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Great Business Practices Panel by FayV
I am planning on creating a "Great Business Practices" panel to help fledgling artists and builders learn some essential information to get a good start toward success and avoid some beginner problems.
I would love it if people would comment on content they would like to see if this sort of panel, or would give info on what they feel is essential info when first starting out.
Thank you in advance. much appreciated.
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Comments
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The practice that you could cover for people...and of the most important in my opinion is managing time/slots. Starting with only a handful or less of commissions and gradually adding the number you are willing to take on as you test your speed and reliability as a business person.
*Pretty much limiting yourself as you learn to be reliable and responsible. Learning self control. I see people overwhelm themselves with work and dig themselves into a hole.
*Not spending money before you have done the work.
*Creating a strict schedule/ more time management.
*Clear communication and professionalism! Not loosing your temper or being rude even if the customer is wrong or rude. You can tell them what you need to politely. No need to make a stink.
*And researching copyright/ trademark laws and what they actually are. Most people think they know them but are misinformed.
*How to make a clear concise contract when necessary.
*The bare bones to a TOS...
Um... and I'm sure I could come up with more but any of these would be great. I see people trip up in these areas often enough.
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I was going to suggest proper time and creativity after I was done doing dishes lol you seem to have beaten me to the timing. These are great ideas though!
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Most important practice in the world is learning how to tell the customer they aren't right, while making them feel validated. ._. I have spent years teaching this in management. It's so important.
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Being your own artist, and not relying on other artists' techniques and style to learn off of.
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I do prefer people to develop their own look.
But, I have to disagree if you don't mind me saying so for sake of discussion. Also so people don't get scared off from a perfectly valid learning process which includes copying.
Plenty of people gain skill from other artists and pick up influence. It's taught in art schools to create copies of other artists paintings to learn technique. Obviously not to sell. Only for practice. Though there are entire jobs for people who can mimic other artists looks for cheaper.
Whether or not I'm fond of that idea is irrelevant...I think there is something to say about trying to create your own look. Try and bring something new to the table so you have your unique flavor that is marketable for you. Experimentation for the sake of artistic growth, and to stand out.
I don't know how much of this spills into business practice though except for the standing out part.
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Well, I do agree with you lol, the main reason I suggested this is because as an artist you would stand out more for having a unique style. I am not saying that you can't learn off others. I, personally, have learned many things from other artists, but you are more likely to get a better response from buyers if you have a unique style than if you are just trying to be like insert artist name. That's what I was trying to say. I am just cleaning house so my responses are limited to the time I have to sit down at the moment lol.
Not so much as learn off of, like I put in the original post, but try to copy that style. My wording is a bit off it seems, my apologies.-
No problem at all. I just thought I'd throw that out there just in case.
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I really don't know how to put it other than treat commissioners as you'd want to be treated yourself. It's tough when it's a full time job rather than a hobby just like it's tough to care about every customer when you work in retail or food service, but there it is. Courtesy, respect, and just treating the other person like a human being.
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(no edit function...wow the Weasyl UI is lagging behind FA...) Not sure if you wanted my input or not but felt like throwing in my 2 cents.
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Taxes! The IRS can ruin a person trying to start their own business. Art or otherwise. That's probably a very important thing to maybe at least touch on.
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Most of these have already been touched on, but I'll throw my hat in the ring too:
~ Basics of accounting & record keeping
~ Professionalism (perhaps including how to present yourself in a meeting or job interview)
~ Time & Resource / Money Management
~ Communication (not conducting business transactions using textspeak, for example)
~ Advertising
~ Fair Pricing (sure, everyone loves a great deal! However, if you start out with prices too low, the second some folks hear "I have to raise prices," they jump ship like rats off the Titanic)I'm sure I'll think of more later on, but for me these are pretty much top of the list.
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NekoSatan
Etiquette, Advertising, Getting known, Dealing with rude/distasteful consumers, and pricing are the ones that popped in my mind first :)