The Beauty of Running a Glass Blowing Business
Business Overview:
If you love the beauty of blown glass and you have artistic talent, learn how to make blown glass items and start running a glass blowing business of your own. Glassblowing is the process of shaping molten glass by blowing into a pipe. Color is added to the hot glass and the artisan can transform this raw glass into beautiful works of art. One of the most famous living glassblowing artists is Dave Chihuly whose works can be seen in museums and outdoor displays around the world. You don’t have to be a world-renowned artist to sell blown glass items, however. Glass blowing businesses can be quite successful making items like marbles, beads, drinking glasses and pendants. You can start this business relatively inexpensively and upgrade your equipment as you become more skilled. The essentials you will need are a torch, glass rods, color, oxygen, propane, regulators and ventilation. You can definitely operate this business from home but you’ll need a dedicated area for your studio and you will need to check your home owners insurance policy to see if any adjustments need to be made to allow for the additional risk to your home fire elements can pose. If you do not have any experience with glassblowing, you’ll need to invest in some training classes, books and videos. Finally, although it’s not required for small items, at some point you will need to invest in a kiln, which can be purchased for around $500 USD. When you have some items ready for sale, you can sell them online. You just need a website with detailed photos of your items and a method of purchasing though the site. If you create items like vases, platters and art pieces, you could work with local art galleries to display and sell your items. If your work includes pendants and jewelry items, consider working with accessories stores or boutiques and always wear your items when you go out. When people ask you where you got that beautiful necklace or pair of earrings, you can hand them your business card and tell them where they can buy some for themselves. For an adventurous artist, glassblowing is one of the most exciting and rewarding business ideas you can embark upon. Not only are the items fun to make, but they’re also beautiful and people will pay top dollar for them.
A Day in the Life of a Glass Blowing Business Owner:
Since you work from home, your day will begin on your schedule. You will continue work on pieces you started previously as well as to begin new pieces. If you have a website, you will spend time photographing your items and updating your website. If you sell online, you will check orders and ship out items. If you work with local shops or galleries to sell your items, you will contact them once a week to check on inventory. You will create new items, deliver them to the shops or galleries and collect money from previous sales.
About Your Customers:
Your customers will be individuals looking for beautiful blown glass items for themselves or as gifts or galleries looking to sell your pieces.
What You Need to Start:
- Art business plan
- Torch
- Kiln (optional at first)
- Glass rods
- Oxygen
- Propane
- Regulators
- Ventilation
- Insurance
- Home studio
- Website (optional)
- Relationship with local shops and galleries (optional)
- Computer with finance software
The Good:
- For an artist, glassblowing is a fun and exciting method of creating art.
- Blown glass can sell for top dollar.
- Start-up costs are relatively low.
- You can sell your items online or with the help of local gallery and shop owners.
- You can easily run this business from home.
- You can work as much or as little as you like.
The Bad:
- It can take some time to become skilled at glassblowing.
- You will need to be patient while you build up your inventory and make your first sales.
Resources:
- Art Glass Association
- The Glass Association (UK)
- Art Glass Blowing & Hot Glass Casting Fabrication Association
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Article on Artists
- Wikipedia on Glassblowing
About The Author
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