🎨 Where To Start a Creative Art Business 🎨
Mike Kraus
I didn’t know how to start an art business. Or even where to begin. At my “real jobs,” I did have experience with creating and implementing programs. So, I began with a very simple business plan that was only a few pages long. Almost every assumption, plan, and idea didn’t end up working except for one tiny detail. It said, “Create as much as possible.”
Seems obvious, right? But, this is where I see many of my colleagues fail. Why do we need to keep making new pieces? Because we can only sell what is available to purchase. And when I worked a very brief stint at a very successful retailer, I learned they only sell 10% of their inventory. This means, if you want to earn $10,000, you should plan to have $100,000 worth of art to sell. This means we need to know how many pieces we can make in a week, month, and year. This is where business begins.
It can seem daunting, but we all have to start somewhere. My business started with $50 of supplies, 10 paintings, and a very inaccurate business plan. It was a humble start full of experimentation, trial-and-error, mistakes, surprise victories, and so much more. I was constantly learning. I’m still learning. But, the biggest lesson for me is still “create as much as possible.”
