So, you want to be a Potter? We're right there with you. How cool would it be to have magic powers, be awesome at quidditch, and—what? Not that kind of Potter? Oh, sorry about that.

If you want to be a potter with a lowercase "p," you're in for a slightly less magical experience. While nobody can deny that pottery is a noble and ancient craft, those Babylonian potters didn't have to compete with the likes of Pottery Barn and IKEA.

 

These babies went for fifty sheep each back in the day. (Source)

Everybody needs useful pots for putting things in, but in this modern age of mass production they're a little easier to come by than they were in ye olden times. Potters aren't in such high demand as they were a couple thousand years ago, and pottery isn't the lucrative field it once was.

Your average American potter pulls in about $31,000 a year (source), which isn't bad, though the news doesn't brighten from there. This sector is only expected to grow at a measly three percent over the next decade (source), and on top of that it takes a lot of hustle to convince people to buy more expensive things from a craftsperson than to get them cheap at Target.

So yeah, with that added info, the potter's life is starting to look a little less rosy. You'll be crafting pots, selling them, and not doing much else. The life of a salesperson is already pretty nonstop, and that's before factoring in the competition from retail giants and the whole "making all your products by hand" thing. 

No mindless pinch-pots for you: you'll have to focus on cranking out tons of quality products that you can sell at any hour of the day—be it at a craft fair, online, or out of a gallery.

Pottery is a lot of fun and a great way to spend your free time. When your hobby becomes your job, though, a lot of that fun can turn into frustration. 

Spending the occasional Sunday afternoon making a leaf-shaped serving dish for your friend's mom is pleasant and relaxing. Making those serving dishes nonstop to fill a huge order or, alternatively, sitting around twiddling your thumbs because you don't have any orders to fill, is...less pleasant and relaxing.

 

In fact, they need several. You've been on a roll with the amphorae lately. (Source)

All that said, if you do feel passionate about pottery and want to make it your career, it's not impossible. It's hard. But not impossible. You need to attack it with the right frame of mind, which is this: success in this career doesn't come from having mad spinning-wheel skillz. It comes from mad business skillz. You need to know how to create and execute a business plan, how to market your products, and how to convince people that they just have to have that amphora with the salt glaze.

"But hang on a second," you say reasonably, "I'm an artist, not a business person. If I wanted to get into business, I'd major in finance, join a consulting firm, and start planning for my MBA."

Listen, we hear you. But you have to think of the future, in the form of eventual retirement, and the present, in the form of eating something other than ramen noodles and moving out of your parents' basement. After your mom, dad, best friend, and high school civics teacher have bought all the pottery they could ever possibly need, who'll you sell to next? How will you find customers? What's a realistic profit margin to aim for?

If you're really in this for the long haul, you'll know that all these questions have a common answer, and it's in your trusty business plan. 

If you decide to become a potter, you're essentially deciding to become a small business owner, with all the paperwork and money-related stresses that come with it. You'll be in charge of making sure that your business succeeds, along with all that less-fun stuff like taxes and invoices and client sourcing.

It's a bit of a bubble-buster, but here's the truth: if you want to be a potter because you find pottery fun and relaxing, you're probably not going to enjoy being a professional potter very much. You need to be committed to pottery as a business, not just a hobby. If that's what you're interested in, we say go for it. Live your dream.

On the other hand, if the thought of having your hobby turn into your nine-to-five grind makes you feel a bit queasy, maybe you should look into a job as a design consultant at Pottery Barn or something. You could still do pottery in your spare time...but you'd never have to worry about bringing home a consistent paycheck.

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