My Business Plan Presentation

Business plan 2 from Kirstin816

Last Stretch!

We are handing in all our work for this module on Wednesday! Just handed in the Practical Contemporary Creative Practice module today - one down, one to go!

I have spent this evening trying to get a decent chunk of what I have left to do because I am planning on moving more of my stuff into my new studio tomorrow - bad time to move studios, I know... But all I have left to finish now is my business plan, my 2, 5 and 10 year plan, bibliography, then I just need to bind my proposal and plan and go through everything to make sure it's all there. I think I'm doing okay for time - I will spend a good portion of the day working on the module to relieve some of the pressure for Wednesday.

Presentation Feedback

I have just presented my business plan to the tutors and a few class-mates, and the feedback that I got was that my giclee prints and greeting cards are priced too cheap. I am selling my 20x16" giclee prints for £45, and my 16x12" giclee prints for £25, greeting cards £2.50 each or 3 for £6. It was suggested that I put my price for 16x12" prints up to £30 or maybe even £35, put my prices for 20x16" up to £50 or £55, and cards could be sold for £4.50.

Here is how I have worked out the costs for the products...

I have been told that for the time, I should be paying myself at least minimum wage, which my tutors told me is about £7.80 an hour. But, for my age group 21-24 it's £6.95, however is £7.20 for 25+ (National minimum wage and national living wage rates, 2016). So maybe I should put the time up by £0.20 to meet that wage. 

For the time-being, I am quite happy to keep my prices as they are. However, I will increase the prices in the next couple of months.

Giclee Prints 16x12" will be increased from £25 to £30

Giclee Prints 20x16" will be increased from £45 to £50

Greeting Cards will be increased from £2.50 or 3 for £6 to £3 or 3 for £8

New Studio!

On Sunday, I got my key for my new studio in the Foxlowe Creative Hub in Leek. Before I started to strip any of the wallpaper, I filmed a brief overview of the "before" stage. I am hoping to start to decorate this week and move in within the next two weeks.

Updated Events Page

I have updated my Events Page on my website as it was a bit out of date. I have added the Totally Locally Leek Market and the Pop Up Shops at Stoke Station for December - I will be doing a Pop Up Shop on Platform 1 of Stoke Station every Friday of December leading up to Christmas. I have also added a Christmassy banner at the top of each event to make them more season-appropriate.

YouTube

I have been doing my competitor analysis' and 3 of the artists who I am looking at for my analysis have YouTube channels and it seems to be a bit of a catalyst in selling their work (I could be wrong as I think they started out on other social media), but it is at least a really great way of communicating with their audience and reaching possibly a broader audience as that's where I discovered all three of them. It is also a really personal way of communicating with your audience because the audience develop a relationship with them in their mind as they feel like they become friends with the video creator. So I am thinking about doing some YouTube videos, starting out by doing a time-lapse video of me painting something and go from there.

Etsy Photos

I have just found a really good website which allows you to put your paintings/artwork on a wall in a living space. It's called ohmyprints.com

I have used one of these photos as my primary photo for this painting and I think it looks really effective. It will be a great tool to use to get my photos looking consistent.