Starting a wall art business can be a rewarding and creative venture, whether you’re showcasing your artistic creations or curating a collection of work from other talented artists. The good news is that there’s significant profit potential in selling art online. Even better, launching your art business is likely simpler than you imagine.
Understand Your Finances
Having a strong handle on your finances is another cornerstone to your success. One of the upsides to having your own art business is that you have an element of control over your costs. You can decide how much to invest in materials if you’re creating your own art or how many pieces you want to buy to resell. Make a complete list of all costs – both the fixed (e.g. studio) and the variable (e.g. materials) and try to predict what your costs will be each month.
Identify Target Customer/Market
Knowing your target customer and understanding the market will be crucial to your business success. Art in particular is rather subjective and you’ll need to find the customers who are interested in the type of art that you’re selling.
Set Prices
Establishing pricing for your artwork can be tricky. If you’re selling someone else’s work, it’s somewhat easier because you can simply add a percentage to what you paid for it and there is your profit.
When dealing with something of your own creation, however, it can be hard to take the emotion out of it. You may feel that it’s difficult to put a price on something you created out of love and inspiration, but the cold, hard truth is that you’re running a business and you need to make a profit.
Set up a Payment and Ordering Structure
Once you know what you’re selling and who you’re selling to, you need to be sure you have a system in place that will enable your customers to place their orders and pay you.
Get the Right Tools
We’ve already discussed signing up for a payment system, but there are other tools you can have in your arsenal that will also help streamline your business processes. These tools can include things like inventory management, contact management, calendars, to do lists and more.
Launch!
With everything in place, you’re ready to go. Launch your business into the universe and start selling your art!
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