5 years ago Sally left her demanding marketing job to pursue her love of ceramics and create a minimalist lifestyle away from the city. Ceramics had always been a hobby and it took over 12 months to decide that a change of direction was required. Once the decision was made Sally began her transition from executive to artist.
How did your business journey begin?
After many hours of contemplation, I realised that the fast-paced city life was no longer for me. I attended a weekend arts festival on the outskirts of the city and discovered a whole community of people crafting and selling their creations. I began exploring the artisan markets around the area and networking with stallholders. I spent time making stock to sell at the markets and creating a stall. At first, I continued to work at my marketing job and did my ceramics on the side. After 12 months I realised I wanted to put all my energy into Adora Ceramics without any other distractions. I sold my inner-city house and moved to an area known for its creativity in the beautiful bush surrounding the city.
What was the biggest hurdle you faced when starting the business?
My biggest hurdle was the fear of leaving my reliable paying job when I didn’t really know if I could make a living from selling my ceramics. I spent a lot of time budgeting my finances and downsizing my home to ensure I could survive financially if the business did not succeed. It took a lot longer than I envisaged to set up Adora Ceramics and establish the branding, even though I already had marketing expertise.
Describe your typical working day?
During the week my days consist of making ceramics, marketing and working in some artist collective stores where my products are stocked. Most weekends, especially during the summer months, you will find me with my stall at markets all over the city and some country areas.
What business tools & technology have you adopted to run your business effectively?
My biggest investment in business tools have been a kiln to cook the ceramics, rather than outsourcing this process, and a vehicle suitable for transporting my market set up and stock. I have a high spec laptop to run the business day to day and create visual marketing material. The laptop allows me to work at any location. I use a number of graphic design programs to create content for online promotion and apps to assist with social media scheduling.
I have streamlined my market set up over time in order to be easy to set up and transport. I rely on Paynow for Stripe to take mobile payments at the markets and have linked Stripe account as my payments option on my website. My invoicing and accounts are all run via a cloud-based website for ease of use.