How to Start a Small Batch Pottery Business
Learning how to start a small pottery business isn’t as complicated as you think. It only requires a few affordable tools and you can hand build pottery without a pottery wheel or kiln.
Even though I own a portable pottery wheel, I find hand building pottery brings me the most joy.
Don’t get me wrong I love getting my wheel out and throwing on it, but I’m still learning even after 3 full years of self directed pottery.
What I mean by self directed is that I took a couple several weeks courses, but I learned mostly on my own through books, YouTube videos, and just getting on the wheel and learning a feel for the clay.
It can get very frustrating but you just have to keep pushing through the mistakes and failures. Especially if it is something you love to do.
You can read how I fell in love with the art of making pottery here.
How To Start a Small Batch Pottery Business:
Now, I don’t recommend quitting your job to begin your new adventure. Even if it’s something you would like to try as a hobby and gradually build up to starting a small pottery business, that would be more practical.
The only reason I quit my job is because I don’t have debt and I was in a good financial position to do so. I repeat, don’t quit your job to begin a new business off the cuff.
Maybe you just want a little extra cash to tuck away for retirement or for traveling. Making pottery at home and selling it can put some extra cash in your pocket and it can possibly turn into a full time business.
What is “small batch pottery?” You might be asking.
Small batch pottery simply means you are the little fish in the big sea when it comes to production. Think of Target or Wal-Mart as the “Sharks” of mass produced potteryware dishes and vessels. Mass produced means quicker and cheaper.
A small batch potter like myself usually has a small kiln and limited inventory and space. What that means for you is that you get personalized pieces of functional art made by hand with each piece being unique.
The vessel takes on the personality of the potter and that is why handmade pottery is so special and why many people choose handmade pottery over mass produced pottery these days.
They love the feel and the look of the imperfect lines and they are willing to pay a bit more for a piece of your work. Most people who buy pottery from small batch potter’s actually cherish their pieces and treat them very special.
When you purchase an item from a small batch potter, most of those pieces are already in stock and are shipped within a day or two of purchasing.
Being a small batch potter also means you run out of stock and it takes time to make more, dry your greenware, bisque fire, glaze, and then a final fire. It’s an arduous process and that is why we small batch potter’s have to charge a fee that reflects the time, materials, and skill put into that piece in addition to making a profit.
If you’re interested in learning the financial end to a small pottery business, you can read this article that I wrote, 5 Things You Should do Before Opening Up a Small Pottery Business.
Think About Space Before Starting a Small Batch Pottery Business:
No need for a pottery studio. I used to think I needed a studio to make and sell pottery but keeping a small overhead and not shelling out rent and extras for building utilities is a major advantage for a small pottery business.
You won’t need much space especially for building your pottery. I live in south Florida so I do all of my work outside on my back patio. And it keeps the mess out there.
I also throw on the wheel on my patio I carry all my tools and wheel outside and set up my patio studio. I love working outside in nature. It can get a little hot in the dead a*s heat of summer. I do have an overhead fan and mist system my partner set up for me.
I store my pottery in the garage on shelves. I only make and store what I can fit, but I’ve gotten pretty efficient at stacking, organizing & finding room. Especially since I share the garage with my partner Terry… and his tools.
Find a space that works for you. Maybe you have a basement or attic you can work in? Do you have a shed in the backyard that needs cleaned out? Sheds are a great space for pottery studios. I dream of a pottery She Shed! Even a spare bedroom could work as your pottery studio.
The worst part about working in the space where you live is the clay dust. It’s important to clean thoroughly and often.
It’s not healthy to breath in the small particles of clay dust when it dries. It is referred to Potter’s Lung or Silicosis.
No body ever told me that when I first began my pottery journey. So I recommend researching the hazards of working with clay and precautions to take to make sure you have the proper equipment, like a mask respirator & safety goggles when working around clay dust and mixing glazes.
If you’re throwing on the wheel clay spatter can be an issue also. So choose your space wisely.
I only recently began selling my pottery pieces on Etsy a little over a year ago. Admittedly, it is my spoons that buyer’s take the most interest in. I am working on stocking some other items but for now especially during the holiday season I’m focusing on my functional art spoons.
The long and short of learning pottery making is you don’t need an expensive pottery wheel to make functional pottery pieces.
Maybe you don’t enjoy making ceramic spoons as much as I do. The point here isn’t how to start a small pottery business to make ceramic spoons. The point is how to start a small pottery business using nuts and bolts basics.
You can make almost anything you want simply by hand building pieces from slabs of clay. I have hand rolled slabs of clay and made plates that way.
You can also make bowls and cups by using the pinch pot method.
This is the method I use to make my spoons and coffee scoops. Pinch pot method simply means taking your portion of clay and pinching it to your desired shape.
I’ve made some salt cellars using the pinch pot method as well. This blue jean salt cellar had a couple of mishaps with the glaze but I think I can fix that. When I first made this pinch pot and looked at it, it just reminded me of Ants in the Pants game I had as a child. So I made it into blue jeans.
Pinch pot salt cellar
Bisque firing, Glazing, and final fire require purchasing the correct glazes for your clay you are working with. You need to be aware that your glazes will work with the clay you’re using and to what cone you are firing the clay.
Obviously, you will need to fire your pieces in a kiln. However, you don’t need your own kiln.
You can locate a pottery studio or someone in your area that has a kiln and see if they offer kiln rental space. Before I purchased my kiln I made some of my pottery in a studio and paid for the use of the pottery wheel, studio space, and kiln.
A kiln is a very expensive investment and before you make that purchase you should be sure you enjoy making pottery and know a little more about pottery making and the firing process before you invest in a kiln.
There is also the possibility you will need to vent your kiln depending on where you want to locate it. I personally don’t vent my kiln. My kiln is in the garage and I open the garage door halfway to let heat and fumes escape when I’m firing the kiln. Terry put my kiln stand on wheels and when I use my kiln, I roll it over to a space near the garage door.
There is also the electricity issue as well. You’ll need to hire an electrician to make sure your kiln is properly installed and not pulling electricity from other areas while in use. My kiln has it’s own allowed breaker and we needed to install a high voltage outlet as well.
You can purchase a kiln new or used. I purchased a new kiln that fits my space and works for the pieces I create. There is a lot of research that goes into purchasing a kiln so before you invest, do your homework.
That said, you can build your own kiln outside for wood firing or even build an electric kiln if you know what you are doing. I’m guessing most of us don’t. YouTube can probably help you out with those questions and answers from someone much more experienced in that area.
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Essential Items You Will Need to Start a Small Batch Pottery Business:
You will definitely need a basic Pottery Tool Kit. This is very inexpensive and has all the beginner tools you will need to start hand building your pottery. It usually contains a sponge, wire tool for cutting clay, needle tool, trimming tool, stainless steel scraper & wooden modeling tool.
Clay for hand building your pieces. Currently I use a low fire clay for hand building my spoons. You just have to make sure you’re using the proper food safe glazes as low fire clay is considered earthenware and not stoneware.
Underglaze. I purchased this pack when I first started and it’s gone a long way. Underglaze doesn’t run when it reaches a high temperature and these underglazes can be used from cone 06 through cone 6. It also gives you bright beautiful colors. I do use a clear low fire glaze for my low fire clay to make my spoons food grade/non toxic & lead free.
Detail Paint Brushes. I use these for doing fine details. They were actually recommended by a potter I follow on YouTube. I use these Hake Brushes for painting bigger pieces of pottery.
Rolling Pin for rolling out slabs of clay.
Mask Respirator for working around clay particles, dusting or sweeping.
Safety Goggles. I wear these when working with a rotary tool. I often have to grind down pin holes on the back of my spoons because I place them on stilts because I glaze the front and back of my spoon. They would stick to my kiln shelves if I didn’t place them on specially made stilts. However, it will leave behind some fine pin holes so I just buff those out with the rotary tool. Pieces of glass fly up and you don’t want to get that stuck in your eye or breath in the particles.
Portable Pottery Wheel. As I mentioned, you absolutely don’t need a wheel to make pottery, but you may want to learn on the wheel in addition to hand building some of your pieces. I don’t recommend investing in an expensive heavy wheel until you’ve decided if it’s for you or not. I may upgrade my wheel at some point, but for now, mine works great and I love that it’s easily portable.
The above is not a complete list and I’ve added other tools and items over time. However, this is a general list that will get you started to making pottery at home without expensive tools and equipment.
Now that you’ve explored and decided you want to start a small pottery business whether as a hobby or develop into a full blown business in the future, next we need to discuss where to sell your pottery.
I’ve already talked about my Etsy storefront. And this Square Space website as well. You can promote your work on Social Media and even sell at Farmer’s Markets and Craft Fairs.
I feel like that is another in depth post and I’m still learning the financial side of running a small business as well. So I will save those details for a later date and post.
Once this Square Space blog is up and running, my store front complete, and I build an audience, I plan on moving my e-commerce site completely over to this space. I’v even produced some educational videos on hand building pottery on Vanilla Vine Pottery YouTube channel. I’d love it if you’d subscribe to my channel.
When I started out hand building, I learned there weren't many instructional videos out there for handmade pottery spoons, so most of what I’ve learned I’ve learned on my own and I now share that with an audience.
I know this was a lot of information all in one shot but if you choose to explore pottery making, whether hand building or purchasing a potter’s wheel, try to learn little bits at a time. There is so much to learn and you can’t possibly learn it all in one sitting. I’m still learning. Even seasoned Potter’s who have been doing their craft for years still are constantly learning & exploring new techniques.
