Start An Artworks Business - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start An Artworks Business

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Starting an artworks business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell artworks, or selling artworks online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

starting costs
$21.1K
gross margin
50%
avg product price
$195
time to build
240 days
growth
Advertising on social media
business model
E-Commerce
time investment
Side project

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Equipment & Supply Expenses

$63

$200

Inventory Expenses

$350

$14,750

Software Expenses

$150

$2,470

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$5,286

Total Startup Costs

$1,612

$41,973

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

Artnet

artnet.com

13,032

Observer

observer.com

15,720

Rhode Island School of Design

risd.edu

112,407

The Rasterbator

rasterbator.net

151,288

Proko

proko.com

212,521

VIDAVIN

vidavin.ir

404,649

Art Biz Success

artbizsuccess.com

600,172

Maymay Made It

maymaymadeit.com

651,427

TurningArt

turningart.com

663,134

Nick Mayer Art

nickmayerart.com

698,705

Kirsty Partridge Art

kirstypartridge.com/

933,254

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a artworks business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

High margins

The gross margins for your artworks business are typically around 50%, which is considerably high and allows you to grow your business and manage costs easily.

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

High employee turnover

In the artworks business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment.

Taxes

As a artworks business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

High overhead expenses

With starting an artworks business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.

You may need to charge sales tax

If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out this article

Churn

In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible.

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜

  • 2

    Social Media Advertising

    Social media advertising is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience with the objective to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

    According to Oberlo, approximately 48% of the global population use social media, and the number is ever-growing.

    Therefore, social media allows brands access to cost-effective advertising by enabling them to interact with a large audience.

    Learn more about social media advertising ➜

  • 3

    Pay Per Click Advertising

    Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.