ve done your research, found a suitable pottery painting space, purchased your pottery painting equipment and are ready to go! Time to launch and don’t be shy in promoting your business opening.
You can even launch a trial event in your own studio and invite your friends, colleagues, neighbors and more to post about your new pottery painting business and indeed attend your opening for free.
Create a hashtag such as #potterypaintingSaltLakeCity and encourage your attendees to post it on their social media accounts, highlighting this wonderful new pottery painting business. Your job now is to drive new and repeat customers.
Other requirements for opening a pottery painting business?
Equip yourself with the right tools
If you choose to open your own pottery painting business, you will have to think about investing in your own equipment. Among the essentials, we recommend a credit card machine to accept debit and credit cards from clients.
Consider also accounting software from our comparison to allow you to keep an accurate view of the financial health of your business.
Open a business bank account
Among the essential steps for the successful opening of your clothing store, you will need to choose a business bank account.
Thus, you will be able to estimate your professional expenses and manage them without taking the risk of losing yourself between your professional and personal expenses.
FAQs
Is pottery hard to make?
Pottery is not easy but not very hard to make either. Learning the basics can be achieved with practice over a one to two month period.
How much does a kiln cost?
Kilns range in price from small tabletop kilns at around $700 to large capacity kilns used by professional potters at around $15,000.
What pottery items sell best?
Pottery items that sell the best depend on each individual customer but typically include handcrafted mugs, bowls, soap dishes, spoon rests, sponge holders, vases and teacups.
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Tom is the founder of Gottagrow.io. He reads the offers, deciphers the details including features, pricing, included services and more to find you the best products and services.
