events
autumn events
A few events coming soon that will be showcasing some great talent:
100% Design, 23-26 September 2010 at Earls Court, London
Contemporary interior design, architectural and interior materials, emerging talent showcase
Trade registration free before 17 September 2010.
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Vienna Design Week, 1-10 October 2010
Product, industrial and furniture design. Talks from Stefan Sagmeister and Konstantin Grcic, and a focus on less-established talent.
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Design Event North East 2010, 22-31 October 2010
Contemporary design across graphics, furniture, product, fashion and architecture.
A programme of thirty exhibitions across the north east, including a three day market at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead and a street exhibition in Newcastle called the Modern Art of Conversation and Maxims for Modern Life at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland.
Cockpit Arts Top tips: The Pricing Decision 2: Price and the Market
Ahead of this week’s Cockpit Arts Finance workshop with MyCake on Wedensday, 11th August 2010: Financial Planning for Growth we’re have some more Top Tips by Ellen O’Hara, Head of Business Development at Cockpit Arts.
There’s no doubt that getting your pricing right is a crucial part of your marketing and business strategy as a designer-maker.
As part of the Pricing Decision series I am looking at three key areas: Cost, Market and Value, as well as how different pricing strategies fit with the overall goals, for your practice and business.
My last post looked at the relationship between price and cost with cost-plus pricing. This week I will explain how the market affects the pricing decision.
Price and The Market
Market based pricing methods depend on having an accurate picture of what’s going on in your marketplace. For example: Are you selling to craft collectors? The mainstream gift market? Or high end fashion? And what are the current trends in these market sub-sections?
In the larger, mainstream markets, prices will tend to be dervied from two key factors:
- What competitors are charging
- What customers are willing to pay
Who are your compeitiors and what are they charging?
If you don’t feel there are any direct competitors out there, try and pick out a few other makers or brands that:
- Are making similar work
- Are aiming at a similar customer base
- Who are at a similar stage in their career and have a similar profile
How do your prices compare? Are you competitive, or potentially over or under pricing yourself?
What are customers willing to pay?
- Research other companies’ prices online, in stores and in galleries. Pick a broad range of products so that you can compare the going rate for different types of products in your field. For instance as a designer-maker jeweller, you could look at a combination of mass produced high-street designer jewellery and high end fashion jewellery, as well as other makers.
- Look at the overall price range that other companies offer (minimum and maximum), how different work is priced differently, whether discounts are offered etc.
Use all of this information together to inform your own pricing decisions.
The Advantages
The advantages of following a market-based approach are that it tends to keep you price competitive in the eyes of your customers, so it’s important to consider who you’d like to be compared with and sit alongside in terms of price.
The Disadvantages
The disadvantages of this method are that the market price may not provide you with the profit margin that you want (and need!). You may actually have a very different business model to the people you are comparing yourself with, who may be able to produce and sell work at very different costs.
New and Unique Work
Your work may be so new and unique that there is no solid market-based price to compare with. So you have be the price setter yourself. If this is the case, it’s likely that your operating at the niche end of your market, where the percieved value of your work bears more influence on price than what others might be producing and charging. We’ll explore this in more detail next week with The Pricing Decision # 3: Price and Perceived value.
Let us know how you get on by leaving a comment on your experiences in making your own pricing decisions.
See more top-tips on finance from Ellen and other industry experts.
Or check our resources section for a worksheet on Calculating Your Costs and Budgeting.
And if your doing some financial planning this summer, come along to our workshop: Financial Planning for Growth on 11 August.
How to Motivate Creative People (Including Yourself) workshop
Mark McGuinnness is hosting his popular How to Motivate Creative People (Including Yourself) workshop at Cockpit Arts Holborn on evening of Wednesday 14 July 2010.
He will be giving advice to designer-makers and creatives on how to motivate yourself to overcome obstacles and create amazing work – and a sustainable career.
Topics covered include:
- Why motivation is crucial to creative success
- The four fundamental types of motivation
- What Iggy Pop can teach you about work
- Why focusing on rewards can harm creative performance
- How to write 47 novels before breakfast
- Why some people seem so weird — and how to deal with them
- The positive side of peer pressure
The numbers are limited to 25 places, so book early.
There is an special offer price if you purchase the Time Management for Creative People workshop at the same time.
Time management for creative people workshop
Mark McGuinnness is hosting his popular Time Management for Creative People workshop at Cockpit Arts Holborn on evening of 7th July 2010.
He will be giving advice to designer-makers and creatives on how to:
The numbers are limited to 25 places, so book early.
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As a taster to the workshop, you can read Mark’s top tips to stop email killing your creativity over at Cockpit Arts Making It blog.
crafts on show
If you’re visiting London this month, there are some free craft exhibitions worth seeing:
Handmade at Fortnum & Mason until 11 June
Liberty Arts and Crafts until 15 June
Cockpit Arts open studios, Holborn 11-13 June and Deptford 18-20 June
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Plus for trade buyers Pulse takes place on 6,7,8 June at Earl’s Court
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