MY BUSINESS PLAN

Business Plan

M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T
What makes you unique? What are the emotional/societal/intellectual/political impacts of your
artwork? What do you want your art to mean to people. Why do you want to be a professional
artist?” Let this answer, and the passion you feel when you write it down, drive every other
aspect of developing your art business.

V I S I O N S TAT E M E N T
Your vision statement should describe where you want to take your art business in the future.
But, success means something different to each and every artist. Do you want to be famous?
Leave a legacy? Change the way people interact with art? Get rich? Do you want gallery
representation? The answer is up to you.

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Your customers
THE NE X T STE P IS TO IDE NTIF Y WHO YOUR IDE AL CLIE NT IS SO YOU CAN MARKET YOUR ART WORK IN

T H E M O S T E F F E C T I V E WAY P O S S I B L E . S TA R T B Y A N S W E R I N G T H E S E Q U E S T I O N S :

MY BUSINESS PLAN
The next step is to identify who your ideal client is so you can market your artwork in the most
effective way possible. Start by answering these questions:

What age group and income level can afford your artwork?

What are your client’s goals and how does your art help the client achieve them?

Where do your customers buy art?

Where do these buyers live, travel, or hang out?

t i p : With these answers, you

can set up a well thought out
plan of attack for your art
marketing strategy. You can
go where your buyers go, form
What are their hobbies? Attitudes? Style? Interests? important relationships, and
know exactly how to talk with
them conf idently about buying
your artwork.

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What type of buyers understand your work?

Why do your clients buy art?

What connection can you find between you, your art, and your buyers?

What kind of marketing would reach them best (word of mouth, email, social media)?

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Your competitors
Much like understanding your target customer, you can’t dive into the art business world
without understanding the rest of the art market—and that means who you are competing with.

Take the time to research other artists that are similar to you.

How do your prices compare? Do they need better photos of their artwork? Do they have great
connections in the art world?

What are some of the strengths of your competitors?

What are some of the weaknesses of your competitors.

t i p : Figuring out both their

strengths and weaknesses
can help you develop a plan
for your own art business and
gain a competitive advantage.

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MY BUSINESS PLAN

Your finances

EXPENSES
Like any business, you are going to have expenses. But, they don’t have to eat up your hard
earned profits if you plan for them ahead of time! In this section of the art business plan, write
down the costs of everything you can think of, from supplies to renting studio space.

Item/Service Description Price Total

Grand Total

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Funding
Once you’ve created your itemized list, you will need to formulate a plan on how you are going
to pay for everything at the start of your art business.

Do you have savings built up? (You should have enough to cover at least one year of expenses to
get your started if you do not have another source of income).

Do you need to apply for an artist grant?

How many pieces do you need to sell to cover all of your costs?

Is crowdfunding a good option for you?

How else can you raise money for start-up costs?

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Pricing Use this as an example exercise for determining costs and pricing.

Name of artwork:
Description:

LABOR
Time Rate (hourly )

M AT E R I A L S
Material Amount Cost Total

MISC COSTS
Material Amount Cost Total

T O TA L SUGGESTED PRICING

Labor Total costs

Materials
Wholesale (costs x 2)
Misc.

Total costs Retail Price (wholesale x 2)

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MY BUSINESS PLAN

Market Analysis

W H AT I S T H E C U R R E N T S TAT E O F T H E A R T M A R K E T H O W I T R E L AT E S T O
YO U R W O R K ?
What ideas do you have that are unique or a different way of marketing your work?

M A R K E T I N G P L AT F O R M S
Based on the profile of your ideal buyer, settle on the exact marketing strategy that complements
your art business. Think about which of these art marketing outlets you should use: social media,
email newsletters, art fairs, galleries, blogging, etc.

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 MY BUSINESS PLAN

WHERE TO SELL
Whether you target physical galleries, sell online, network within artist associations, or rely on a
mixture of opportunities, determine where your potential customers will have the most eyes on
your art.

YO U R S TO RY
The next step is to write down your story as an artist. This is one of the most important steps
because it’s how you can form a worthwhile connection with your possible collectors.

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Your process
List out every single step of your art business workflow, from creation to sale. This will help you
truly understand how long the process takes and how you should plan your schedule.
Plus, it’s a handy document to refer back to it in case you get stuck on what to do next! Here’s an
example of what your process could look like:

BUY SUPPLIES

BEGIN PIECE

S H A R E W O R K- I N - P R O G R E S S P I C T U R E S O N S O C I A L

FINISH WORK

TA K E P H O T O S O F F I N I S H E D A R T W O R K

L I S T P I E C E A N D D E TA I L S O N A R T W O R K A R C H I V E

PUT PIECE UP ON PERSONAL WEBSITE

SHARE ON SOCIAL

EMAIL COLLECTORS

SUBMIT ARTWORK TO UPCOMING SHOWS

G E N E R AT E I N V O I C E

RECORD SALE IN ARTWORK ARCHIVE

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