Our children are always watching us. They are little sponges that soak up all we do and say. This is Nathan, he is now 21! All grown up.

When I started my Ceramic Handprint Business, I did it because I wanted something for myself AND I wanted to make money.

Little did I know how great it would be for my kids.

My business became such a part of my family's life, that when I sold it, my teenage boys were sad.

Even my oldest (23 year now) who has always been a kid of few words, talked about how sad he was that I was selling it.

I involved them as much as I could.

As you can see by the photo above, handprints happened all the time!

I love it. I loved that I could set them up next to me and give them some clay to play with and they could go to town, creating anything they wanted. 

I taught them the process. They were used to the kiln and the fragile nature of the pieces I was creating. 

It was fun for all of us. 

There is so much more to this business than you think. Yes, work is...

You had your child's hand and footprints created by an amazing ceramic handprint lady. 

You fell in love with the idea.

You have written down all the things you can remember from your appointment.

You have even come up with a few cute business names.

This is something you can do from home.

You think you can do it.

You get really excited.

You seriously start thinking this could be an actual option for you.

THEN...

The part of your brain that tries to protect you from failure kicks in.

It says, but, what if it doesn't work?

There are other people doing this.

I have never done ceramics before. (except that one time in high school)

I have never started a business before, why do I think I can do this?

Ekkk, this is scary.

Just notice all of those thoughts.

That is all that they are, thoughts.

Look at the different brain patterns going on here. Same brain, doing what it is supposed to do, protect you AND move you forward in life.

Which thoughts do you believe?

The goo...

What is going to be your signature style for YOUR Ceramic Handprint Business?

The options are endless for creating your Ceramic Hand and Feet Impressions style. You can create classic shapes, ie. circles, squares, rectangles or you can create your own templates of animals, sports balls, stars, a cross, insects and more.

You can pick a color palette that you love. Use only a few colors overall or offer 30 or 40 color options.

You can use stamps for lettering if you do not want to "write" in the clay.

You can only use your handwritten lettering.

Solid color plates or two tone plates. (plates your hand and footprint creations)

You get to decide! How fun is that?!

Creating heirloom keepsakes for families is priceless. Customers will ask you to make all sorts of designs. If you are comfortable creating, by all means jump in and offer as many designs as you would like. Or, if you prefer, just start out with classic options. Either way, you are providing beautiful keepsakes that your c...

I love working with my CHT { Ceramic Handprint Training } trainees. I really do love it.

When you start your own business, many many experiences to learn and grow will pop up. It is fascinating. This is why you will learn so much about yourself.

But remember.....YOU ARE THE BOSS.

This means that you get to make decisions. 

YOU get to decide what kind of business you want to run. You get to decide how to show up for your business. You get to decide what kind of offerings to offer. You get to decide how to deal with a customer that is super kind or super not kind. You get to decide the kind of work ethic you want.

Get what I am saying?

You are creating your own perfect business.

Isn't that exciting?! Maybe sprinkled with a little scary. But being scared is okay. I know you want to think that if you are scared it is easier to just stay in your turtle shell where everything is "safe." I invited you to think about what what life will be like if you stay tucked away in the land of saf...

You just have to begin and your business will be kicking off too.

Amy 

[email protected]

I bet you are wondering what the start up costs are for starting your own Ceramic Handprint Business. This is by far the question I get asked the most.

Well, I have got the answer.

Let me preface my words with this thought...

You are wanting to start a business and you know that with any business you will need to invest some time and money into it.

If you are approaching this business as a hobby, it will only be a hobby. If you approach it as a business and you lay the proper ground work, it will serve you well as a profitable business.

The people I train understand the principle of ROI, return on investment.

As with ANY business there are costs associated with running a business. This business is no different. You do need to do a little investing to get your business going. The good news is that the costs are pretty minimal.

If you are working at home, which is why this business is so appealing, your overhead is low. Purchasing your supplies is pretty inexpensive.

The largest...

Are you a dreamer and a planner but not a great followthrougher? (I just made up that word, all one word, it is better that way) Ha!

Years ago, when I was in college, my favorite part of each semester was organizing my schedule. I would pull out my Franklin Covey planner and go to town! I loved that thing. Yes, this was the late '80s, early '90s! The class option catalog, was just that....an actual catalog. No online registering. I would spend hours going over the course options. I would mix and match and pencil in and erase. And then finally pen in my masterpiece of a schedule.

I loved that part. It was planning for the dream. Plotting and organizing, ohmygosh, I love that to this day.

But, the nitty gritty of actually reaching your goals comes in the actionable steps that get you to your goal. I now had to show up to class, read my chapters, write my papers, listen to endless hours of instructing, go to the math lab (yuck) and study study study. Not the fun part BUT, a very very i...

Many people dream of being their own boss, starting a company and have it flourish. There is a freedom that comes with running your own business. With that said, it does not mean it is all rainbows and butterflies. There is actual work involved. Crazy, I know.

So the question you have to answer for yourself is...

Will you be a good boss for....YOU?

Often times, when you work for someone else, you check in, do the work asked of you and then you leave at the end of your day and call it good (for the most part.)

There have been many days, as I have been working for myself, for the past 20 years or so when I have had a crazy busy day, when I think about working a job that I just click in and out of. Sometimes working for yourself can be a bit stressful. You are doing all the parts of a business that big companies hire many different people to do. You wear many different hats when you run your own business.

There is much to learn as an entrepreneur. Once you decide that you are going t...

Ready to start your own Ceramic Handprint Home Business? But you are worried about competition?

Stop it. (said very lovingly) ;)

Do the math.

In 2016, there were 50,486 births in Salt Lake City, Utah. (This was the last time I checked the numbers, when I was living in Utah.)

Think about that.

Even if you were able to create one hand and footprint keepsake for 10% of those babies, {only doing one plate per family}, you would be doing 5048 ceramic impression plates a year!!! That would be A LOT of work! 

This does not even include the siblings and pets and families!

Could it be done? Yes, of course, but you would have to hire help. 

That would be amazing, right? Getting to the point in your business where you need help. #businessgoals

Do the math in your hometown. You will see similar numbers. 

There is really no competition. Maybe other people are doing something similar near you, maybe not.

But NO ONE will be running a business like you.

When you take the leap and start y...

Hey Friend,

What stage of life are you in?

• Just had your first baby?
• Have several kids in school?
• Have teenagers?
• Children leaving for college?
• Empty nest?
• No kiddos?

I am in full empty nest, children living in a different state then me stage. Wow! 

Whatever stage of life you are in right now, in January 2020 is a time of reflection. Change is in the air.

The old adage is so true.....

Change is the only consent.

How do you keep up with change? How do you adjust?

Keep going. That is really all we can do. Keep going.

At 49 years old, I have been through many different stages of life. Most of them wonderful. ;) But I keep going.

It was this time of year 20 years ago that I that I took a leap of faith and started my own ceramic hand and footprint business. I am so thankful that I did.

As we know, January is full of goals and dream planning. So many of us create a vision for what we want in the new year. Do you have goals set for this year.

I know for me business st...