How to start an art business in 8 steps

Whether you’re a professional artist or a craft enthusiast—starting an art business can be a fun and profitable venture. You get to do what you love while showcasing your skill to the world and earning revenue from it.

Art business owners in the U.S. make around $69,553 per year on average. However, you need good strategy and planning to run a successful art business.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to start a business focused around your art, along with tips and best practices to help you build your creative venture in 2024.

An art business is a creative business venture that sells art-based products and services for a profit. It may also be considered a type of service business. Some examples of art businesses are:

• Artwork sales and exhibitions

• Artwork commissions 

• Art classes and tutorials

• Hosting events and building exclusive communities for artists

Straits Research expects the global art market to hit $889.86 billion by 2032. People spend considerably on art. In 2022, 34% of respondents in a survey spent between $1,000 to $5,000 purchasing art and collectibles. 

These figures probably sound exciting if you’re a part-time or full-time artist or want to start a homegrown small business.

However, starting an art business isn’t just about profits. Many art business owners started their companies to do what they love while working a flexible schedule, which works great for new moms, students and others in a time crunch.

Art businesses come in many types. Broadly, they generally fall into one of these categories.

If you’re an experienced artist or have a knack for teaching, teaching art classes can be a great idea. You can be a private art tutor or host in-person group classes for kids or adults. Fun painting events like hosting wine and paint sessions for adults are also popular.

Online lessons are a great way to monetize your creative knowledge. You can pre-record video tutorials, teach live classes or hold occasional masterclasses. The Wix Video Maker is a useful tool to create polished art lesson videos that you can share on your website and social media platforms. 

Selling paintings, or any other artwork, is one of the most common ways to start an art business. Exhibitions, auctions, art galleries, online artist marketplaces like Etsy or your own ecommerce website are common ways to sell finished artworks.

Another option is to consider working on a commission basis and creating customized art pieces. 

You can use a landing page builder with your terms, conditions and contact details to quickly be ready to accept commission-based art orders. Promoting your availability on your social media accounts is a great way to get the word out. Wix has a large library of website templates that simplify creating an online store and listing your art products. 

Comics aren’t just for kids. Animated films, shorts and comics are wildly popular with children and adults. The global comic book market is huge and estimated to be worth $15,214 million in 2024. 

The internet makes it easier for indie artists to compete, with profit-sharing comic collectives, individual websites, subscription tipping platforms like Patreon and social media all providing great ways to get your art seen. 

If you’re searching for how to start an art business, but aren’t that confident in your art skills, an art supplies store is a great option. With an art supplies store, you can target a wide range of audiences, including professional artists, hobbyists and budding painters. 

However, creating and selling NFT art comes with its own risks due to fluctuations in cryptocurrency values and scams. You need to tread carefully if you want to sell NFT art.

The first step in how to start an art business is to create a plan. Creating a business plan has many advantages. It acts as a roadmap when making important business decisions and helps showcase your vision when talking with investors or raising funds.

Ideally, the plan covers all business details, including the business name, type, target audience, marketing strategy and pricing strategy. While some aspects may change as your business grows, creating an initial plan serves as a blueprint to kickstart your own art business.

Here’s an art business plan template to get you started:

Art business plan template

Business Name: [Your Art Business Name]

Business Structure: [Sole Proprietorship/Partnership/LLC/Corporation]

Founding Date: [Month, Year]

Founders/Owners: [Names]

Mission Statement: [Concise statement of the business’s purpose]

Overview: Briefly describe your art business and key services

Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Clearly define what sets your art business apart from competitors.

Target Market: Identify your primary customer demographic and market segment.

List and describe the services you offer, emphasizing your skills and expertise.

Industry Overview: Provide an overview of the art industry, including trends and growth projections.

Competitor Analysis: Identify key competitors and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.

Target Audience: Define your target client profile and their preferences.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Marketing Plan: Outline your strategies for promoting the business, both online and offline.

Pricing Strategy: Detail your fee structure and any promotional pricing.

Sales Tactics: Describe how you will attract clients and secure projects.

Location and Facilities: Describe your office location and facilities.

Suppliers: List and describe key suppliers for materials and services.

Staffing: Outline your staffing plan, including roles and responsibilities.

Startup Costs: Detail initial investment requirements and startup expenses.

Revenue Projections: Provide realistic revenue projections for the first 3-5 years.

Operating Costs: Outline ongoing operating expenses, including utilities, software and staff salaries.

Funding Requirements: Specify any funding needed and potential sources (loans, investors).

Purpose of Funding: Clearly state how the funds will be utilized.

Amount Needed: Specify the amount of funding required.

Repayment Plan: Outline the proposed repayment plan for loans or investments.

Identify potential risks and challenges that may impact the success of your music business.

Develop strategies to mitigate and manage these risks.

Include any additional documents or information relevant to your business plan.

Examples: Portfolio samples, resumes of key team members, mock-ups of design proposals.

Summarize the key points of your business plan and highlight the potential success of your music business.

Conclude with a call to action or next steps.

Note: This template serves as a general guide. Adjust and expand sections based on your specific business model and goals.

The structure of your business impacts its legal, financial and tax aspects. So, carefully weigh the pros and cons of all business models before you make a choice.

Depending on the number of stakeholders and type of business you intend to start, you can register as a sole proprietor, a limited liability corporation (LLC) or a partnership. 

Depending on your location, you may need a business license from your state, county and city. You may also need a food service permit if you choose to have food or drink onsite (such as for wine and paint events).

Your new art business might need external funding. Secure these funds through investors, loans and grants created for art businesses.

You can raise funds these ways:

• Art grants: from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts or similar privately run foundations.

• Crowdfunding: via platforms such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

• Sponsorships: businesses or individuals may be happy to sponsor and invest in your business.

Keeping track of finances is essential, regardless of profit level. Set up a dedicated bookkeeper or use accounting software to track finances, including the funding and expenditures from setting up the business.

You’ll need to purchase equipment and supplies. This may include exhibition material, furniture, drawing tablets or even a laptop to run your business operations.

Some other basic art supplies might include easels, canvases, sketchbooks, pencils, brushes, paints, palettes, a computer, a scanner and a camera.

Depending on your chosen business structure, such as an LLC, you may need to register your business. You’ll also need to think about registering your artwork for copyright protection.

While your artwork has an immediate copyright the moment you create it in many cases, you often still need to register your copyright to gain additional protections, such as the right to sue in Federal court should someone copy your art without your permission.

There are multiple ways to market an art business, including distributing flyers, running ads or even spreading word of mouth.

Consider the requirements of your business and choose a suitable marketing strategy that’s within your budget.

Once your art business is up, you need effective strategies to keep it profitable. Here are some tips on how to run an art business for profitability:

• Analyze your competitors: Learn about the products, services and marketing techniques they use to help identify gaps in your business.

• Consider your target audience: A business selling comics to teenagers will require a different marketing and product strategy than an artist selling custom modern art pieces.

• Personalize the sales process: Remember crucial details about the client and use them to enhance the customer’s experience.

Here’s how you can increase the reach of your art business:

Creating a website is one of the best ways to promote your art business online. You can either build a portfolio website to showcase all your artwork or set up an e-commerce store to sell your art online. 

If you have limited web design experience, try the AI website builder by Wix. It helps you build polished and customizable art business websites in a few minutes using prompts. 

Social media platforms act as a huge virtual marketplace, with over five billion users in 2024. Publishing your work on social media helps you build an online presence, reach a wider audience and tap into diverse target markets.

Affiliate websites promote your artwork in exchange for a commission or flat fee. Find reputed and trustworthy affiliate websites in the art industry and collaborate with them to list your artwork.

Other experienced artists can often help guide you in running a profitable art business. Visit art fairs and galleries and network with others in the local art community.

You can also search online forums if there are no in-person networking events around you.

Many art businesses use Wix to create their business website. Here are a couple of examples:

Hothaus is an Australia-based glassblowing studio run by two talented artists. Their website is an online store for their products, a platform to showcase their artwork, facilitates class bookings and displays testimonials and reviews.

Chelsea McShane is an artist from the U.S. who sells art prints, frames and acrylic artwork through her website. The website narrates the artist’s story, answers FAQs and includes contact forms for her interior design services.

An art business offers many benefits, including:

• Flexible scheduling for side hustles

• Creative outlet, while making money

• Ability to be your own boss, something that’s often very important to independent artists.

Like any other business, an art business comes with risks. The biggest challenge is often that you need to wear multiple hats to manage clients, market and create products. 

The art market is a generally profitable niche with a substantial financial growth every year. Total art market sales ran about $39.4 million in 2023. 

However, the profitability of individual art businesses depends on many factors, such as location, product, demand and pricing.