The layout of the pottery workshop. Pottery workshop as a business. Selection and arrangement of premises for a workshop

It is possible to build a profitable business in the manufacture of ceramics, both in large-scale and full-scale production, and in the framework of opening a small pottery workshop. The last option, as experience shows, is even more cost-effective.

Basically, this line of activity is chosen by entrepreneurs who already have some experience and are familiar with the specifics of pottery.

In this case, it will be faster and much more efficient to implement a business idea, but, on the other hand, the lack of experience is fixable, and everyone would be willing to study the nuances of making ceramic products. Moreover, such products are now in great demand, which is growing every year.

Premises

To accommodate a pottery workshop, a room with an area of \u200b\u200babout 70-80 sq.m. will be required, which should be divided into a production area, a warehouse for raw materials and finished products, a staff room with a shower and a toilet.

It is recommended to separately equip the room for glazing products, since the composition of the glaze includes substances harmful and hazardous to health, for example, lead, working with such a composition requires the use of respirators, a professional ventilation system, in addition, water and electricity are required.

As for the location of the pottery workshop, large ceramic manufacturers, whenever possible, place their workshops closer to suppliers of raw materials or clay deposits. A small pottery workshop can be located within the city, but not necessarily in the center, this will help reduce rental costs.

Equipment

Necessary equipment for a pottery workshop - directly production units (potter's wheel, machine for kneading clay, oven, glaze mill, scales and ready-made stencils for small items), improvised tools (pottery knives, shovels, threads, saws, compasses, spoons and other pottery tools), furniture for craftsmen (tables, chairs), equipment for the warehouse and storage of raw materials (containers, racks, shelves).

Estimated cost calculation at this stage:

Potter's wheel - from 900 to 1500 dollars;
Clay kneading machine - $ 950;
Libra - from $ 180;
Instrument - from $ 150 and above.

Firing of ceramic products is carried out in muffle furnaces. The average cost of one furnace is 2-2.5 thousand dollars.

Some pottery specialists, in order to save money on the purchase of a muffle furnace, manage to re-equip electric stoves for the needs of firing.

Raw materials

The cost of purchasing the first batch of raw materials (clay, enamels, paints, glaze) will amount to 1500-1600 USD. Clay is imported mainly from Ukraine. One ton can be purchased at a price of $ 100. and higher.

Staff

Usually in small pottery workshops up to 50 sq.m. 2-3 masters work. The salary of such workers is 400-450 dollars per month, it all depends on the completeness of employment, the level of qualifications of specialists.

Where to get money to start your own business? This is the problem that 95% of aspiring entrepreneurs face! In the article, we have revealed the most relevant ways to get start-up capital for an entrepreneur. We also recommend that you carefully study the results of our experiment in the exchange earnings:

An accountant is also needed, the functions of a manager for the purchase of raw materials and sales are often taken over by the owner of the workshop, the appearance of products is developed by an incoming or in-house designer, graphic designer. The range and success of the products will depend on the imagination and creative flight of thoughts of this specialist.

Specificity of activity

It is most profitable to start such a business in resort areas and cities with high tourist traffic, then ceramic products - distinctive and authentic - will certainly be in demand. Of course, it is important to take into account the fact that there are competitors or suppliers of a similar group of goods.

Many believe that local pottery manufacturers find it difficult to compete with cheap Chinese products. But it is worth remembering that a mass product is not as interesting as an individual development, besides, Chinese products, although cheap, are not of high quality.

When creating products, it is important to remember that each region of the country has its own history and traditions, which are reflected in ceramic souvenirs and paintings. And the clay, which has been mined for centuries and the method of its processing, is a kind of visiting card of the area, for example, Slavyanskaya, Gayvaretskaya, Cherry ceramics and others appeared, which Chinese manufacturers certainly cannot repeat.

At the first stages, you should not be engaged in the manufacture of a huge assortment of ceramic products at once. The most popular are dishes, decorative plates, mugs, magnets, vases.

The sources of income for the pottery workshop are profits from the sale of products themselves, as well as the recently popular services of conducting pottery master classes, courses and renting out the workshop and equipment.

Prices for such services: the cost of a master class per person - from $ 10, workshop rent - from $ 35. in hour.

Markets and sales mechanisms

The main sales markets are retail chains, small firms, flower and gift shops, souvenir shops, wholesale markets, small boutiques of gifts and souvenirs in large shopping and entertainment centers.

Advertising of services and sale via the Internet, your own website, the presence of an online store, product promotion through social networks, electronic bulletin boards are effective. In such electronic and printed sources, it is convenient to place information with a price list about products, as well as prices for services for training in pottery.

Investment and profit

The starting price for the sale of a simple clay product (for example, a stamped magnet) is $ 1.5-1.8.

With a cost price of 0.7-0.9 USD

Summing up, we note that the total investment for starting a business will amount to $ 7800-8000.

The payback period of a business project with intensive advertising promotion, active sales and search for potential customers, high quality products, unique design and creative fantasies of the artist does not exceed 12 months.

Video: inside pottery workshop

Do you want to start your own business, but do not have serious funds for investment? It doesn't matter - you can always find a niche where you don't need serious start-up capital, but at the same time the business brings good profit. One of these niches iswhich we will talk about in this article. To organize it, nothing supernatural or complicated is required - anyone can open it.

Introduction

Clay products are still popular today, despite the fact that more practical and reliable materials are available on the market. Today, pottery is mainly used as a souvenir - in any store you can find plates, vases, cups, toys, tablets, frames and other clay products. They are very popular with buyers and demand, as a rule, greatly exceeds supply.

Pottery workshop is a good business for beginners

What is a workshop for, if you can produce products in an apartment? In principle, at the initial stage, you can easily organize production in a garage or office, but if we are talking specifically about business, then you should still think about legalization and about a separate room. You will need equipment, drying tables, you can organize excursions for children, conduct master classes, which will significantly expand the number of your clients and will be a good marketing tool.

How to start

Before starting any type of business, you must:

Study the market. Go around the souvenir shops in your city, see what they offer, at what price. Try to find manufacturers and ask them for selling prices.
Make a portrait of the buyer. Your clients will be tourists from 22 to 50 years old, as well as teenagers from 8 to 14 years old who will attend master classes.
Study the manufacturing technology. There is nothing difficult in this - on YouTube you will find hundreds of videos on how to make certain types of pottery.
Find a place. Let's say right away - the apartment is not suitable. In principle, if you have your own home, you can equip a shed or garage for this, but keep in mind that groups of people will come to you. Usually the equipment is installed in the yard.
Draw up a business plan. Many aspiring entrepreneurs skip this step. We do not recommend doing this - firstly, you can collect all thoughts and ideas into one whole, and secondly, it will be for you as a reminder of where you wanted to move and what to achieve.
Register with the tax authorities. Registration is an important stage of legalization. If you want to provide services and sell goods, then do not miss it.
Start working. After the premises are found, you buy equipment and raw materials, and then get down to business. We recommend that you first focus on souvenirs in order to receive a constant flow of money, and then organize excursions.

As you can see, there is nothing supernatural in this regard - with the proper desire and desire, you can open a workshop in a couple of weeks.

How to register

To register, you need to contact the tax office at your place of residence. You can choose a work system - an individual entrepreneur or a limited liability company. For a potter, the first option is quite enough.

Attention:it is much easier and cheaper to issue an IP than an LLC. IP reporting is also simpler, so we recommend choosing it.

When registering, you should select the OKVED codes:

2, section C - manufacturing.
23 - manufacturing of non-metallic products.
23.4 - manufacture of other ceramic products.
23.41 - production of decorative and household items from ceramics.

In principle, the above is sufficient for work, but if necessary, you can specify both retail and consulting services. In principle, the number of OKVED codes is not limited by anything, so enter them without fear. But if you want to do something that is not included in the codes during registration, you will have to contact the tax office again, so it is better to indicate them in advance.

There is nothing difficult in pottery

Since your business will be guaranteed to employ less than 5 people, you can choose a simplified work system, which will allow you to refuse to fill out tax returns and maintain accounting.

Selection of premises

For work, a room of 50 m2 is required. This is enough to accommodateequipment for a pottery workshop and a small warehouse (at least 15 m2 recommended).

Attention: choose a room on the ground floor to make it easier for you to take out finished products and bring in raw materials. Also keep in mind that visitors will come to you.

Where to choose a room? You do not need the central streets of hypermarkets, where rent is very expensive; a residential area or even the outskirts of the city near a traffic intersection is quite suitable for you. The requirements for the premises are the simplest: sufficient volume, availability of water supply, electricity and heating. It is desirable that there is ventilation in it (since the room will be damp), but as a last resort, ordinary ventilation can be organized. No special renovation is needed in the room - you just need to plaster the walls or leave the brick - it looks good in interiors.

We select equipment

So, we have already decided on the main questions. Next, let's consider what equipment you need to work:

High quality pottery wheel. They are available with a foot drive and a motor. We recommend purchasing modern motor options so as not to be distracted while working.
Scales for weighing raw materials and finished products. Usually two scales are needed - one measuring in grams (from 1 to 3000 grams) and the second measuring in hundreds of grams.
A machine for kneading clay. Of course, this can be done manually, but this will take time and effort, and you will not be able to knead high-quality large volumes manually.
A special kiln with which the products are dried and brought to condition. A classic oven will not work - you need a special temperature regime.
Various forms for making figurines and more.
A set of brushes and special paints for ceramics.

In 2018 prices, you will spend about 300 thousand rubles for the purchase of equipment and execution of all documents. This is a quite affordable amount for starting your own business.

Attention:if you are limited in funds, you can always buy used equipment - this will reduce costs by about 30%.

Organizational matters

You need to immediately decide on who exactly will work in the workshop. In principle, for a start, you can do it yourself in order to master the process and learn all its tricks. But then we recommend hiring people as it will take all the time to make souvenirs. You will need at least two people - one will knead and shape the clay, and the other will do artistic painting. You can take on the responsibilities of a manager by selling goods and organizing various events.

By conducting master classes, you will attract new customers

Manufacturing technology is quite simple:

The required amount of clay is poured with a certain amount of water, the solution is kneaded in the machine until a homogeneous mass is obtained. It is very important to achieve uniformity and the absence of lumps so that the product does not have defects.
Giving the clay the required shape. Part of the clay is placed in molds, part is sent to the potter's wheel for processing. The resulting product is dried so that it can be transferred to the oven.
Firing of finished products. It is put into an oven and kept at a certain temperature. During the firing process, the clay crystallizes and turns into ceramic - a dense and durable material that is not afraid of moisture.
After the products have cooled, they are sent to the artist's table. He paints her, giving her unique features. In some cases, special paints are used, which must be baked to obtain a glazed surface.

How much can you earn

Next, we move on to the most interesting - financial issues. You already know what is needed to organize a workshop, what equipment is needed, what exactly is produced and how ceramics is made. Now let's look at how quickly the investment will pay off.

It is best to sell your goods wholesale, handing them over to souvenir shops. Usually they work as a network, so you need to reach out to the owner and interest him by offering favorable terms. Keep in mind that chains need a lot of products - they sell tens and hundreds of products a day.

The second source of income is training courses and workshops. Most parents will gladly enroll a child inpottery workshop for children on creative courses, and regular visits from groups bring good profit. You need to think in advance about how you will work, because you need a special person to work with children, so you either have to do it yourself, or expand your staff.

Do not forget about large companies that often order souvenirs for the entire team - by getting contracts for such deals, you can provide yourself with work for several weeks.In this article, we will not give exact numbers, since they simply do not exist - it all depends on your desire, location, products and the correct organization. Let us name only general figures for the business - on average, a workshop working in one shift brings in at least 3 thousand rubles of net profit per day minus expenses for raw materials, rent and salaries. You will earn about 90 thousand per month, having recouped the investments made in 4-5 months (it should be borne in mind that you are unlikely to reach this amount right away). Practice shows that six months after opening, the workshops are firmly on their feet and expanding, launching new product lines, organizing various courses and circles, attracting visitors to master classes and lessons.

Pottery is always at its peak. The technology of their manufacture has not changed for several thousand years. Even materials such as glass, metal or plastic could not influence the popularity of these products. Since demand constantly exceeds supply, pottery can be a promising direction for creating an uncommon and quite profitable business.

Where to start a business?

At first glance, it may seem that it is enough to simply open a pottery workshop, purchase raw materials and equipment, and you can start making money. In fact, you need to prepare carefully before starting such a business. To be successful, you need to become a master of pottery. The leader who runs the business must carefully study the production process, as well as familiarize himself with the basics of pottery.

Legal registration

This line of business should be registered under the code “Production of decorative and household ceramic products”. If you register an individual entrepreneur, the number of hired workers should not exceed 5 people. In this case, you can choose a simplified taxation system. Thanks to this, you do not have to keep accounting records and fill out tax returns.

Premises

To organize pottery production at home, you need a small room of 50 sq. meters. In addition, you need to allocate a separate area for a warehouse with an area of \u200b\u200b15 sq. meters. There you will store the finished product.

It is desirable that the pottery workshop be located on the first floor of the building. As far as communications are concerned, the premises should have electricity, sewerage and running water. Also, don't forget about air conditioning and ventilation.

Equipment

To make ceramic products, you need to purchase a potter's wheel.

In addition, you will need:

Libra;
Clay kneading machine;
Annealing furnace;
Forms for frames and various figures;
Paints and brushes.

You will have to invest about 300 thousand rubles in the production of pottery. This is a small start-up capital that any aspiring entrepreneur can collect.

Before purchasing equipment, it is necessary to study special literature in order to familiarize yourself with some important nuances.

Don't buy new equipment right away. Occasionally, through advertisements in newspapers and on the Internet, you will find used pottery equipment that is in excellent condition.

Staff

If you have an irresistible desire, as well as a certain amount of perseverance, you can carry out all production processes on your own. But it is much more efficient to use hired labor.

To work in a pottery workshop, you can hire people:

For mixing clay;
Forming products;
Roasting;
Decoration and painting of finished products.

Clay wares manufacturing technology

Home production of pottery is as follows:

A solution of a certain consistency is kneaded from clay and water. Different types of clay are used as raw materials;
The mixture is sent to a potter's wheel, where the master makes dishes from it. Various figurines are made using special molds on a pottery table;
Firing in a kiln. This is the longest process. The longer the product is fired, the more durable and stronger it is;
Coloring of finished products.

If you are interested in pottery production, the video can be viewed on the Internet at specialized resources. Also, see other ideas for making money in the production of materials and products, for example,.

Income

Pottery almost always finds its customers. To organize the sale of finished products, you can take them for sale in supermarkets or souvenir shops. This is not the most profitable way, so you should try hard to become a regular supplier of a large souvenir chain. In this case, the volume of one batch of products will be at least 1000 pieces.

It is worth noting that pottery as a business brings good profits. To increase income, you can open training courses at the workshop. Many modern people who are tired of the daily hustle and bustle are happy to be creative. It is also possible to organize refresher courses. In this case, you will have to purchase additional equipment for pottery and consumables.

In addition, you can make custom-made pottery. Large companies often order large quantities of souvenirs with their own logo or symbols. The pottery business will be successful if you choose the right pricing policy. For regular wholesale buyers it is necessary to provide a special system of discounts.

Purchase of raw materials

It is important to know that clay for pottery production can be of different varieties - white, red, as well as with lime or sandy impurities.

Before you start purchasing equipment, decide what kind of clay you will work with. The choice of equipment and its cost largely depend on this.

Experienced potters mainly use red clay. The most important thing is that it contains a little lime. Experts advise finding one specific place where you can constantly take raw materials. It is desirable that the clay is oily and contains no more than 1% metal oxide. You can find out about the deposits of such material from local geologists or local historians.

Features of pottery art

Before you start sculpting, you need to prepare the mixture. Traditional technology of pottery production involves squeezing air bubbles out of clay. That is, the mixture must be carefully interrupted. To do this, the workpiece must be rolled several times on a wooden board. With the help of a wire, it is cut into pieces and thrown with force on the table. After that, the workpiece must be twisted several times in a spiral. This is a very important process, on which the number of defects largely depends.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are interested in how to learn pottery? The most important thing is to be patient, as this art requires a lot of refinement of the skill. If something does not work out for you, do not be upset. Think of those potters who worked several thousand years ago. They did not have special equipment and literature from which one can glean the necessary knowledge, but, despite this, they created real masterpieces.

Summing up

Nowadays, it will not be difficult to find courses on teaching pottery. Therefore, having a desire, you can easily master this profession.

Experts recommend not turning your apartment into a workshop. Use a summer cottage, garage or rent a room for this. Otherwise, you will pollute all rooms, burn down the wiring, clog up the sewers and, as a result, quarrel with all the neighbors.

A pottery workshop will be profitable if you have a large enough number of clients. After you settle organizational and operational issues, immediately look for reliable distribution channels.

Use advertisements for this, and also take part in various art exhibitions. Offer souvenirs to small shops in the city center, train stations and airports. If you take into account all these recommendations, the pottery workshop will become a profitable and promising business.

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To buy a kiln for firing clay products, Alexey Belousov and Alena Shoiko from Novosibirsk sold their car. This "exchange" opened the way for them to their own ceramics workshop - so that they have never regretted the car ever since. As well as leaving employment and becoming entrepreneurs. The founders of the Formo studio told the Biz360 portal about how to stand out from the competition and why the focus was not on production, but on training.

26 years; , 32 years; entrepreneurs from Novosibirsk, founders of a pottery workshop Formo ... Alena graduated from the Siberian Academy of Public Administration (Faculty of Psychology), Aleksey - University of Consumer Cooperatives (major in crisis management). The Formo workshop was opened in October 2017.

Sold a car, bought a stove

Alexey Belousov never thought before that he would become a potter. Prior to that, he was involved in various projects in completely different areas - from marketing campaigns to creating his own franchise. But Alena Shoiko dreamed of ceramics since childhood. It was she who convinced Alexei to open a workshop.

“I always studied everything I could find about ceramics, then I got into the children's club and stayed there for an indecently long time - I was already too old for the club, but I went anyway. I was able to work on the potter's wheel only a few years ago. She studied privately and immediately with a serious goal - to put her hands correctly. Then she herself worked as a teacher of pottery, and then I got my own circle. And since I put it at home, Alexey, of course, tried it - and also fell in love with this activity. Now he has practiced so much that he will give me a head start. And that's great, after all, a potter is a man's profession. "

“For a long time my life was connected with computers. As a result, I decided that I wanted to move from virtual to something real, tangible, - explains Alexey. "If I was primarily interested in money, I would hardly take up a potter - this is not the most profitable business in the world."

At the same time, entry into this not the most profitable business is not cheap today. The main tool of the ceramist - a kiln for firing clay products - cost newcomers from Novosibirsk 250 thousand rubles. Another 80 thousand was worth a potter's wheel. To buy a stove, Alena and Aleksey sold the car.

“There is a poster in Papa Johns pizzeria next to our workshop, which says that the creator sold his favorite car to start his own business and buy the first oven. This phrase amused us, because we had a similar story, - says Alexey. - I must say, we were lucky: we managed to buy equipment of a very high level by hand, although usually such models are difficult to find on the secondary market. At one time, we also acquired our car by accident on favorable terms. We then doubted whether we needed it at all. But, as it turned out now, if it weren't for the car, there wouldn't be a stove - and a workshop. "

“It was immediately clear to us that investing in equipment is an investment in the future,” adds Alena. “Therefore, we did not try to get by with a homemade circle and a stove, as some novice potters do, but immediately bought quality ones.”

"I am forming", "we are forming" ...

At first, Alena and Aleksey were going to make a workshop for personal creativity. Therefore, the stove was sent to the balcony, and the potter's wheel settled in the room of their apartment. But it soon became clear that it was inconvenient to live like this. “This is not just about equipment. You also need to order clay (you can't buy it in Novosibirsk, so we take it in Spain and Ukraine). Always order in large quantities and store it somewhere later, ”Alena explains.

They began to look for a separate area for the stove, and in the end they came to the Formo space with master classes in clay modeling. It is they who today occupy 70% of the working time of Alexei and Alena - and have distinguished them against the background of other similar organizations.

Before ceramics, Alena was a photographer for six years, and also taught dances, various types of handicrafts and, in fact, pottery. Alexey also had experience in design and photography. All this ultimately came in handy in their new business.

“My education as a psychologist also helped. After all, I now communicate with people a lot, but here without psychology, nowhere, ”says Alyona.

The name came to mind of novice craftsmen by accident: from the word "shaping". “Education” in this context is associated with master classes, and the word formo in Portuguese means “to form”. In addition to the semantic load, the name of the workshop also sounds modern and international.

According to Aleksey, few competing workshops paid due attention to the name - and in vain. It can play a big role in scaling a business. In particular, when entering the federal and international level with their products.

Loft residents

There are a number of special requirements for premises for a ceramic workshop - first of all, for fire safety. You can't go to an office center with such a project. However, Aleksey and Alena were lucky again: pretty soon they found a playground in the Novosibirsk Loft-Nsk loft in the city center. Formo started out on approximately 30 square meters, now is located on 50.

The place required serious renovation. Mostly Alexey did it himself. So from a production room with ventilation shafts and openings for elevators, a workshop turned out.

“It was scary to start up: it seemed to us that no one would come to us for the opening, except our friends,” Alena admits. - But in the end, the loft itself provided us with information support. Plus, the information was spread on social networks. We did not launch any special advertising there for the opening - we just posted an announcement. As a result, there weren't too many acquaintances at the opening, but mostly strangers came. "

Entrepreneurs immediately began to offer master classes that were in demand. Almost from the very opening, a large flow of people went to Formo, and until the entrepreneurs did not face downtime. “We also immediately began to receive orders for dishes from Novosibirsk companies,” says Alexey. “So we started working with training sessions and custom modeling at the same time.”

Dates and birthdays with clay

Lessons in Formo take at least 100 kg of clay per month; it is ordered from different suppliers in Spain and Ukraine. At the master classes, Aleksey and Alena give the students a chance to try different sculpting techniques (by hand and on a potter's wheel) and glaze application (dipping, watering, spraying from a spray bottle). The main goal of the creators of the studio is to ensure that the guests get quality work, and not children's crafts. After the class, the items are fired, so that the participants then take home the finished ceramics of their own production.

There are days in the schedule of master classes for a week when you can come and play on a free topic, and there are at least three group thematic lessons on hand sculpting. Also, individual pottery master classes are held every day (in the near future, group lessons on the circle will begin in the studio). Sculpting on a free theme is paid by time: 400 rubles per hour for an adult, 300 - for a child. A lesson on a potter's wheel for one person will cost 800 rubles, for a couple - 1200.

At the same time, 12 people can attend a group master class. But if necessary, the number can be increased to 30 (for example, for a corporate party). “The advantage of our loft is that we can rent additional space and conduct a lesson for a large audience,” says Alexey. “As far as I know, this is also one of our competitive advantages: many other studios do not have such an opportunity.”

Families and couples often come to Formo - especially for a class called "A Date Behind a Potter's Wheel". Also among the visitors are people who are simply interested in self-development and they attend many courses and classes. In addition, the workshop has a service for organizing children's birthdays.

Greek Cup

As for its products, while this direction is developing in the workshop rather on a leftover principle - when there is time free from teaching others. You can buy Alexei and Alena's products now only in their small showroom at Formo.

They mainly create dishes. “Before the New Year, we tried to participate with our products in the market. And even about the decorative garnet, which is very popular in the world of ceramics, people asked - how can it be applied? That is, it is the applied items that are in great demand, - says Alena. - The dishes are interesting. Jewelry and figurines can be made from many other materials. And the dishes are mostly made of clay. "

For the next year, the creators of Formo are planning to develop their production line and establish online sales. They pin their hopes on Instagram: according to Aleksey's observations, ceramics are selling well there. Today it is there and on VKontakte that the studio is promoting. Plus, the masters are going to open their own online store.

“While we are working together, we only have enough time for content for our main Instagram profile. And the time to study and profile with ceramics for sale , not enough, - says Alena. - So so far we only occasionally take orders. But our team is already expanding, so we will develop this direction soon. "

Nevertheless, among these rare works to order, Formo craftsmen already have a foreign one. Recently a musical group came to Novosibirsk, in which the keyboardist was from Greece. And this man from the homeland of pottery, where there are entire villages of ceramists, ordered a cup from Formo. He collects them: he buys one in each city he comes to.

There will be more potters

According to Alexey, his studio not only has competitors, but most likely there will still be. However, Formo has already taken a leading position in the city, because the studio was heavily invested at every stage of the work.

“There are people who have worked before us for years, and nevertheless, in many ways, we have become pioneers,” says Alexey. - For example, not every workshop has a brand, but we tried to make it; not everyone even has a website. we launched their website ... Even if he is still on the C grade, but it is better to do so for now than to keep the ideal in mind and not do it at all.

As entrepreneurs say, they are lucky that they know how to teach, that is, train personnel themselves: in the near future they intend to expand the teaching staff. This is necessary in order to launch full-fledged courses in ceramics - for those who want not only to try themselves, but to learn this craft. Subsequently, the creators of Formo also plan to develop coworking spaces in their space.

“If you look at the Internet, it may seem that ceramics has become very popular and there are even too many offers,” Alena summed up. - But if we talk about specific cities, in reality it is not so. New studios will most likely appear in our city ”.

“Novosibirsk is big, and today you can count potters on one hand - that's why everyone has clients,” adds Alexey.

Investments:from 135,000 rubles

Payback:from 4 months

A great option for an aspiring entrepreneur with creative potential would be to open your own pottery workshop. This, at first glance, non-obvious idea can be a worthy object for the investment of effort, money and time. You will learn how to implement this project in this article.

Business concept

Since time immemorial, ceramics has been a companion of our life and to this day does not go out of fashion. And the growing popularity of hand made products makes them even more relevant. Clay products can be very diverse - purely utilitarian or purely decorative. Dishes made on a potter's wheel: jugs, plates, mugs, dishes, etc. - can be used for their intended purpose or as decoration. You can make souvenirs, jewelry, decorative tiles, photo frames and more from clay. If there is a large enough assortment, there will be no shortage of potential buyers. There are also many options for selling products. You can sell products in bulk for subsequent sale through stores, make products to order, put up for sale in various souvenir shops. It is also possible to sell goods directly to customers - right in the workshop or through your own shop or shop.

Various kinds of master classes, including those on the manufacture of ceramic products, are quite popular now. By equipping your workshop with additional tools and pottery wheels, as well as providing sufficient advertising to attract customers, it is quite possible to organize classes for everyone.

What is required for implementation?

You will need a suitable room for work. It should not be large, but it should be able to accommodate all the necessary equipment, materials and finished products. If you plan to conduct courses and master classes, then you should choose a room with a convenient location, as well as equip it with additional furniture and fixtures.

The main tools will be a potter's wheel, a machine for kneading clay, scales and, perhaps, the most expensive item - a kiln for firing products. Finding a material for modeling - clay - is not difficult.

Pottery wheels are of various designs (hand, foot, table, floor, mechanical, electrical). Each master selects the circle individually, based on personal preferences and convenience.

For the production of standard products, for example, souvenir magnets, it is convenient to use ready-made forms. This will speed up the process and get the same neat products.

At the initial stage, the entrepreneur himself can work in the workshop on his own or with one assistant. While the scope of work is small, it is quite possible to combine production and organizational work. However, as the business grows and the workload increases, additional staff will be required.

In no case should you neglect advertising. As with any business, it is the engine of commerce. The more potential clients and customers learn about the workshop, the more likely it is to succeed. One of the most effective channels today is the Internet. You can organize your own website and online store or use the services of existing resources.

To legalize entrepreneurial activity of this kind, it is advisable to open an individual entrepreneur.

Step-by-step startup instructions

Market analysis, study of competitors, demand for products, possible sales options.
Drawing up a business plan and seeking funding.
IP registration.
Search and rental of premises (repair, if necessary).
Selection and purchase of furniture and equipment, tools.
Search for suppliers of raw materials and purchase of the first batch of working material.
Advertising and promotion of a business project.

Financial calculations

A pottery workshop is a business that requires investment. An entrepreneur cannot do without initial costs, because funds will be required to rent premises, purchase equipment and materials for work.

The amount of start-up costs for each individual project will differ depending on the scale of the activity. As an example, consider the option of a small pottery workshop in which an entrepreneur works independently.

Start-up capital

The initial investment will include:

rental of premises - from 20 thousand rubles per month;
potter's wheel - from 30 thousand rubles;
oven for firing products - from 40 thousand rubles;
clay mixing machine - from 30 thousand rubles;
scales - from 5 thousand rubles;
advertising - about 10 thousand rubles.

In total, the minimum amount required to open your own small pottery workshop will be 135 thousand rubles.

Monthly expenses

The monthly expenses will include rental payments for premises and advertising costs, which together amount to about 30 thousand rubles.

Payback period

The pottery business can pay off in 4-5 months.

Business features

Opening a pottery workshop is one of those cases when a simple hobby can grow into your own financially successful project.

This type of activity is ideal for people who are passionate about working with clay. Otherwise, you will have to first master this craft or immediately hire professional craftsmen.

It is not enough to simply produce pottery. It is necessary to first find out which of them will be in demand, otherwise the entrepreneur risks being left with unsold goods. The best option is to work on pre-order.

Outcome

Having your own pottery workshop is a good option for a budding entrepreneur, allowing you to realize your creative potential and earn a stable income. The risks accompanying such a business are minimal, and relatively small amounts of financial costs allow you to start working almost immediately.

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