The Prelude to Etsy

    I've been doing a lot of research about Etsy this week, and it's really got me fired up. Well, I haven't fired anything yet, but I've been throwing a lot of cups and bowls, and I can't exactly say Etsy's got me throwing up, it just doesn't sound right.

    The book "Etsy-preneurship" by Jason Malinak has been a big help. This might be obvious to everyone else, but this book has me looking at an Etsy shop as a business, not just some social media outlet. By assessing it as a business storefront, I feel like I can wrap my head around it and approach things from a more professional standpoint. Maybe it's because so many people toss around the phrase "You should sell that on Etsy!" it seems like it should be that easy, but it's so much more.

    So I'm currently researching and pulling things together to start the new year by opening my shop. I'm a quarter of the way through the book, so I have much more reading to do, as well as writing out a business plan and figuring out how to do some basic bookkeeping. If I want pottery to be my source of income, then its time to treat it as a business!

    Here's a few mugs I put handles on earlier. These little guys will probably be the first things I put on Etsy! As well as whatever is left over after Christmas. I have a tendency to give away most of my inventory around the holidays.

    I hope to document my endeavors with opening up my first Etsy shop here on this blog in the hopes that others can see how it's done and see if they too have what it takes to start their own craft business. This will be a first hand account, with pretty pictures! It should at least be mildly interesting, right?