Friday, February 19th, 2010
It is not too early to make summer plans.
I always operate on the premise that a business person, especially one in retail, needs to plan a year ahead. Well it’s not a year ahead, but if you have not already done so, it is definitely time to make plans and preparations for Summer and children’s day camps.
When you have children’s groups, you cannot ignore the needs and preferences of your regular clients. You need to keep in mind that not everyone wants to work around children and that many of your shop dwellers come to escape children and family distractions. With that in mind, you may want to schedule as many children’s activities as you can during the summer months, but leave plenty of time for your ‘regular’ customers. You must keep it clear that summer camps are NOT a baby sitting service; but rather a scheduled activity. Your resources for recruitment of potential students are virtually unlimited.
Suggestions for types of camps
The open workshop camp – Parents register their kids for particular time slots and pre-select various projects within a budgeted amount. Kids are dropped off and work on these projects in an informal, yet supervised setting. Usually for older children who can primarily function without constant attention.
The Structured Camp – Parents register their kids for a specific course that would be developmental and all kids enrolled would work on the same or similar projects under the supervision of the counselor/instructor. Usually 1 – 2 hour blocks of time, often multi-sessions for several weeks.
Closed groups sessions – A group of parents or counselors from other programs would bring in their group of kids to work on specific projects or an assortment of projects from a pre-determined list on a scheduled basis. Usually 1 – 2 hour blocks of time and usually only one or two sessions.
To read more about Kids Day Camps, click here
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
I see you are still with us. That proves to me you have commitment or are insane. In a way, though, it is true. To start your own business you have to be committed and self-motivated. There are a lot of brick walls and barriers that need to be scaled in order to be successful. In many ways, running your own business is a lot more work than being an employee somewhere else. There is another side to the coin however – The rewards are often unbeatable. Where else can you ‘play’ and make some money doing it.
Remember our checklist in Part 2? Let’s see how we are doing.
Create a Name – Check Secure a web domain – Check Make a budget – Check Obtain a checking account – Check Licensing, legal matters and accounting – Check Secure a location – Check
Lay out floor plan – Check
So far, so good. We are getting there. Now, it is time to set-up the store.
To read the rest of this seminar, click here
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
All the Legal Stuff
Well, its about that time. You cannot go much further in planning your business venture without taking care of all the legal and foundation matters.
Yes, its those icky taxes, licensing, etc.
Now that you have your location, you need to make sure you have your business license and your tax licenses. You also need to get your insurance in place, get your accounting methods established and decide if you want to be a corporation or sole proprietor. While you are at it, make sure you have socked in your web domain name.
Which one to do first…wow, so many important things that need to be addressed.
To read the rest of this seminar, click here
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
By now, you have some idea as to what kind of venture you want to tackle. And you have pretty well determined where you want to locate your new business. Of course money is going to be a strong factor in how much space you have to begin; but I encourage you to not cramp yourself too tightly because this kind of business can grow by leaps and bounds.
Break your shop into sections. The number and kinds of areas will be determined by the needs you will have to perform the kind of business you are wanting. Imagine if you will:
an area for mold production, an area for firing, an area for greenware, an area for bisque, an area for supplies, a classroom for open workshop, a classroom for formal training/classes, areas for display of projects or featured activities, or promotions, a check out area, a possible lounge area, a possible children’s corner,
an area for finished giftware
To read the rest of this seminar, click here
Monday, January 18th, 2010
The Plan
Regardless of what kind of ceramic endeavor you choose to pursue, you need to start with a plan. You need to have an idea of what kind of business you want to set up and then follow a design to achieve that goal. Some of the things you will need to address include:
1. Create a Name 2. Secure a web domain 3. Make a budget 4. Obtain a checking account 5. Licensing and legal matters 6. Secure a location 7. Lay out floor plan 8. Gather fixtures 9. Order stock and supplies 10. Set up method of inventory control 11. Set up method or record keeping 12. Turn on utilities 13. Set up the store
14. Advertise opening
To read more about these steps, click here.
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
Introduction
You fell in love with ceramics as a hobby and you heard that you could make some money from it. It is tempting, why not do it? Or better yet, DO IT! This is the first of a series that will be designed to help you start a ceramic business.
There are many ways to turn your hobby into a business venture, but I don’t recommend you just jump in without doing some research and some homework. There are many ways that you can garner an income from doing something you love; but make sure before your turn from a hobby/business into a full-fledged income making business you know what you are doing.
The Internal Revenue Services has strict guidelines as to what is a hobby and what is a business, you are advised to get acquainted with all tax issues from the get go. But before we move on to that part of your new enterprise, lets analyze some of the ways you can make money with ceramics.
Presented here are several types of ceramic businesses. They cover all gambits from small enterprises to a large, full-fledged operation.
To see the rest of this seminar, click here.
Monday, December 28th, 2009
If you are in the business of ceramics, at any level, a new trade magazine is being launched in January.
BLUEPRINT was originally a newsletter for the CAG (Ceramic Artist Guild) and is now expanding to a full online e-magazine.
BLUEPRINT will be published Jan, Mar, May, July, Sep, and Nov 2010 the opposite months of when CERAKANVAS is published.
BLUEPRINT is FREE, as well as membership in the CAG. But you must be a registered member of CAG to get your password to acess the site. You can register today at http://www.ceramicartistguild.com
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
Did you know that your comments play a vital role in the success or failure of a blog or web buisiness?
For as far back as I can remember, and that is a mighty long time, businesses have asked for comments from their customers. There are several purposes; but primarily it is to communicate with their clientele in order to evaluate their own performance. A happy customer is the best advertising a business can have.
Today, it is more crucial than ever. Online businesses can measure how many people visit their websites, but getting the word out to new clientele is a challenge all face. The more competition there is out on the wide wide world of the web, it becomes very difficult for the smaller business to get exposure.
When you did your last search online for a particular item or business or even basic researching a question, how many links show up? Hundreds and thousands of links will appear for most of your searches. How many do you click on or visit? Do you give your attention to just the first page or two of links or do you check each one? Most people don’t go beyond the first ten or twenty results that show up in any of the popular search engines like Google or Yahoo. So how do the smaller, lower ranking sites get found or get exposure?
Many people do not know that the search engines send out automatic spiders or crawlers that routinely visit all the domains on the internet. These computerized ‘bots’ (robotics) go to the domain and seek out all kinds of data and from their analysis, the domain will get ranked higher or lower in the search engine.
Among the things that these ‘bots’ measure and analyze is the amount of traffic AND the amount of activity happening on the site. Blogs become popular not because of the number of visitors, but because of the ACTIVE visitors. Blogs that have frequent posts and visitors who make comments rank higher than those sites that sit stagnant.
Many businesses have figured out that if they include a blog on their domain or otherwise allow customers to make posts and comments, that it will help them to secure more visibility and draw in more traffic. This is a great advertising tool. If you have your own website, you may wish to incorporate a blog or comment area.
So, next time you visit a blog like this one, head on down to the comments or read comments link and let your voice be heard. Be it good, or bad, or ugly, your opinion is important.
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
When I had my fully functioning ceramic shop, I was continually looking for ways to keep the customers entertained as well as ensure a steady income, especially during the slow times.
To keep my customers coming back I set up various clubs and once they took off, my shop was a beehive of activity all year.
A ‘club’ is a group of ceramists who meet with a specific goal or purpose in mind. These can be scheduled groups or for drop in traffic.
Make sure you have some kind of display and visible advertising for your clubs. These will draw interest and potential members.
Clubs are a great way to keep the customers coming back and many can be adapted for online sales as well. It is a great way for you to be able to plan stock. You have time to pour up a quantity of the next featured item.
To read how you can incorporate Clubs in your business, click here.
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
Every shop owner needs to tap in to this resource for their customers. The potential is unlimited. A ceramics party is a novel way to bring in new customers as well as draw more business from your current customer base.
What IS a ceramic (themed) party?
Primarily it is when a group of individuals draw together to celebrate an event and paint pieces from a select number of items in bisque. These items are most usually pre-selected and readied with the party group in mind. The finished items are usually given to the person being honored as a gift. The guests can work in stains or underglazes or even glazes. In the case of underglazes, the shop owner can offer to dip in glaze and fire the pieces. All fired items to be picked up on or by a specific date.
Enough time should be given for most projects to be completed. Two hours is usually adequate, but you may wish to allow guest to stick around a while longer or come back at another time if needed. Staff should be on hand to advise and help where needed.
To read more about having Ceramic Parties and some theme ideas, click here.