[ Happs Pottery is seeking a new full-time artist potter or sculptor to enjoy the prosperous environment created at Happs over the last 30 years. Could this be your golden opportunity? ]

Nestled among native trees in the northern part of the beautiful and inspiring Margaret River wine region, are the mud brick buildings of Happs Pottery and Vineyard. At the pottery’s gallery, which started in the mid seventies, you will find contemporary thrown and hand-built ceramics, considered to be amongst the best in the state.

It’s a functional gallery with glass and wood shelving – visitors wander from pottery to the cellar door and vice-versa. There are a number of gallery spaces and extensive workshop facilities, all lined with shelving and colourful pottery.
Jacquie Happ runs the gallery and visitors are often able to talk to the three potters – Myles Happ, David Thomson and Kim Potter.

I would like to share with you what has made this a successful studio, still thriving after 30 years, in an age of global trading, manufacture, media and fashion.

To put it simply, our recipe for success is: MAKE LOTS OF POTS and regularly introduce new talent and inspiration; then mix in fun, hard work and diligent perseverance to business.

I could end the article right now but that’s a little too sage-like so I’d like to introduce some methods that might help you. We are very proud of the fact that we can sell all the work we can make, but it was not always like that. Over three years our business grew 300% by paying attention to the following areas:

1. Make lots of pots across a series of colour ranges. Give customers choice and they can choose something.

a. Make bowls the same width, cups the same height and other objects to be sold in pairs!
b. Sell sets.
c. How many colour ranges do you pursue? We have about six. All have names intended to appeal to customers.
d. Work hard for 4 weeks so you can afford to do something new for 2. This is the ‘30% p.a. new product range’ rule at work.
e. To round off, you need to process large batches to get good matching pots.

2. Retailing and Sales. You have to sell your work.

a. We live and survive on our sales efforts. Many people will buy when you spend time finding out about them and their interests before informing them about your products and matching them to their needs or desires.
b. We seek to ensure that education and inspiration are elements of our customers’ experience. In return they purchase a piece from us and take home a positive experience.
c. Treat sales as part of your job, like finishing off pots. Expect sales, production and business maintenance to take up equal time.
d. It is unlikely you will get enough done by your own means when running a retail premises, so you need to find other stock and contributing artists.
e. At around $250-300k p.a. sales you can afford full-time sales staff. Less than that and you have to find other options, like doing it yourself with other artists assisting.
f. Develop a loyalty program. We use a card-based system.
g. Avoid cash discounts (at $450 sales we give a voucher worth $35).
h. It’s difficult, but being able to pack and send a customers purchase will get you more sales, but I need someone else to do it.

3. You only have ‘so much time’, so use it well.

a. Your product range needs to reflect the average price points you want to sell at, so don’t make too many cheap or inexpensive items.
b. It’s easier to sell $300 of work to one customer than $30 worth to 10.
c. Assess your product range with the eyes and detachment of an accountant.
d. Put all your prices up at least 10% NOW. Try doubling some items. You could double your net profit and reduce your stress and workload.
e. You can outsource some of your work and make a profit. We buy bisque ware from The Pugmill in Adelaide and we jigger jolly pasta bowl sets at home.
f. Sell everything for a fair price.

4. Workshop Tips: some might sound a little too simple, but they can really make a big difference.

a. Buy good tools.
b. Use the momentum principle. Make 10 not 1, or 120 not 60.
c. Don’t stop the wheel at all as you make each pot.
d. Put your work on trolleys and move whole kiln loads, not a board at a time.
e. Maximise the capacity of your studio.
f. Every detail improves the quality of your work.
g. Learn to weld, buy a forklift and look after your back and hands.

5. Continuous Learning and Studio Survival

a. Operate outside your comfort zone; it helps keep moving things forward.
b. Every year, see new places, meet new people and do new things.
c. Learn from and share with others. We share ideas and techniques and mentor each other.
d. Meet inspiring people. Seek your idols. Sometimes these people share pearls of wisdom and techniques they might have taken years to acquire.

Directions for the future

In business and industry, there are benchmarks that outline the value of assets per person to output and turnover. When I realised this, I understood that we needed to borrow money and invest in our business so we could break through a productivity barrier we had been experiencing.

This has enabled studio efficiency upgrades and development of the home studio, such as the purchase of a hydraulic extruder, a RAM press and a 60-foot trolley kiln I am hanging out to start playing with. And while the creative opportunities are mind-boggling I just have to remember one thing:

Keep making lots of good pots!

Visit us at our website: www.happspottery.com.au or @ Google Earth: 33deg39’54.43”S, 115deg05’43.94”E