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What Kind of shop are you?
What kind of shop do you want to be?
These are two questions that while most airbrush artists never actually bother to ask themselves , they are two questions that are usually on the back of the minds of most airbrush artists that become business owners. The ironic thing is that once you cross the line to becoming a business owner they are questions that you really should ask yourself. These two questions are actually the key to any good business plan. "What do I want my business to be"?
But, I am not going to go into the whole “business plan” topic. What I want to point our are two different general versions of what has commonly become know as the ”Airbrush Shop”
The first version is probably the most wide spread of the two, which is you basic T-shirt shop, or what has become know more recently as a “personalization business”
These are the shops that specialize in a variety of ways to “Personalize” items. Ranging from the obvious airbrushing but also branching into Silk Screening, embroidery, vinyl application, sublimation etc… All these things are ways to “Personalize” everyday items. They also tend to focus on one location. They do not do as many events, fairs, festivals, etc…. simply because their business model is “personalization” and the other methods they use like screen printing, embroidery etc… are not things that can be transported easily. Not to say that they do not also branch out and do these other types of things once in a while but they do remain more focused on the customer coming to them and not going to the customer.
This first version would also include the “tourist trap” shops that really specialize in personalizing “keepsake” items to remember a vacation or special event as well as the traveling and event artists that only do simple “personalized” type of work.
These shops do not cater as much to the high end “custom” artwork. While almost every airbrush artist branches out and does helmets, canvases, auto and motorcycle parts and a variety of other “custom” items once in a while. The above mentioned type of shops really focus on the personalization aspect of the business. They also tend to be “one man shows”, meaning they may not have more than one other artist or staff member and therefore they keep the business close to home which does not allow them to do more variety simply because they are busy enough with their “personalization business” and therefore they do not need a bigger staff for traveling.
The second type of business is more of the “art studio” version of the the “airbrush Shop” These are shops that do a wide variety of things on a more “artistic” level then a “personalization” level. But, just like the first category, they too branch out into the “personalization” business simply because it is the true nature of the airbrush business.
The “Studio” version as I call it will do more things from an artistic direction. These might include doing murals, props, make-up/body painting, portraits, caricatures, auto and motorcycle parts, backdrops, signs, banners. These studios may also include using other mediums like sublimation, silk screening etc… to complete these projects. They may also teach classes not only in airbrushing but also in other mediums….and some may even sell supplies.
While this version will also have a main location they also tend to have more of a “staff” that allows them to do more artistic projects out side of the studio like murals and other projects that need to be worked on at another location…or at least be in a location where they are in control their hours of operation.
To be clear, while I believe that most airbrush business tend to fall into one of these two general categories, it goes without saying(even though I said it above) that all artists will branch out to other things at some point. Some may even completely change their direction during their career. There is no one formula for an “artistic business” such as airbrushing. It will always reflect the own individual artist and the direction they want to take their business at any given time in their career. However in order to do each step the easiest and most efficient way, at each point in their career they do need to ask….”What type of business do I want to be”?
As always feel free to leave comments or ask questions