After 5 years of hard slog I have finally got to the stage that I
thought I had always dreamed of.
I have a set of designs I am proud of, a group of stores that order
regularly and private sales through my website.
But I have now found that I spend 95% of my time on the following -
writing emails and invoices, repetitive stock making, picking up
supplies and taking pieces in for polishing, stamping etc which just
leaves a miserable 5% for designing, which is my real passion.
I want to take someone on to do the schlepping and repetitive work,
leaving me time to do the paperwork (too much of a control freak to
hand that over) and more designing but as my home studio is very
small it will mean renting bigger premises.
My worries are:
Losing my freedom - Although I am very disciplined with my own work,
I love having the freedom of a home studio. At the moment having no
employees means I am free to work whatever hours I like, travelling
and visiting my family who live abroad, and I don’t have to think
about teaching/supervising anyone.
Finding the right employee.
Covering the new expenses of studio and employee. I have saved up
enough to cover me for a few months, but then I will be under
pressure to really increase my income. At the moment I feel I have
several untapped opportunities for more sales, and with more products
should have more sales - but who knows.?
Scared of the extra responsibility but also scared of standing still
and not realising my potential.
I am excited about:
Having someone to do all the boring bits- manufacturing, picking up
supplies, bank, post office etc.
Having time to design and make new pieces, improve my website.
I would love to hear from other people who have taken the plunge
from a home studio and any advice would be welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Laura