Profitable business: pottery workshop. How to equip a pottery workshop in a private house? Equipment for a pottery workshop Do-it-yourself machine for making clay pots

Many of us have our own hobbies. Usually these activities bring only moral satisfaction. But who said that a hobby cannot be profitable? Pottery art can be classified as such a profitable activity. How much will it cost to open a small pottery workshop? And how much can you earn by turning a pottery wheel?

Main material the potter works with is clay. It comes in different varieties and is selected depending on the product being manufactured.

Technological processes of pottery production – this is kneading, modeling and firing. In the future, the finished product can be coated with glaze.

Making one ceramic pot can take about two hours. In this case, 20-30 minutes will be spent on kneading and modeling clay, and the rest of the time on drying and firing.

Every job has its own nuances. In pottery, the total percentage of defects reaches 20-30%, and at first it can amount to half of all clay pots. The degree of suitability of raw materials, clay modeling, the level of dryness before firing - all this affects the quality finished products. If you intend to rotate the pottery wheel yourself, then you will have to master all the processes and delve into all the technological details. Also, to make pottery or souvenirs, you must have artistic taste and imagination.

Composition of pottery workshop equipment includes
- muffle furnace - preferably 3-4 pieces. The price is about 100 thousand rubles;
– pottery wheel – quantity depends on the number hired workers. The price is 30-50 thousand rubles. But there are ways to make a pottery wheel with your own hands;
— clay mixing machine – price about 30 thousand rubles;
— scales – price about 6 thousand rubles;
- molds for products - quantity as required.

The composition of the premises of the pottery workshop consists of a production area and a warehouse. It is better to carry out the glazing process in a separate room with good ventilation. The glaze contains lead and other chemical elements Therefore, it is necessary to take precautions for your own safety.

Room area is selected depending on the volume of production and the number of workers. Minimum industrial volumes require at least 50 sq.m. production space, with about 20 sq.m. allocated for storage. The rent for such premises will be about 30-40 thousand rubles. per month.

Pottery activity workshop falls under OKVED code 26.21 “Production of household and decorative ceramic products.” This category includes the production of dishes, household items made of ceramics, as well as figurines and other decorative items. However, the production of toys is not included in this group. If you plan to produce such products, then during registration you must add OKVED code 36.50 “Other production”. Number of recorded species economic activity should be maximum and include all possible productions.

When registering an activity, it is better to choose an individual entrepreneur under the simplified taxation system as an organizational and legal form. This will reduce tax payments and insurance premiums.

Number of workshop staff directly depends on sales volumes. As a rule, pottery is practiced by people who are in love with their craft. And there are not many of them. In addition, pottery and souvenirs are exclusive works of authorship. Finding customers and organizing sales is a very labor-intensive process. Typically, craftsmen export their products to places with a large flow of foreign tourists, to various festivals and exhibitions, closer to Europe. Where clay pots and hand-made jars are in demand. Therefore, the staff in a small pottery workshop consists of 1-2 people.

Sales establishment - the most crucial moment in the entire pottery business. Despite the fact that sales volumes of souvenirs have increased significantly in recent years, 90% of all products are produced outside of Russia. In any case, traders import their goods from Southeast Asia. So for domestic manufacturer this market is still free.

According to wholesalers, Russian manufacturers very unreliable in terms of timing and quality of their products. For a large souvenir chain, the minimum batch of products of one name must be at least 1000 pieces. Therefore, when concluding a contract with such a customer, there are very large risks for the supplier.
Arrangements with small souvenir shops are more attractive for a small pottery studio. The volumes are smaller, but the income is correspondingly smaller.

One of the implementation options is the production of custom-made products. For example, when designing interiors, many people look for special vases, clay pots or reliefs, tiles or frames. Fridge magnets, small stationery stands, clay figurines, and beer mugs work well as promotional souvenirs.

Pottery business development In addition to selling finished products, it also involves establishing a program for teaching pottery. Organizing master classes or training courses can be a good income stream. There has always been an interest in this type of art. Rotating a pottery wheel and watching a piece of clay transform into a slender vase or jug ​​is truly a pleasure. Therefore, there are quite a few people willing to try it. In addition, recently pottery therapy has become very popular. By the way, master classes can be held at the customer’s home. And, as customers, elite schools and kindergartens can act here.

Advertising of products and services – this is an element of promoting any business, including pottery. In order to be noticed and appreciated, you will have to spend heavily on advertising. But, as they say, the end justifies the means.

Cost of clay products ranges from 100 to 1000 rubles. per piece. The price depends on the volume, shape, design, complexity of the work. Souvenirs and magnets range in price from 40 to 100 rubles.

Tuition fees can vary from 300 to 1000 rubles per hour. It all depends on the professionalism of the master and the availability of those willing to pay a certain amount.

To summarize all of the above, we can characterize the business model of an ideal pottery workshop, which works in three directions at once: 1) production of clay products for large wholesalers; 2) a separate small workshop for the production of custom works; 3) a school for teaching pottery. The head of this enterprise is himself individual entrepreneur and exercises direct control over the quality of manufactured products and delivery times.

As for the initial investment, as you can see, it is small. Opening a workshop and promotion will cost no more than 10 thousand dollars. But the payback period and the amount of profit will depend on the creativity and organizational abilities of the entrepreneur himself.

Attachments: from 135,000 rubles

Payback: from 4 months

An excellent option for a budding entrepreneur with creative potential would be to open his own pottery workshop. This, at first glance, non-obvious idea can be a worthy object for investing effort, money and time. You will learn how to implement this project from this article.

Business concept

Ceramics have been a companion of our everyday life since time immemorial and to this day do not go out of fashion. And the growing popularity hand made products makes it even more relevant. Clay products can be very diverse - purely utilitarian or exclusively decorative. Dishes made on a pottery 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 much more from clay. If there is enough large 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, and put them up for sale in various souvenir shops. It is also possible to sell goods directly to customers - directly in the workshop or through your own shop or shop.

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

What will be required for implementation?

You will need a suitable room for work. It shouldn't be big, but it should be able to accommodate everything. necessary equipment, materials and finished products. If you plan to conduct courses and master classes, you should choose a room with a convenient location, and also equip it with additional furniture and equipment.

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

Pottery wheels come in various designs (hand, foot, table, floor, mechanical, electric). Each master selects a 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 produce identical, neat products.

At the initial stage, the entrepreneur himself can work in the workshop alone or with one assistant. While the amount of work is small, it is quite possible to combine production and organizational work. However, as the business develops and the volume of work increases, additional personnel will be required.

In no case should you neglect advertising. As in any other business, it is the engine of trade. The more potential clients and customers learn about the workshop, the greater the likelihood of success. 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.

For legalization entrepreneurial activity of this kind it is advisable to open an individual entrepreneur.

Step-by-step launch instructions

1. Market analysis, study of competitors, product demand, possible options sales
2. Drawing up a business plan and searching for financing.
3. Registration of individual entrepreneurs.
4. Search and rental of premises (repairs, if necessary).
5. Selection and purchase of furniture and equipment, tools.
6. Search for suppliers of raw materials and purchase of the first batch of working material.
7. 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.

Starting capital

The initial investment amount will include:

• premises rental – from 20 thousand rubles per month;
• pottery wheel - from 30 thousand rubles;
• furnace 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

Monthly expenses will include rental payments for premises and advertising costs, which in total will amount to about 30 thousand rubles.

Payback period

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

Business Features

Opening a pottery workshop is one of those cases when a simple hobby can develop 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.

Simply producing clay products is not enough. 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 a pre-order basis.

Bottom line

Own pottery workshop is good option for a beginning entrepreneur, allowing him to realize his creative potential and receive stable income. The risks accompanying such a business are minimal, and relatively small amounts of financial costs allow you to start operating almost immediately.

Do you want to open own business, but don’t have serious funds to invest? It doesn’t matter - you can always find a niche where you don’t need a serious starting capital, but at the same time the business brings good profits. One of these niches iswhich we will talk about in this article. Its organization does not require anything supernatural or complicated - anyone can open it.

Introduction

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

Pottery workshop - good business for beginners

Why do you need a workshop 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 about business, then you should still think about legalization and a separate room. You will need equipment, tables for drying, you will be able to organize excursions for children, conduct master classes, which will significantly expand the number of your clients and will be a good tool for marketing.

How to get started

Before starting any type of business, you must:

1. Study the market. Go around souvenir shops in your city, see what they offer and at what price. Try to find manufacturers and ask them for their selling prices.
2. Create a buyer profile. Your clients will be tourists aged from 22 to 50 years old, as well as teenagers aged from 8 to 14 years old who will attend master classes.
3. Study manufacturing technology. There is nothing complicated about this - on YouTube you will find hundreds of videos on how to make certain types of pottery.
4. 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 barn or garage for this, but keep in mind that groups of people will come to you. Usually the equipment is installed in the yard.
5. Create a business plan. Many new entrepreneurs skip this step. We do not recommend doing this - firstly, you will be able to collect all your thoughts and ideas into one whole, and secondly, it will be like a reminder for you about where you wanted to move and what to achieve.
6. Register with the tax authorities. Registration - important stage legalization. If you want to provide services and sell products, then don't miss it.
7. Start working. Once the premises are found, you purchase equipment and raw materials, and then get down to business. We recommend that you first focus on souvenirs to get 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 tax office at your place of residence. You can choose a work system - an individual entrepreneur or a company with limited liability. For a potter, the first option is quite sufficient.

Attention:Forming an individual entrepreneur is much easier and cheaper than registering an LLC. Reporting for an individual entrepreneur is also simpler, so we recommend choosing him.

When registering, you should select OKVED codes:

1. 2, section C - manufacturing.
2. 23 - production of non-metallic products.
3. 23.4 - manufacture of other ceramic products.
4. 23.41 - production of decorative and household items from ceramics.

In principle, the above is quite sufficient for work, but if necessary, you can specify retail trade, and rendering consulting services. In principle, the number of OKVED codes is unlimited, 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 complicated about pottery art

Since your business is 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 do accounting.

Selection of premises

For work you need a room of 50 m2. This is quite enough to accommodate equipment for pottery workshop and a small warehouse (at least 15 m2 is 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 you will have visitors.

Where to choose a room? You don't need hypermarkets on the central streets, where rent is very expensive, it will suit you just fine residential area or even the outskirts of the city near a transport intersection. The requirements for the premises are simple: sufficient volume, water supply, electricity and heating. It is advisable that there is ventilation in it (since the room will be damp), but in extreme cases, regular ventilation can be organized. There is no need for special renovations in the room - just plaster the walls or leave the brick - it looks good in the interiors.

We select equipment

So, we have already decided on the main issues. Next, let's look at what equipment you will need for work:

1. 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.
2. Scales for weighing raw materials and finished products. Usually you need two scales - one measuring in grams (from 1 to 3000 grams) and the second, measuring in hundreds of grams.
3. A machine that allows you to knead clay. Of course, this can be done manually, but this will require spending time and effort, and it will not be possible to knead large volumes of quality by hand.
4. A special kiln for firing, with the help of which the products are dried and brought to condition. A classic oven will not work - you need a special temperature regime.
5. Various molds for making figurines and other things.
6. A set of brushes and special paints for ceramics.

At 2018 prices, you will spend about 300 thousand rubles on purchasing equipment and processing all documents. This is quite an affordable amount to start your own business.

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

Organizational issues

You need to immediately decide who exactly will work in the workshop. In principle, to begin with, you can do this yourself to master the process and learn all its tricks. But then we recommend hiring people, since making souvenirs will take as much time as possible. You will need at least two people - one to mix and shape the clay, and the other to do the artistic painting. You can take on the responsibilities of a manager, selling goods and organizing various events.

By conducting master classes, you will attract new clients

The manufacturing technology is quite simple:

1. The required amount of clay is poured with a certain amount of water, the solution is kneaded in a 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.
2. Giving the clay the required shape. Some of the clay is placed in molds, and some is sent to the potter's wheel for processing. The resulting product is dried so that it can be transferred to the oven.
3. Firing of finished products. It is placed in the oven and kept at a certain temperature. During the firing process, the clay crystallizes and turns into ceramics - a dense and durable material that is not afraid of moisture.
4. After the product has cooled, it is sent to the artist’s table. He colors it, giving it unique features. In some cases, special paints are used that must be baked to obtain a glazed surface.

How much can you earn

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

It is best to sell your goods in bulk, handing them over to souvenir shops. They usually work as a network, so you need to reach out to the owner and get him interested by offering favorable conditions. Consider what networks need large number products - they sell tens and hundreds of products a day.

The second source of profit is training courses and master classes. Most parents will be happy to enroll their child in pottery workshop for children for creative courses, and regular visits from groups bring good profits. You need to think in advance about exactly how you will work, because working with children requires a special person, so you will either have to do this yourself or expand your staff.

Don't forget about large companies who often order souvenirs for the entire team - by receiving contracts for such transactions, you can provide yourself with work for several weeks. In this article we will not give exact figures, since they simply do not exist - it all depends on your desire, location, products and correct organization. Let's just name general business figures - on average, a workshop working one shift brings in at least 3 thousand rubles of net profit per day, minus the costs of raw materials, rent and salaries. You will earn about 90 thousand per month, recouping your investments 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, workshops are firmly on their feet and expanding, launching new product lines, organizing various courses and clubs, attracting visitors to master classes and lessons.

Alexander Berdin-Lazursky is Samara's Billy Milligan: some know him as a designer and photographer, others as a musician, and a year ago he added to the list of hobbies ceramics. Every evening Alexander moves from the office computer to international company to the pottery wheel to create a new batch of dishes, improve the skill of working with clay and porcelain, and then pass it on to students. With the support of the “Masters of Russia” project, we talked to him about whether it is really possible to make money from pottery, who chooses exclusive dishes instead of standard cups from Ikea, why ceramics consists of solid fakaps, and most importantly, how long it will take to become a real master.

Equipment for 260 thousand and the first perfect batch

It just so happens that in life I have quite a lot of hobbies: I am a photographer, designer, musician, teacher, sixth-grade turner - and this is not the whole list. My family and friends are used to me doing different things, so when it came to ceramics, no one was even surprised.

I became interested in pottery because it allows you to create a real thing. It’s one thing when you’ve been developing a website design for a month, and then the lights are turned off - and there’s nothing in front of you, but it’s another thing when you’re holding a real object with its own structure, material, weight and shape. This really resonated with me. Then I thought that dishes were the perfect thing to create, which I could use all my design skills.

I like to learn everything on my own, without mentors, and even five years ago there was no one in Samara who could help me in my new hobby. I took a couple of lessons at the Union of Artists, but quickly realized that this was not what I needed. There people are focused on making sculptures, panels, paintings and stained glass. Dishes for them are too banal, but for me even a mug is a huge mystery, because you need to take into account a bunch of factors - the thickness of the wall and bottom, the curvature of the touch to the lip, the position of the handle and its shape, heat capacity, color, weight. As a result, I bought equipment and set up a workshop at home right next to my bed - wrapped everything around plastic film and sat like Dexter. My wife sleeps at night, and I spin. The pottery wheel and kiln cost me 260 thousand, but I decided that this was a great motivation not to turn back.

I found answers to any questions on Google. But ceramists started creating chats only now; they didn’t exist a year ago. For the first six months I did a lot of things, but time after time the products died: they exploded in the oven, spread or broke during turning. It’s a pity that I never found a teacher, because under the guidance of a professional, results can be achieved tens of times faster.

Now I notice that the guys who come to us, after three classes, do things that I only achieved in six months.

I like to take risks, so I never made samples: I put a whole batch into the oven, rather than each mug individually. At some point, the stars aligned and all the products survived. The glaze, shape, and colors matched. But it turned out that the most difficult thing was to repeat your success. I suffered for another month - I seemed to do the same thing, but nothing worked. I had to once again change technology to get good results all the time.

At that moment I gave almost all the dishes to friends. People often ask for a product as a gift if they see you making something. I agreed with pleasure, but warned that I would soon begin to do even better, and the gift had already been presented. This didn’t stop my friends, but in vain, because it’s much more profitable to ask me for something now.

Workshop and collaboration

After nine months of working at home, I realized it was time to look for a workshop. The fact is that it is quite difficult to keep your apartment clean when you are constantly mixing and grinding clay. Even then I had an ideal picture in my head: I was sitting somewhere on the first floor, spinning dishes on a pottery wheel, and people were passing by, looking into the windows and asking me something. In the end, everything came true.

One day Sasha Lyulakina came to me, said that she had graduated from a pottery school in Voronezh and offered to join forces. I agreed, and we rented a room on Chapaevskaya, 92 - we found it through friends and quite quickly. And most importantly, it fully corresponded to my idea of ​​an ideal workshop.

Since I do ceramics after my day job and can’t spend the whole day at the pottery wheel, we started looking for someone cool who could work in the studio with Sasha all the time. As a result, we made friends with the girls from the Lepco creative studio - they sculpt with their hands, and not on a circle, so we strengthened each other, became an excellent team, and now I don’t know of a more thorough ceramic organization in Samara than ours.

Now the workshop operates as a coworking space, and I like it. People come, pay 300 rubles per hour and can use all the materials they see. The guys create, and we tell them if they need help. I think this is the perfect way to create an artistic atmosphere for people who do the same thing.

The only problem is that many people still don’t know that you can come to us just like that, so I also organize training courses. One of them lasts three days - during this time a person gains basic skills and can make his own dishes. It costs 4,500 rubles and is very popular because it allows you to understand whether you like ceramics in general. The second course will cost 18,000 rubles, but with it you can master many more techniques and forms. In addition, during the entire training you have the opportunity to use the coworking space unlimitedly to hone your skills.

Earnings and demand

I still don't have customer base. I'm a designer and don't want to do sales - I like crafting and drawing much more. But when there were too many dishes at home, I decided that I could sell the best items. I gave the first mug to the buyer myself, but to do this I had to leave the house, take money, give the item - it’s too stressful for me. Now my friend Nastya Ryazanova from the Garden N studio is selling products. We met because I photographed weddings, and she worked in the same field as a florist. I just donate things to her store, and now this is the only place where you can buy them.

The cost depends only on how much I want to part with this or that copy. The materials are not very expensive, but I sit with this mug for three days, and then bake it for the same amount of time. Moreover, all this time there is a chance of losing the product. Let’s not forget about his five sisters, who crashed at some stage before they managed to get the perfect copy. If an illustrator worked on a mug, it will cost about 3,000 rubles, because it is a unique thing, to which a master of his craft had a hand. The dishes that only I worked on cost 1000 rubles. It continues to be unique, but it does not bear the imprints of several people with whom I have to share the profits.

I have never sought to make money from any of my hobbies. It so happened that since childhood I have lived with the constant feeling that I could die right now. If I start wasting time on something I don't like, it will be very unwise. I love designing, so I enjoy going to work in the office every day. And then I leave with joy, because I go where I like it, perhaps even more. It seems to me that if you love something, then sooner or later all the costs will pay off.

Materials and technology

Working with ceramics is a long process. First, you take a lump of clay and knead it so that there are no air bubbles left inside. This is important because otherwise the cookware may crack. Then the most favorite part for many is the pottery wheel. You twist the clay and it takes on a certain shape. After this, the product is dried for about a day and then the clay becomes hard, but still remains wet. This is an ideal state when it can be sharpened, a neck can be made, or a handle can be attached to a mug. Then the clay dries for a few more days and the dishes are sent to the oven for nine hours. When the product has cooled, paint it or cover it with glaze, and then send it back for baking.

As a rule, I buy Spanish, German or French clay - in these countries they have learned to make masses that are pleasant to work with. Sometimes I take porcelain, but it is quite expensive - for 10 kilograms you will have to pay 3,000 rubles. From such a block you will get approximately 15 cups, some of which will be discarded.

Mostly everyone uses store-bought glazes, but you can make your own. I did it and it's perfect new level. Working with a purchased one is the same as processing photos with ready-made presets on Instagram. I started making my own recipes because I didn't want to deprive myself of one dimension of uniqueness.

Failures in ceramics

Ceramics are very fickle, so a person quickly ceases to value what he makes. And this is the most important quality for an artist, because it helps to gain freedom of expression. When you are ready to lose your job at any moment, you have the opportunity to quickly and fluidly create something new.

I can do everything right, but the mug will end up with a crack. If you can’t grind it off, the product will have to be thrown away. It's very frustrating at first, considering how much time and work you put into it, but then you start to take things lightly. This is an interesting life school.

Ceramics consists of failures - my entire Instagram is full of them. Every now and then I beat the cups away from the stove with a hammer because they are welded tightly, or I pull out a product that has blurred, boiled, peeled off or exploded. The most offensive thing is when something painted by an artist bursts. Creative people react differently: some are very worried about their work. But last time I was lucky - the girl simply said that she would draw more. I was very happy.

Almost every one of my works contains gold, and this is not an accident. Imagine that you are in the 14th century, there is darkness all around and a huge temple stands in the middle of it. Inside, everything is in gold, loud music is playing, the best artists of our time are painting on the walls. It’s also safe there and sometimes they even provide food. In general, a person gets everything he wants, and also gold - as an emphasis on the fact that everything else is there too. So when I use gold, it's like I'm telling people, “Look, there's something else here. This thing deserves to have gold on it.”

Ceramics begins to develop. We have already moved from Khokhloma patterns to cats, flowers and realistic pomegranates. It looks nice, but I understand that these are not unique things, but just decorative elements. Soon the fashion for all this will pass and modern ceramics - designer ones - will take the place of outdated products. Artists will begin to strive for uniqueness and express themselves through shapes, textures, colors.

My ceramics also cannot yet be called modern: first you repeat, then you begin to modify the result, and only then do you isolate something of your own. I'm still at the repetition stage - I look at English ceramicists and study their style. Contemporary American ceramics touches me a little less, although there are more creative, crazy styles.

With the pottery boom coming, the amount of information is growing rapidly. People create their own workshops, and this is very cool. In Samara, the sphere is developing exponentially quickly. I recently organized a meeting of potters, which was attended by ten people - and that's not all. I keep an eye on what my colleagues are doing because you always need to be aware of what is happening. True, I find it much more interesting to study foreign experience- I get to know new techniques and test them.

I love my job because it is not work at all. I plan to turn what I do from creativity into art - I want to create something beautiful. I think when a couple of English magazines write about me, I will be able to say that I am doing something really important for the world.

Opening your own pottery workshop is quite an interesting direction home business. Before organizing a business, you need to decide what the workshop will produce, and in what quantities you are going to sell the products. Clay products will always be in demand, since many of us today are adherents of a healthy lifestyle, others want to study various ancient recipes, and still others love handicrafts.

Equipment for organizing a pottery business.

The approximate investment for organizing a workshop will be about 350 thousand rubles. You will have to purchase a clay mixing machine, a potter's wheel, molds for casting, equipment for firing products and scales for dosing.

But first you will have to study special literature on pottery; find out where is the best place to buy clay; see what clay products are sold in local stores. You will also need brushes and paints to design finished products.

Starting a pottery making business.

The main difficulty in opening a workshop is that you need to be a fairly competent specialist in this matter. Regular practice is not enough; special skills are required in this area. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what you do - managing and running a business or participating in the creation of a product. Industrial process skills and understanding of its features are an important detail in this business, the success of the workshop will depend on it. So you definitely have to learn!

There are several ways to do this:

1. You can enter an art academy, where you will certainly receive a lot of knowledge that will guarantee success in this matter. However, this will take a lot of time.

2. Use the services of a tutor, a pottery master. He will quickly teach you all the intricacies of the matter.

3.You can enroll in specialized pottery courses.

Workshop space.

A room for a pottery workshop requires at least 50 m2. You will also need a warehouse in which finished products will be stored, with an area of ​​approximately 15 m2. It is better to choose a room on the ground floor and with all communications.

We are hiring employees.

If the start-up investment to create a business is not enough, then you can start manufacturing products yourself. However, in this way, it will most likely not be possible to achieve quick results. When labor is distributed among employees, productivity is, of course, many times higher. For example, one worker will knead the material, the second will sculpt, the third will fire the finished product, and the fourth, if necessary, will paint the products.

Making pottery.

At the first stage of product manufacturing, kneading is performed. A variety of clays are used for production: white with impurities and red. Then the product formation procedure is carried out. To do this, use a molded board, a pottery wheel and molds. The formed craft must be allowed to dry and then fired.

You should know the production methodology well, since the quality of the molding and the incorrect time allotted for drying the products will lead to 20% of the finished products being defective.

Sales of finished products.

The main partners in this business are wholesale warehouses, where there is always a demand for typical products. At the same time, depending on the level of demand from wholesalers, it will be necessary to produce the required quantity of pottery. In addition, one should take into account the fact that most customers today pay for the cost of goods only after they are sold; these conditions are especially applicable to new manufacturers.