BWR 003: Laura Johnson: An Artist Who Manufactured Her Way to $10million

Published February 14, 2014 | By Katie Krimitsos

How can you successfully monetize and manufacture your art?

Listen to our Interview with Laura Johnson, Founder of Coton Colors to find out!

Laura is the rare combination of artist and business woman. Not only has she always loved creating art, she equally loves selling it! What started as a small, home-based artistic endeavor has turned into a $10 million dollar international company. Laura’s daughters, parents, husband and sister are all in the business and during our interview, she discusses what manufacturing an artistic product is really like and what it takes to run a successful eCommerce business.

Laura’s Kick-A$$ Quotes:

My strategy [in rolling out new lines of product] is to put the designer touch in their hands and very simply and easily be able to throw a party

It’s very crucial that you are sound [about the financials of your business] because you can convince yourself of a lot of things, but if the numbers aren’t showing it, you’re off track.

I try to make alliances with like businesses or different businesses that have ‘been there, done that’ so I can learn from them.

Katie’s Favorite Take-a-Ways

Outsource Manufacturing

Laura admits one of her major mistakes was keeping the manufacturing of her pottery in-house for too long. She had to reign in her sales efforts because she couldn’t manufacture it fast enough. She finally made the decision to manufacture overseas, which has allowed her to keep up with demand. With the stresses of manufacturing off her plate, she was free to spend her time growing the lines she loves in different mediums.

Pay Attention to the Market Place Around You

Coton Colors rolled out a Collegiate line of ornaments very successfully because Laura was paying attention. When her daughters went to college, she recognized very quickly how passionate students and parents were about their schools. She went through the licensing process and now has raving collegiate fans buying her artistic college products.