Before Starting an Art Business
What you need to know to begin
What do you need to know before starting a business?
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One of the very first steps to make a living from your art is to build a business. I know that most artisans only need to hear the word business, let alone the sound of a plan to create an urge to withdraw.
Of all things I ever arranged for my art career was to create a business plan. Although this one step I hated the most turned into the most satisfying, clarifying and important step I ever took. I had not a bone of business in my system, hence depended with every step on other people. But once I took things into my own hands, I never looked back. What I once could not stand, became natural and easy with time. It is a great feeling to know what you are doing because it creates independence and gives you clarity. You will be going on a journey that will require some time, the best business plans are taking at least half a year, if not longer. |
The times I have heard emerging artists say when attending my business seminars, that all they wanted was to paint and don't have the time nor the desire to learn business is heart-wrenching to me. I try to remind them that they still, after years of dreaming about an art career, remain stuck within a job they don't like to make an income, without ever getting any closer to making a living from their art. It therefore makes sense and is far better to allocate a small period of time and invest it in business planning than not moving forward at all.
These are the steps you need to take before even thinking of going into business. The idea is to work on a plan for a few months, to give you time to think and collect ideas. When going through the steps below you likely will find aspects of it where you are a total loss. See each step as gain when accomplished and knowledge that stays with you. Make the commitment to take half a year of your life to learn those uninspiring skills of business and find out who you are in this market and who your clients are. It will be all worth it! |
Executive Summary
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A brief of your business and who you are. The timeline for planning your future is a plan that overseas the next three to five years and includes how you expect to generate revenue. You need to include your goals, mission statement, products, and services. If you are just starting focus on your background and experience. If any of the books stands out as a most helpful resource it would be the publications "What's My Plan?"from the Australia Council for the Arts and "The Code of Practice" from NAVA.
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Business Description
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Describe what is different about your artwork versus others. If you don't know, do some research and try to express the difference in words. Discuss your market and your target groups. For example, do you want to become known as an exhibiting artist, or rather use the merchandise market? You will find the right questions and answers in the book "What's My Plan".
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Market
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This involves pulling up demographics for the area you will be serving. Learn what comprises the population of the area you will be serving, such as income, age, education. I know that some of the steps seem awkward to you, but believe me when I say that with every step, I learned something new about the art sector. You will find information for Australia at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. If you are from another country find out where your country keeps such information.
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Business Management
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Decide how you are going to structure your management. Will you be a sole proprietor, an LLC, a corporation, a partnership? Information regarding business structures are found at business.gov.au.
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Your
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What is your type of style or product? Explain your product and/or service and what is different about your art or even an advantage over your competitors. Create a written statement. If you have no idea where to start with this question "What's my Plan" once again is the best book to work through. It was specifically written for artists.
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Marketing
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You need to figure out how you are going to get the message out to your target groups. Basically, what is the strategy you are going to use? For more information go to Arts Marketing.
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Funding
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Are you going to look for funding? If so, then discuss how or who you will be using. The business plan is critical if you decide to look for an investor or grant money. NAVA is a great source for grant applications. Then there are Regional grants and the Australia Council. I always got in contact with my local arts development officer. There are there to help you out. Talk to them what is available to you in terms of funding and grants.
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Branding
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Both are very important. The home page of your website or your name can be your brand. Keep in mind that your brand is the promise you make to your customer. If it is your name, make it stand out - create something catchy. However, don't forget the logo since this creates a visual or image for the customer. The logo represents your business so make it count. Apple is a brand, and their bitten apple is their logo. Think about how that name and logo affects you. If you are not a designer you can go to local colleges and ask if any of their students would like to create a logo for you for a small fee.
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Bookkeeping,
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Starting a new business is exciting and overwhelming so consider an accounting service, which is a group of experts who can save you time, money, and worry. A good accountant can provide you with some great business tips to improve cost efficiency and save on taxes. There are some great programs around you can use, who combine an art inventory of your work, invoicing and bookkeeping in one. More in my "Organise your Art Business" article. Use an easy invoice system like invoice2go or Wave. The Wave app is for free. I used it for years with my students when conducting art classes.
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