Facts
Who: Małgorzata (Ceramics Nastawka)
What: Handmade bathroom ceramics: sinks, tiles, lamps, dispensers
Format: Physical product · worldwide
Started: October 2019
Audience: 10,000+ followers
Payers: ~7–8 sinks sold a month on average (range 2–12)
Promotion budget: up to ~$100/month
Income: main income
Status: active and growing
Channels: search & AI traffic, text social media, other (TV appearances)
The short version
What worked: Marketplaces first, then her own store overtook them as the main channel
The result: From 1–2 sinks a month to 2–12 today, no significant ad spend
The catch: 15 ruined sinks before the first one actually worked
Background
Ceramics Nastawka started as a one-person ceramics studio in Poland. Małgorzata knew from the very beginning that she wanted to make ceramic bathroom sinks – it wasn't something she discovered years into the business, it was the plan from day one.
The problem was that she didn't yet know how to make them. Before her first successful sink, she ruined around 15 attempts – struggling with shaping, drying, firing, and learning how the clay behaved. She kept experimenting instead of giving up.
Over time she expanded the range – new glaze colors, sizes, and shapes – because she wanted a distinctive visual identity for the whole brand, not just one successful product. Eventually she began building full collections that work together: sinks, tiles, lamps, soap dispensers, and other ceramic accessories, so customers could build a cohesive interior entirely from handmade ceramics. In the early years, ceramic workshops were also an important source of income alongside the slowly growing sink sales. She never built the business around significant capital or a large ad budget – mainly her own time, work, and experience.
Starting point
Małgorzata grew her audience by selling on online marketplaces for handmade goods, building an active social media presence, and appearing on television programs – which brought a wider audience and recognition for her work. In the early stages, most of her sales came through those marketplaces, before her own store existed as a serious channel.
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What worked
Her own online store has been the goal from the start, but marketplaces – Etsy and Pakamera – were how people found her early on, and they remain an important, roughly even source of customers today. Social media played a major role in building recognition, and not just by showing finished pieces: she showed the process – the studio, the making, the glazing, the firing, the everyday work of running a small ceramics business – so customers could see the person and craftsmanship behind the product. Appearing on TV programs gave additional exposure and reached people who might not have found her studio otherwise.
Over time, her own store gradually became more important than the marketplaces themselves, and it's now her main sales channel – customers mostly find it through social media, especially Facebook. She never had a large advertising budget; growth came from the products themselves, photography, social media, search, and staying present on external platforms.
What didn't work
Along the way, Małgorzata tried plenty of things that didn't produce results proportional to the time and effort they took – different products, promotional methods, ad approaches, and sales channels. Not every collection turned out to be the right direction, and some absorbed a lot of time without selling well.
Running everything alone is also a real limitation: she designs the products, makes the ceramics, photographs them, runs the shop, answers customers, packs orders, handles shipping, and does the marketing. There were moments she wondered whether it was worth continuing to grow the brand, especially when the work wasn't yet translating into enough sales. Her takeaway: making a good product isn't enough – people won't necessarily find it on their own. It has to be shown, explained, and trusted into over a long time.
The turning point
The turning point was realizing she didn't need to make everything for everyone. Focusing more strongly on distinctive, handmade bathroom sinks made the brand easier to recognize – a sink is functional, but it can also be a real design element, letting her compete on design, craftsmanship, and individuality instead of price.
The second shift was moving from thinking “I sell ceramics” to thinking “I am building a brand.” Her own store gradually overtook the marketplaces in importance. Today, she says, customers aren't simply buying a ceramic object – they're buying a particular aesthetic and the story behind the studio.
Audience
Her customers are mainly people furnishing houses and apartments, architects and interior designers, and people looking for something different from mass-produced interior products. They value natural materials, craftsmanship, originality, and owning something not available in every store – which is also why showing the making process matters: someone buying a handmade sink wants to know who made it, how, and why two handmade pieces might differ slightly from each other.
Looking ahead
Małgorzata expects authenticity to matter more and more for small brands – in a world saturated with advertising, a real story and a visible person behind the product are things large companies often can't offer. She sees strong potential in short-form video, Pinterest, Instagram, search traffic, and AI discovery, with content that answers specific customer questions mattering more than simply posting product photos. She doesn't think every small business needs to spend heavily on advertising – for products like hers, trust and recognition built over time can matter more than a large ad budget.
Practical takeaways
Start selling before you feel ready – real customers teach you faster than planning does what actually works.
Pick one or two channels and stay with them for years, rather than trying everything for a few months.
A good product alone won't find its audience – it has to be shown, explained, and trusted into repeatedly over time.
Links
Website: nastawka
Instagram: ceramika.nastawka
Etsy: CeramicsNastawka
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