Odds of Hanging On
Like a lot of retail-based careers in this post-Internet age, selling pottery is a different ballgame than it used to be. Galleries and studio shows are so 1999. Nowadays, it's all about self-promotion—writing your own blog, writing features for other people's blogs, selling through Internet stores, and running your own website. You'll need some sharp photography and design skills, or the cash to pay someone else to do those things for you.
While we don't want to sound like a broken record, we feel we should mention—again—that business skills are much more important than an in-depth knowledge of medieval Turkish glazing techniques and patterns. If knowledge is your jam, you'd probably be happier as a professor. Professional potters are first and foremost businesspeople. The bit about the integrity of artistic expression comes second to paying the bills.
Because getting your own business up and running can be a costly endeavor, and because failure will loom over your head like the sword of Damocles for several years, there's a good chance of burnout. It's discouraging to work hard and receive little in return, and small business owners everywhere will tell you that it takes a lot of time and money to get a store going.
That said, if you manage to get your business off the ground and you accrue a steady client base eager to snap up your latest creations, then you should be able hang in there just fine.