Sandy Buchanan

MEET THE MAKER

I started Sand Buchanan in October of 2018 after nearly a decade working as a Geoscientist in the Oil & Gas industry. I produce bespoke freestanding furniture from my SE London workshop.

Running a business and making in a time of chronic over consumption and waste comes with an incredible responsibility to be mindful of what you are using and where your materials come from. My mission is to rescue fallen trees and celebrate them by turning them into beautiful pieces of furniture and sculpture, a sustainable way of working with minimal impact on the environment.

WHAT ARE YOUR FEEDBACKS?

Being a year into my business and a new industry when I started Hothouse meant I had a real sense of not knowing what I didn’t know. Quote: To run a successful practice there are three things that you have to be able to do equally well, make, market yourself and run a business. My previous career meant I was comfortable with the financial side of running my business and I had developed a good skillset for making. Where I was in the dark was how to get myself out there and market my work. Through specific marketing sessions, creative sessions and techniques for talking and writing about my practice I now have a better grasp of whom my potential audience are and how to reach them. These sessions also helped identify my place in the market, reflect on what I was offering and resulted in me shifting to purely bespoke. The beauty of the course is it isn’t a one size fits all, I know that others have gone in the opposite direction because that is what fits with their goals and what they want from their businesses.

FIVE THINGS YOU’LL BRING WITH YOU FROM THE EXPERIENCE:

• Confidence, I know more than I thought and although I don’t have all the answers I do have the tools to progress my practice
• The why, the clarity around why I do this and what I am trying to achieve helps guide the business and provide measurable objectives.
• Who are you selling to, understanding them and what they want allows for a bespoke offering.
• Get out of the workshop (admittedly harder these days), exposure to other makers and the industry has made me far more aware of the opportunities available from galleries to awards and exhibitions, not only as avenues for sales but to build a network of people who can help build my profile.
• Divide your time, to make a sustainable practice you have to be making, marketing and running your business, ignore one and you may as well not bother with the other two. In my case just because I don’t like ‘marketing’ doesn’t mean I can ignore it.