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Is This Business Right for You?

In most areas in North America, you don’t need to be an artist or piercer to start and run your own tattoo and body piercing business. However, you do need to do the research and have an understanding and respect for the industry in order to make it.

Many studios fail due to the owner’s lack of business skills. Many artistic types of people are not cut out to do the business side, just like not all businesspeople are qualified to become tattoo artists or body piercers. Starting and running a business requires just as much skill as the services (i.e., tattooing and piercing) you are offering to clients. A balanced combination of understanding business aspects as well as the artistry is crucial in this industry. If you are getting into this industry just for the money or lifestyle, then your business may be doomed from the beginning. You need to love what goes into creating the art and understand how to run a business in order to succeed.

The tattooing and piercing industry can be very competitive and territorial. Note that if you are opening the studio as a businessperson as opposed to a businessperson/artist, you may not get a lot of support, understanding, or information from others in the industry. Also note that in some locations in North America, you cannot own a studio without having at least a 50 percent partnership with someone who is a licensed tattoo artist. You can find this information by reading the regulations set out by your state or provincial government. The website EveryTattoo.com includes information about each state’s laws; however, for the most up-to-date information, check with your state or provincial government.

Your decisions and responsibilities in this industry reach far beyond what type of advertising to choose or what decor to go with; the reality is your decisions could result in infections to clients, allergic reactions, severe illness, or in some extreme instances, death. Tattooing and piercing should be viewed as minor surgical procedures by the artists, piercers, support staff, and owner.

Also, many moral and ethical decisions will be encountered, such as whether to allow faces to be tattooed, whether to allow names to be tattooed, whether you will purchase a lower-quality ink that contains heavy metals even though it is legal but will limit the customer from ever having a medical MRI in the future. What about purchasing body jewelry that contains nickel because it’s less expensive, even though most people have an allergy to nickel? These are just a few of the many decisions you will need to consider when opening your studio.

Passion may keep you interested but you should continually be looking for ways to improve and grow your business. This in turn leads to success and innovation. When people think that they know everything is most often when failure occurs.

Before you begin writing your business plan (as discussed in Chapter 3), consider the topics in this chapter. You need to know if this is the right business for you. Motivation, thick skin, connections in the industry, financial savings, and support from others are all things you will need to get started and to continue if you want to succeed.

1. You Must Have Motivation

It can take two years or more before you finally make a profit. So you will need to have the motivation to stick with it until you can make money for all your hard work.

When you are setting up your business you will put in a lot of long hours. When you finally open the doors the long hours will continue until you can afford to hire the staff to help you. Many new business owners suffer burnout from the effort and stress involved in setting up and then running a business. Be prepared mentally for this strain.

Take a good hard look at what type of worker you are. Are you self-motivated or do you need someone to push you to get things done? If you are not self-motivated, and you have a lot of tasks left undone in your current job or home life, this may be an indicator that you will not perform well as a business owner.

If you don’t understand how to do something, will you do research to find out how to go about the task the right way or will you just wing it and hope for the best? If you are serious about opening a business, then you will need to do the research. Reading this book is a good start, but you will still have to find out information after reading it, such as what are the health regulations in your area? What are the zoning laws? What type of insurance do you need? These are all questions you need to find answers for among many more, in order to open your business and make it a success.

In your current job, do you need praise in order to feel motivated? As a business owner, you will not have a boss to give you praise. Instead, you will need to make sure your business is running smoothly and that your clients return happy in order for you to feel like you are doing a good job. Some days will be hard and filled with complaining customers, while other days you may find your customers filled with the joy of having a beautiful piece of art on their skin.

2. You Must Have Thick Skin

Not everyone will be happy that you are opening up shop in their neighborhood. You may have opposition. It is not unusual for people to protest something they don’t understand or support. How will you deal with protestors outside your shop demanding you shut down your business?

What if you found the perfect location to rent in a strip mall, but the neighboring businesses refuse to allow the landlord to rent to you? Will you get mad and yell at them or will you try to talk to them about it? Maybe you will have to consider a different location and let that place go. (See Chapter 2 for more information on finding a good location.)

You may also encounter criticism from others in the industry who do not want a similar business setting up shop in the same area or city. How will you make your studio different or get along with others in the same industry located in the same area?

As mainstream as the industry has become in recent years, there is still a fair amount of stigma attached to operating or working at a studio. How will you deal with the prejudices and opinions of other people when you tell them what type of business you own? As an owner you are the frontperson of your business. Always. No matter where you are, your responses and interactions will have direct impact on your business.

As you can see, you need a thick skin to start up and successfully run a tattoo and body piercing studio. This type of business, more than other small businesses, can have a lot of unexpected challenges. However, if you are determined and have a plan, then you can get through any opposition you face.

3. The Importance of Connections in the Industry

Connections in the tattoo and body piercing world are important. You need to find good artists. Businesspeople who lack artistic talent themselves may have a harder time attracting artists to work in their studios as they may lack an understanding of the needs and requirements of the artists. However, many artists like to concentrate on the artwork and not the business aspects, so you may find some artists that are willing to work for you doing the creative work while you deal with the paperwork.

A new studio may have trouble attracting veteran artists due to the fact that it’s new and hasn’t proven itself yet. It may be easier to hire newer artists who need a break into the industry, but you will still need to know where to find good artists. So where do you begin?

You begin by researching the industry and finding connections and places that advertise for artists looking for work. You also have to consider whether the artists will bring a client base. If they are extremely new to the industry themselves, then you can’t count on them having an already established clientele. (See Chapters 9 and 10 for more information about finding artists and piercers.)

Networking, getting to know people in the industry, going to tattoo conventions, and talking to other owners may provide you with some valuable connections. Having a general interest in learning and wanting to improve the industry where you’re living will also go a long way to ensuring you receive proper information from associates. Know where your information is coming from and back it up with your own research. A caveat: It is not unheard of for existing shops to attempt to sabotage new shops at start-up.

4. Be Prepared Financially

The most negative aspect to opening your own studio is the risk. For example, the risk of losing all your hard-earned investment (i.e., bankruptcy), and having wasted hours of time and effort only to be left with nothing and still owing money. For some individuals this can cause serious mental and physical setbacks, and deepening of the financial loss over time.

Another negative aspect is the unpredictability of income; basically how money will come in and when. When you cannot determine your cash flow, making a budget or just paying the bills can be difficult and extremely stressful.

Determining start-up costs is a difficult task; it is a good idea to have at least three to six months of money to carry you if minimal money comes in. Also note the unpaid hours you spend to start up a business will reach into the hundreds.

Unless you are independently wealthy you will probably have to make some lifestyle adjustments, meaning cutbacks to your personal spending from the start, until clients are gained and revenue starts coming in. Statistics have proven time and time again that the failure rate of new businesses is much higher than for existing ones. Lack of staff at the beginning can be difficult if you become ill or need time off, because there will be no one to cover for you if you cannot afford to close the business for that time.

It is almost impossible to dedicate the time needed to open a new studio if you have a current full-time job. But if your new business is not making money, how do you pay the bills at the business and at home?

One of the last hurdles to consider is the amount of effort and sheer number of things that need to be completed in a timely manner to open; it is intense to say the least. Costs will quickly add up and so will the pressure to do everything right.

See Chapters 3 and 4 for more information on business planning and financials.

5. Have a Support System

In starting a new business you must have the support of your partner or spouse if you have one, as this endeavor will also change his or her life. The extremely long hours spent in the first few years are intense, as are the many stressful situations that will be encountered, not to mention the financial stress at the start. Without your partner truly supporting you, failure of your business or relationship could be possible.

Having someone listen to you vent about the business, or give you advice and help you solve problems may be what you need to keep you motivated and moving forward in your plans. Also, having someone there to celebrate and remind you of the small and big rewards of a job well done can be a great way to keep you going when times are tough.