How did you get your start as a pro?

[Chris Saper]

Hi Denise,

The business plan I developed was not appreciably different from any general business plan.

The plan really begins with assessing your particular market to find out what place you find or be able to make within it. Look at several features, including detailed asessment of who your competitors are, beginning locally, or in your case perhaps regionally, as I don't know how large Gatineau is...and whether Montreal would be your nearest large city. You need to look at individual portrait painters, those represented by brokers, whether any are represented by galleries, etc. If you see your market as a national one (including the US) most of the comparative info you will need is right here on SOG. Look at pricing, and take a critical look at the quality of your own work in comparison. Bear in mind that not all painters who charge $10,000 will do enough volume to make the annual numbers pencil out. Look at other factors too that make it easier or more difficult to secure clients, such as travel, framing, $ for multiples, whether live sittings are required, etc. Each of these elements presents a particular opportunity to build a fee and process plan that can give you a competitive advantage, again, so long as the economics can work out.

You then need to make some assumptions about how much volume you can really expect to see, and think through how you will market your work. Identify the specific subjects/ buyers to target.

You will need to look at your expenses in detail, fixed and variable, and how you can control or mimimize them (for example, standardized sizing, framing, production, etc.) Expenses need to include not only what is costs to produce a painting, (time, materials, etc.) but your marketing, promotional and general business expenses.

There are a number of other aspects that may or may not attend your business plan, depending upon the composite of your career goals..credentailing, teaching, gallery or other relaationships etc. The point is that each plan is so unique to a given person, there really isn't a "canned" approach available. Hope this is helpful, Chris