Close-up: Mom takes pottery parties on the road
Phoenix Business Journal - by Kaivan Mangouri
Date: Thursday, November 11, 2010, 2:07pm MST
Sheri Geiss was working full time and raising 9-year-old twins when she took a giant leap of faith.
The single mom wanted to spend more time with her children, so she quit her job at Anthem College in 2005 and launched VanGo Pottery LLC from her home.
Geiss uses her van to cater pottery-painting parties at schools, assisted living centers and residences. VanGo was ranked No. 119 on Startup Nation’s 2010 list of 200 Leading Moms in Business, released Oct. 11.
Geiss, who has a fine arts degree, originally wanted to purchase a studio for her business. But the cumbersome overhead helped her decide that a mobile business would give her the flexibility she wanted and enable her to spend more time with her daughters.
She now works alongside her twins — who, at 14, have become artists in their own right, she said.
“I almost had to put the brakes on, and I have to remind myself why I did this if I’m getting too busy,” Geiss said. “But the caveat to that is, now that my daughters are a little older, I’m looking into franchising.”
Competition in the area has dropped in recent years because of the recession, she said, adding her low-overhead business model now is in a prime position. She plans to expand the business within the next year.
“There’s a lot involved, and through my research and talking with people I realized that I really just need to hire people or a company to do (franchising) for me,” Geiss said.
In the meantime, she’s glad for the experience the business has given her family, including exposure to entrepreneurism.
For more: www.vangopottery.com
Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/print-edition/2010/11/12/close-up-mom-takes-pottery-parties-on.html
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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