Based for almost ten years in West Penwith, on Cornwall's north coast, jewellery-makers Mike Abbott and Kim Ellwood have shared a workshop since the late 80s, surviving the ups and downs of more than one decade. They talk about self-sufficiency, exchange rates and the value of a good website.
Mike Abbott and Kim Ellwood in their studio; Photo: Ben Anders, 2008
'Lost Adults Tent' (h45xw30xd30cm) by Abbott & Ellwood; Photo: Rob Jewell, 2007
How long have you been in business?
I started the workshop with Mike [Abbott] in 1988, so for about 20 years.
Have you experienced challenging financial times during your career?
I suppose that as artists we are fairly used to doing 'frugal' and we can adapt the tightness of our belts accordingly. We don't have a stable income, and often don't quite know when the money is coming in and when it's not. However, our enjoyment comes from the nature of what we do, and not from having an extravagant lifestyle. The recession in the late 80s was a tricky time, but we were fresh out of college. When you're just starting out you have nothing to lose, no reputation, few material goods, only small mortgages, and so on. Things get a little bit tougher when you have extra family responsibilities! It was also a very buoyant time for the crafts. We were offered lots of exhibitions and did very well, so for us the 80s recession didn't have much of an impact.
What strategies did you adopt?
I'm not sure we had a strategy as such, it was more of a natural development for our work. We moved to Cornwall about 10 years ago, and built a fairly substantial studio, which was great because the overheads were far smaller than in London. By bringing our work into our own environment we became much more self-sufficient, and also, as we don't employ anyone on a regular basis, we can just tighten our belts without affecting anyone else when things get leaner.
Have you recommendations for makers to diversify?
I think by covering different bases you reach as wide a market as possible. We have several ranges - figurative brooches, one-off sculptures, and work to commission. In the last five years of healthy economy we were selling more of our figurative sculpture for pretty high prices, which may not continue to sell as well. But we can put more emphasis on the brooches if the market changes. What will benefit us is looking towards the European and American market, which we have drawn back from in the last five years as we were too expensive. With a favourable exchange rate, our prices will now seem reasonable.
How can one cut costs when running a small business?
Our website has been a great tool to view our collection. We haven't had to do as many trade shows, which cuts out those huge bills, and more people are buying online too. But the design of the site is very important, especially good photos, and lots of information. We have made huge savings by stopping much of our paper marketing, and directing clients to the website instead.
Any words of advice and encouragement for new makers?
If you want to do it enough you will find a way, but my advice would be, don't borrow from the bank, and don't spend more than you earn.
http://www.abbottandellwood.com/
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