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Measuring Myself Again

3/22/2011

8 Comments

 
Picture
This post is an offshoot of The Hourly Earnings Project, which I wrote about all of last year. One of my observations about working as a potter was that I was unable to make pots for 8 hours per day, like a normal job, because it was too physically taxing. Going forward, I need to stretch my ability to make more pots per day, or work for longer hours, in order to grow my business.

Yesterday, I started working on a new wholesale order, worth $540. Which means the market value of these pots is $1080. I challenged myself to make the entire order in one cycle of throwing and trimming. I managed to throw everything in one day, and get most of the handbuilding done. Today, I trimmed all the thrown pots, added handles, and finished the handbuilding. I worked 5.25 hours the first day, and 5.5 hours the second day. I took a 30 minute snack break each day. For me, those are pretty long hours. Last year, I would typically throw for 2 to 4 hours per day. My back is a little tired, but thankfully, no butt pain :-). 

So now this is my new benchmark for what I consider a "very productive" work pace: in a 2-day cycle of throwing, trimming, and handbuilding, I need to produce about $1000 worth of inventory.
8 Comments
Rebecca link
3/22/2011 10:30:13 pm

That's a good way of looking at it. I've recently been trying to figure out the best way to be productive. My husband says 'Just make pots' which is a very simple suggestion, but you and I both know there is more to it than that. Over 5 hours a day is plenty of throwing in one day for me too.... usually my problem is back pain instead of butt pain. ;)

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Mike link
3/27/2011 11:39:39 pm

Hi Mea,

Found you through the artfair site. Not enough time in the day right now to comment on all that I have read in the last 45 minutes. Congrats on succesfully coming into the "make a living" potters world.

How long is it gonna take to glaze/fire/pack/ship that $540 order ?
ie. your not done yet !! :-)

Mike

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Mea Rhee link
3/28/2011 12:01:38 am

I actually know the answer to that, or at least a pretty close answer, based on tracking my hours all last year.

glazing: 3 hours
loading/unloading the kiln twice: 1 hour
applying hang tags, bubble wrapping, and boxing: 1.5 hours
accounting: .25 hours

Which will bring total hours to 16.5, which makes my hourly earnings $32.72. Last year I made about $25/hour for wholesale orders, so it looks like my work pace is improving.

Mea

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littlewrenpottery link
3/28/2011 12:13:55 am

Thats quite an intense schedule, I think the longest time I've spent throwing is about four hours. Its important not to over do it as my Dad would say you can't burn a candle at both ends.

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Mea Rhee link
3/28/2011 12:22:06 am

Victoria, I completely agree. Work-life balance is difficult for a full-time potter. I made a New Year's Resolution this year: no work on weekends, except for workshops and art festivals. I am putting in longer hours during the week, then I don't set foot in the studio on Saturday and Sunday. So far this has been really useful. On Monday morning I feel recharged and ready to work again. Speaking of which ... off to the studio now.

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elisa riley
6/1/2011 09:52:34 pm

Im pretty new at pottery. Only 3 years. These last few months I made a number of cups and mugs and the only pain i can complain about is thumb pain from pulling handles. At this point i can throw for 3 to 4 hours before i feel burned out for at least 6 hours. I can go back in the evening,but feel much more refreshed the next morning. This article was very insiteful for me.

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Soursop link
7/1/2011 03:25:17 pm

Hi and nice to meet you. I have come across some of your posts on ceramic arts daily and wanted to take a look at your site. VERY NICE WORK. I think this post peeked some interest in me because I find it difficult at times to jump around to a lot of different things in the same day. So I'm curious if you have a minimum order that your clients have to order before you fill the order. Will you/Do you entertain an order for 1 small mug, 4 large mugs, 1 platter, 3 plates, 6 bowls, 1 teapot and a sake set? or do you set limits of a minimum number of certain items? For me, repetition is what helps me to keep everything even and matching, so 1 of this or 3 of that does not work very well, I will take orders like I outlined above, but I will throw 20 mugs, 20 bowls, 20 plates, etc. and then have them on hand for future orders or markets. -Thanks, and again wonderful work.-Tim

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Mea Rhee link
7/2/2011 12:44:29 am

Hi soursop,
New gallery accounts need to order at least $500 of pottery for their first order. But within that amount, they can order 1 of this and 2 of that, I don't mind. My wholesale line consists of only 22 designs. I keep the offering limited on purpose, only designs that I know I can produce consistently. Glad you like my work!

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    Mea Rhee (mee-uh ree),
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