Business art is the step that comes after art. Andy Warhol

I’m guessing that most people would say that the words “art” and “business” don’t belong in the same sentence. The view of the man on the street is that artists are the opposite of business people and that our heads are somewhere up in the clouds with no bookkeeping, marketing, or file cabinets in sight.

The truth, as any self-employed artist will tell you, is just the opposite. Artist have the same concerns and tasks as any small business. I know this sometimes challenging fact from my own experience over the years as a “sole proprietor” visual artist (as the IRS terms us) and if you’re in the field, you know it, too.

Edward Hopper, Office at Night — Edward Hopper, *Office at Night*

I was reminded just how much business work we painters need to do when I taught a seminar recently on professional development for visual artists. For eight hours I blasted the class with a firehouse of information about all the office work, from record-keeping to marketing, in this field—and by the end of it, I wouldn’t have blamed students if their reaction was, “Thanks for all the art biz info, but painting as a hobby sounds just fine.”

Of course, being a self-employed artist also has tremendous benefits and joys; otherwise we wouldn’t put up with all of the stress and labor involved. I’ll talk about those aspects in other posts. But here let’s explore—both for those who have no idea what artists really do and for those of you doing all of this and who need to give yourselves a pat on the back—the similarities between being an artist and running a small business.

1. The Physical Plant

Richard Diebenkorn, Corner of the Studio — Richard Diebenkorn, *Corner of the Studio*

People who make things need a place to make them. We visual artists need a dedicated space to keep our supplies, decent light to see what it is we’re doing, and some privacy to do it in. Out of necessity, we are often inventive about our work spaces; in my life they’ve ranged from a rented room in a neighbor’s home to a dusty suite above a porn shop to moving a barn so that I could build a studio addition on my home (Here’s another post I wrote about artists’ studios.)

2. Inventory

Who in the world calls art work “inventory?” It sounds so crass—and yet, that’s what these canvasses stacking up in our studios—hopefully on their way out the door to clients and galleries—in reality are. If you have an active art business, you need inventory to meet demand for your product. (Product?” I know, that’s also crass, and I promise to never say it again….)

3. Presentation

Rene Magritte, Le Cascade — Rene Magritte, *Le Cascade*

The digital life our work takes on is now almost as important as its physical life. We present our art to others via jpegs, tiffs, printed photos and videos, and all need to be produced according to industry standards of accurate color, focus, cropping, and exposure.

How we present our actual work also matters and usually includes framing, and to do that well takes some time, taste, and money.

4. Marketing

Andy Warhol, Campbell Soup — Andy Warhol, *Campbell Soup*

I think a good rule for the professional artist to live by is, “Do the best work you can and tell the most people about it.” That’s where marketing comes in, which can be as simple as having a postcard printed with our website address and an example of our art, to an elaborate venture like the publication of a book.

Also helpful for spreading the word are magazine and newspaper articles, catalogues, TV and radio interviews, blogs, newsletters, and of course Facebook and Instagram. This shameless self-promotion is a job unto itself.

5. Sales

Now we are getting to the nitty gritty of it all—just ask Van Gogh for his opinion on how important this aspect of being an artist is. (“Very” he would say—though never selling a painting didn’t keep him from being an heroically productive, transformative visionary.)

Who will sell our work, and how? It could be commercial or co-operative galleries, festivals and fairs, we ourselves via social media, or some combination of these. There are pros and cons to any sales mode; but unless their model includes frequently taking a loss, this is one topic that a small business can’t ignore.

6. Record Keeping

What a boring topic, and who among us does it well? But still, we need to know what we spend and what we earn, what art we have on hand, where the paintings are that we’ve sent into the world, and who bought what.

Edward Hopper had a simple, elegant inventory system: an ink drawing of each painting, with all the details needed to be on top of his record keeping—which I never am.

7. Investing

Sharon Craven Kinzer, Money — Sharon Craven Kinzer, *Money*

We artists need to invest in ourselves. There’s no way to run an art business without spending money on frames, photography, shipping, art supplies, office supplies—on and on I could go. And we need to keep track of these expenses, or “deductions” as the IRS calls them, or we get terribly walloped at tax time.

Sometimes an investment in our art business may seem like a luxury to others—but we may know for a fact that the expensive art book, bigger canvas, better grade of paint, or trip to Paris is necessary if we are going to grow.

8. Planning

Edouard Vuillard, Jeanne Lanvin — Edouard Vuillard, *Jeanne Lanvin*

Here’s another category that the lay peson probably think artists suck at—and many of us do. But I think some artists are also quite strategic at thinking ahead about where they want their art to go, and how they are going to get there.

It’s true that we can’t always plan our creative work, which often has a life of its own and seems to change and evolve without much input from our conscious mind. But what about that other kind of planning that is more like a dream for ourselves, a dream of our efforts being seen on a larger stage, shared with a wider audience, with more rewards returning to us for all of our hard work? What small businessperson, or artist, hasn’t had those hopes?

Your comments are welcome below!

The Small Business of Art