Almost everyone visiting this site had a day job at one time and some still do. Then there are all those wannabe artists who visit with you in your booth at each art fair and say they are going to quit but don't and you know why.
Here is how you to figure out if it is for you:
1. How valuable is comfort to your life?
Even if you “make it,” working for yourself never
comes with a guarantee. Money varies from month to month, and it could cease at any moment; you just never really know. What about that health insurance, what about those monthly bills, what about a nice car instead of a utility vehicle?
(cartoon by Hugh MacLeod who packed up his imagination and quit his day job a long time ago.)2. Is being an artist compatible with your past?
Before you start leaving the job behind are you thinking, “I’ve never been able to stick to a rigid schedule. How am I going to do it now?” Are you ready to rely on yourself and your own schedule?
3. How sentimental are you?
You will make mistakes. Whether you choose the wrong media or find yourself at the wrong kind of show or find out that because your art teacher said you were wonderful somehow the marketplace doesn't "get it," and you have to scrap months of work, you have to let it go.
4. When was the last time you learned something new?
Entrepreneurs are perpetual learners. Not only out of natural curiosity, but because if they don’t seek knowledge every day, they’ll be left in the dust by their more knowledgeable competition.
5. How would you do in the middle of a foreign country with no money and no idea how you got there?
Could you talk a cabby into taking you to the nearest bus station in exchange for a song and dance? Or would you find the situation hopeless and resign yourself to weeping softly in the corner of the nearest alleyway?
6. Do you really just want to get rid of your boss?
What if you’re lazy and think owning your own business is an easy way out? You may not think these exact words, but maybe, deep down, you feel like life would be much easier without a boss.
7. Am I prepared to die for my business?
Okay, no one is going to die for their business.
The point is, you have to be all in. Your business has to mean more to you than any immediate comfort. If you panic at the thought of living the rest of your life as a tool for achieving the goals of others, you need to get out before it’s too late.
I liked these 7 points and think that most people reading this will be way past them, but maybe not. They are the harsh reality of being an entrepreneur. If you can do all of the above you must be in the right place.
Read all of this interesting article from Penelope Trunk's blog The Brazen Careerist here.
Which of these seven do you find the hardest for you, or the most compelling?
Comments
Sam your work is better than pretty good.But make sure you have a plan before you leave the day job.Good work won't always mean good sales.I take a gamble on bigger buyers.That works sometimes and sometimes it ends bad.And until people have more confidence in the economy you might want to deal with not so nice students.I think if you plan it right and have the support of your family you will do well.But do your homework first,bank some cash,and go into it on a positive note.
"Sure you got those lucky few..."
OR...they are just working damn hard and making good business decisions. "Luck" has almost nothing to do with it!
I am doing my art full-time. It is my only source of income. I have not retired from a career. In fact, at age 40, I quit a very successful career as a photographer (studio table-top and location for a couple of major mail order catalogs as well as some editorial work) to pursue my drawing full-time. I spent around 15 years of doing shows at the same time as that full-time photography job and established myself so that when I walked away from that salary, I could be pretty darn sure it would work. And, it has.
It's not easy. There's no free ride in anything one does. There've been good years and not so good, but in the well more than a decade of being a full-time artist, I am making far more than my last annual salary working for someone else. Actually, it will be about 250% more by the time 2012 is over with and it has not been a matter of "luck" in any sense of the word! I'm working harder and longer now than I ever did when I worked at someone else's beck and call and I wouldn't change a thing.
I don't believe it's a reality to be a full time artist without being retired or having money through another source. Sure you got those lucky few, but it's like wanting to be a rock star. Nobody wants to be that 40 year old living with his parents, still hoping to make it! So we keep our day job. This past weekend I talked to a very well known Arizona artist. He said that everyone assumed that he was a full time artist with all the local fame he had recieved, but he couldn't rely on it full time until he retired from his steady job. The only reason to do art is because you love it! And hopefully one day we can get to the point where we can have the funds to do it full time. Until then we deal with the daily BS and then leave this cruel world when were involved in our art!
Hi Sam, I was across from you in Vail this summer.I can tell you that your wife better be on board all the way.I worked a day gig and did shows.When I made the plunge my wife was not all with it.Then when everything crashed it was over.Ended in divorce.Why?Because she was not willing to take the risks I was.I think you need to do more shows.After seeing your work I know you will do well.Do more shows and make your mistakes while you have the day job.Find other markets for your work in addition to shows.Get it all together and show her it can work.And include her in any decisions.Keep her informed so when it is time she is all there with you.I wish you luck and love your work. Sean
As one of those who also taught in the public schools in Detroit, I can really empathize with both of you, Sam and Robert. I did leave after 10 years (get a modest pension of $300 a month now). One of the good things about the kids going to college was our art fair earnings with all the heavy overhead (and my sons being good students) was that they qualified for lots of financial aid and scholarship. If we made more money it would have been a lot more out-of-pocket for us. NOT to say you should leave your job, Sam.
But now my friends are retiring from those jobs with very excellent pensions, plus SS, health benefits, etc., and I'm still working. This is not a complaint. It was a lifestyle choice. When I say to them that I envy their financial stability they say, "but Connie, you were having all the fun." Furthermore, they confess they could never have lived with all the uncertainty. Me, I couldn't stay in one place everyday, it wasn't "me." So, you make your choices and take the consequences. Just be careful.
Sam, I managed to retire with combined 29 years of state service and public school service. My school system was one of the troubled inner city school systems, and many of my students considered ankle monitor bracelets to be a fashion statement. I fought the behavior problems also, and had to get down to their level and go one better. I horrified some of the young teachers, but the quick snappers on unruly twits was what the students respected (Son, pull those pants up; you're putting the butt into butt-ugly). Regardless it does wear you down if you let it, and you feel like you're working in a sewer at times. Yeah, I taught pre-algebra and algebra, 7-12, the entire range.
My advice is to hold on until the art fair earnings reach an appreciable amount of your educator's salary, then go for it, but only after you get a track record going. I've done art fairs since 1988 as a summer thing, anywhere from 5 or 6 to as many as 16. I tried it full time back about 20 years and lost my shorts. I retired at the end of the 2011 school year, a year earlier than I had originally planned so didn't have a large number of shows on the books last year.
This year I've done 22 shows and it has been an unmitigated disaster with most shows posting a loss. I'm cutting back on many shows and scurrying to figure out a new body of work to differentiate myself from the flood of landscape photographers. If I depended on art fair income at this time, I would be living out of my van, assuming the van hadn't been repo'ed.
My wife suggested strongly years ago if I could earn half of my regular salary doing shows, then she would be suppotive of me making the jump. That never happened, so I plugged along at the day job. At the time we had 3 kids at home, and looking at paying for college, so that affected the decision. If you're averaging enough sales consistently and can extrapolate that into more shows that are similar, and will allow you to support the family, then go for it. One of the overlooked things about doing work like this is reaching the tipping point where the return on the effort becomes exponential. Finding that point is where the sucess starts.
You are right -- in fact, I'd bet that article was written by someone who didn't even have a family. Getting the family on board at every level is important. I was on the phone with a well-known show director yesterday and she was interrupted twice by her children, she apologized and said she had brought them to the office after school until she could finish off some work. I know those kids know that mommy's working, but just needed some love for a minute.
I still have a friend who stops in during the day, sometimes it's good to have the interruption, other times ....