Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in handcrafts but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Caroline Arnecke, Founder of Meadow Ceramics, located in Tommerup, Denmark.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Hi there! My business is handmade ceramics pieces - all unique and made by me. My customers are all over the world. I've sold my work to shops in Europe, the US, the UK, and the Middle East. My private customers are mostly located outside of Denmark, even though I live and work here myself. I make all my pieces by hand in my rural studio on the Island of Funen.
Tell us about yourself
I started my business as a hobby in 2015 when my daughter was little. I would make pieces at the dinner table at night when she was asleep. I had just dropped out of my master's degree, as it was too much to handle as a single mom of a 2-year-old. Little after little, I started to sell my work and show it online on Instagram. After about 10 months, I decided to make my little hobby my full-time job, and it has grown organically from there.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Normally I think you'd list features in magazines or other of those "highlights" - however, I do think my biggest accomplishment has been to be able to live life on my own terms. Being able to be a mom for my daughter and having a flexible work schedule so that I pick her up from school every day. To be able to, at the end of the day, create my job around my life and not the other way around. I'm very grateful for that.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
That would be the fact that you have to wear all the hats yourself. You need to be the maker, the cleaner, the photographer, the marketer, the one who packs orders, customer service, the books - and all the small things in between. It often leaves a lot less time for the actual making of the products. And you're never completely "off" work. There's always more to be done.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Have a backup fund. If it's a small creative business like mine - don't invest too much in it in the beginning. Make it grow organically. Re-invest what you earn. Get on social media from the beginning. Find your own way, and don't look too much at what everyone else is doing.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.meadowceramics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meadowceramics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meadowceramics/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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