2022 in review, and the shape of things to come
I spent a day last week reflecting on our work and business in 2022, and setting some ideals for 2023. Normally we do this sort of thing at our year end in May, but for some reason the long break this Christmas has given me some food for thought.
1. Favourite piece of work made?
This answer might not be what you’d be expect, but my very favourite make of 2022 was our glaze swatch test tiles. Looking back on the year, it is evident that 2022 was a year of much discovery and transformation, culminating in the addition of 4 new glazes to our repertoire. Being predominantly an online business, but dealing in handmade, tactile objects, we wanted to find a way of communicating the nuances and variations of glazes, particularly for customers who are placing made-to-order commissions or who are purchasing our work for the very first time. It was a group effort; I developed the glazes; Luna lead on the design of the plaster press moulds; Natalie was instrumental in the orchestration of the packaging for the swatch pack and also helped in the making and production. I’m really happy with the whole thing and we’ve had such good feedback from our customers.
2. Biggest achievement?
We started 2022 on a back foot because our ratio of wholesale to direct sales had risen so much over recent years, and then looked set to spiral right down suddenly. But the problem was, we hadn’t really planned for it - to be quite honest we’d been so busy making pots at full capacity and raising a young family that we didn’t quite have the headspace for it all. In 2021 our turnover had been composed of almost 70% wholesale and 30% direct sales and after an intensive planning session we set some quite daunting goals, the biggest being to switch these ratios around and have the same turnover being made up of 70% direct sales and 30% wholesale or trade. To do this we needed to stock our shop on a more permanent basis (rather than shop openings) and we needed someone to come and help us process and generate orders (so we recruited Natalie!), plus so many other things. I won’t say it has been easy at all but we have done it. There are so many little and big changes we made to our business this year but it has demonstrated that we can be quite adaptable. I’m really proud of this and we’ve had some amazing reviews about both our pots and the really high levels of service that just wouldn’t have been possible without our excellent team. I feel we’re on the way to something really great for 2023.
3. Best failure?
I know the question is framed in a strange way but that is because I promote the notion that failure can be positive, indeed it can be fundamental to any type of progress. Because 2022 was a year in which we took lots of small risks both in terms of making and our business I feel there were lots of small failures except that each one of these failures were big learning opportunities or perhaps created opportunities in unexpected ways. A really good example of this was BATCH. After a few years of intense production work we wanted to push ideas forward in order to create new products but BATCH was also something we set up for our own happiness, so that we can be creative and experimental and learn lost of new things. For BATCH 1 we tried to do too much; we made some amazing things which I’m so excited about; sales were small. At first I was disappointed, however the little voice at the back of my head kept saying “remember this isn’t about sales, it’s about investment”. For example, we’re often asked to design new things for client, over which the client ends up with some form of exclusivity - BATCH is enabling us to expand our portfolio and ideas, still cover the costs of doing that (just!) but most importantly it’s all ours and its really proactive. Whatsmore we’re working on a really special commission off the back of BATCH 1 which really make me question what is a success and what is a failure? For BATCH 2, which we’ve started, we’re going into it with a bit more direction and i’m really excited about this little corner of our business which isn’t strictly bound to sales figures.
4. Give me some numbers
Pots made in 2022: I’m sorry - everyone asks but I don’t actually know! NY resolution to record this for next year…..
% of turnover from direct sales: 66.7
Number of customers on online shop (not counting fairs, commissions or trade: 601
% of return customers: 33.6
Top countries: UK, USA (in a big second, hello US friends!), Germany, Sweden, France, Belgium, Australia, Hong Kong
Instagram following: 59.6k
Employee count: 4 (me, Matt, Luna and Natalie). We started the year with our friend Carla as a freelance member of staff but as wholesale lessened we needed more input on processing orders than production.
Amount of clay used: approximately 3 tonnes.
5. Soundrack to 2022?
I absolutely love this playlist our friend Al put together for us to make pots to, and listen to it often……
6. Best baked thing
This either has to be Matt’s sourdough bread (our new home has a really nice warm room for the boiler which is perfect for proving but also a very hot oven and honestly Matt’s bread has never been so good). The other thing I’ve been making a lot is Nigel Slater’s Chocolate Banana Bread with Cardamom Sugar (tried to take a photo without Benji pinching my slice). Yes. More baking in 2023 please.
7. What you read
2022 was not a huge year of reading for me sadly, mainly because of kids and I spent a lot of time knitting. But two favourite novels were ‘Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ by Olga Tokarczuk, ‘Hamnet’ and ‘The Marriage Story’ both by Maggie O Farrell. I’ve just started an unusual but really intriguing book called ‘Scattered All Over the Earth’ by Yoko Tawada. Other than that it has been a lot of poring over very old editions of Ceramic View, which I find an immeasurable resource when developing new ideas. Plus so much fun.
Some ‘intentions’ for 2023?
1. Make beautiful
Always focus on the beauty whether that be enjoyment in process; finished pieces; photography. Beauty is quite a personal thing but there’s usually beauty to be found in most scenarios.
2. Stay true, push further
Follow instinct but act decisively when opportunities arise and don’t be afraid to try new things you might not normally consider.
3. Cultivate energy with rest days
Not very good at this, but when it works, take a day to do something you love but don’t get chance to do much, or sleep, or read etc.
4. Big targets, small steps
I find when you verabilise your lofty plans they transform from ‘dream’ to ‘plan’, flesh out the gaps in between with practical points.
5. Connect with people
Write, email, pick up the phone and use social media to talk directly to people (rather than feel like it is just another task).