Okay, so you know I’m finally doing some drawing now, but you might want to know about what I’m doing to get the business end of my artist life going. As it turns out, if I want to do this right, there’s a lot to get organized!
1. The first thing I’m working on is a business plan. BORING, I know. But, this time around I’m determined to succeed, and well, even a mediocre plan of action is better than meandering around. I’ve done that before, and it never worked out – painting windows, painting mailboxes, painting kids rooms, the Work of Our Hands gallery opportunity, my first attempt at jewelry making… I made money on each, but I couldn’t begin to tell you how much.
I’m still adding to the plan, but it’s in decent shape. I think it will be a living document, but that’s okay with me, as long as I have a plan. The toughest part is forecasting – I could paint my heart out and still have no one buy anything! But, the rest is falling into place. I found a great resource for business plans, and it might help you out:
Dan Miller has a good outline: http://48daysblog.wordpress.com/business-plan/
If you don’t know Dan Miller, check out his site at http://www.48days.com. I’m actually taking a class right now, going through his book and workbook, and he has some great motivation. One of the biggest principles I’ve taken away is that it’s riskier to be at the mercy of a corporate job than to be self-employed. The self-employed person has much more freedom and control of his life and income. I do believe that, and I’ve read a similar idea over on Steve Pavlina’s site, http://www.stevepavlina.com.
2. The second thing I’ve done is open a separate banking account. Again, I’ve learned from the past that it’s WAY too hard to keep track of expenses and cash flow if I do all business from my personal account. In fact, I really didn’t ever follow through with keeping up with expenses! Even though, as a sole proprietor, I can use just one account, I’m not going too. There are many free small business accounts available, and it’s just easier for everyone!
3. I had already set up my web site with http://www.bluehost.com and my blog using http://www.wordpress.com because I wanted more control. My past life as a software developer made me want the control and challenge of putting together my own site. If I was starting fresh though, in the interest of speed, I would probably choose something like blogger or a Wordpress-hosted blog.wor
4. I ordered free business cards from http://www.vistaprint.com. Again, I needed something quick, easy to hand out, and I couldn’t do better than free! My next batch will include my own artwork and will tie in with my web site, but these will get me moving!
My next steps will be to figure out licensing in the state of Tennessee, setting up an etsy.com store, and of course making more art!
