Art by Micheline Watkins @ www.capitalartgallery.co.uk
The initial idea of owning a gallery normally span from people with a passion for art or professional artist through studies or working in the industry. Irrespective of your journey, the moment you consider turning that passion or experience into a business, it becomes a different ball game and it’s about time to get the stepping;
1. Write a Business Plan
2. Search for Artist
3. Find Business Premises
4. Register the Gallery
5. Apply Marketing Strategy
6. Lunch the Gallery
1. Write a Business Plan
Any business with the potential to suicide should have a business plan that starts with the name of the business/logo, explaining the Running Operations, Marketing and growth including the kind of art that the Gallery will be dealing on. The contents should be:
Structured…
- Management – Explain ownership of shares, management profiles and staff recruitment for administration, negotiations and logistics.
- Financiers – Explain funding requirement, plan for funding, plan for growth and financial projection, analysis and budget.
- Income – Explain how the money will be earned by the gallery, mostly retains a commission from (50% on 2 dimensional and 40% on 3-dimensional work.
- SWOT Analysis – Explain business Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
In other to come up with a more realistic SWOT analysis, it’s ideal to conduct a survey of the community where the business will be located and the industry prior to completing the business plan.
2. Search for Artist
The backbone of a functioning gallery is the level of artist involvement; therefore, the desire of an aspiring gallery owner should be speared by:
Visiting…
- Art galleries and possibly museums
- Art exhibitions and auctions
- Art websites
- Art colleges could help with meeting with the aspiring Artist
- Art groups in the community could help with meeting art collectors
These are means of getting to know more artist that can display their work in the new gallery. The idea is to start with an unknown Artist, as they are more approachable, and could be accustomed to being unnoticed by major collectors.
3. Find Business Premises
With all these acquired knowledge written in your business plan and the idea gathered from your association with the art world, whether as a collector of an artist yourself; there will be no gallery if you don’t have premises but before deciding on a location:
Consider…
- The potentials that your gallery can benefit from being in that community
- What the gallery can offer to the community as possibly offering internship or work experience to young people
- Accessibility of the gallery to visitors, as in the proximity from the bus stop and train station
- Whether the premises offer potentials for growth and expansion, should the need arise
- License restriction for the premises should you wish to map out an area to serve food, alcohol and beverages
- Cost of premises, if on lease (how long), cost of council Rate and commercial premises Insurance
- Designing the interior/exterior of the gallery in line with your vision but be realistic with funds
Detailed research of the premises and its’ surroundings will save the new gallery from any unpleasant surprises to the business.
4. Register the Gallery
You have chosen a name for your gallery but you have no claim to it if the business is not registered with Companies House (www.companieshouse.gov.uk), either as Sole Proprietorship, Partnership or Corporation. You must consider either one carefully so as to make the right decision for you and your business, commence:
With…
- Getting on the Company House website to ascertain the requirements for registering your business
- Checking to confirm that your chosen business name is not already existing as a registered business
- Familiarizing yourself with the ongoing administration requirements of Company House, such as filing the Company’s yearly Confirmation Statement and Company Accounts
- Acquiring a clear understanding of HM Revenue & Customs (www.hmrc.gov.uk) ongoing Corporation Tax filing requirements or that of Self-Assessment, paying employee’s tax & National Insurance contribution and VAT registration threshold.
To keep you informed and updated within the industry, it’s important to be associated with organizations that supports arts, such as ArtGallery.co.uk (www.artgallery.co.uk), The Society of London Art dealers (www.slad.org.uk), Art Therapy in Museums and Galleries (www.atmag.org), The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers (https://Lapada.org) and a lot more, depending on where your gallery is located.
5. Apply Marketing Strategy
Prior to actioning your marketing strategy, refer to your business plan for a detailed reminder of your dream thriving business, then ask yourself, how would this work?:
By…
- Keeping track of the Art industry’s current ongoings,
- Encouraging local schools’ day trips to your gallery – providing the teachers and children with free vouchers.
- Encouraging family weekend outings – providing discounted vouchers through local newspapers and restaurants.
- Engage the public with your media presence – constant posting of events at the gallery
- Researching for a celebrity with past or present association with the community – see if you can have them as a special guest to events at the gallery.
- Solicit local businesses to place an advertisement on your brochures, for a little fee
The phrase is, ‘when it comes to promoting your business, don’t hesitate to play your social media joker’.
6. Launch the Gallery
All the hard work of bringing the dream into reality, it’s finally happening on this very important long-awaited day. Hope nothing goes wrong:
Check that…
- Artist- Work is displayed, explained and priced
- Major Art Collectors/Buyers – Attendance confirmed
- Media Presence – Television station or Art Blogger, attendance confirmed
- Press Presence – Local News Paper or Magazine attendance is confirmed
- Caterer – Arranged to provide light refreshments
- MC, Projector for slides and Background music – all in place
- Local businesses and the College Art department – attendance confirmed
Possibly, the day went as planned! Oh! the ‘icing on the cake’ could be the presence of the Mayor, the local Member of Parliament or the local Celebrity?
By Deborah Beyioku (CEO-Ochu Group)