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Turning my business idea into reality

Turning my business idea into reality

Jul 16, 2020

I’ve been reading and brainstorming more about the business aspects of Goldegen lately. I was so focused on creating art pieces, social media contents and participating in artist open calls, that I really never took the time to sit down and crunch some numbers.

My previous plan and goals earlier this year made sense at that time; I was working full time, and had a good  salary. Actually, I had mostly a five year plan to build up my artist career to full kick-off. So at the time, I didn’t need to allocate that much time or effort in micromanaging the financial aspects of Goldengen. Then things changed and I lost my job in May. This started my summer with a decision that this is  actually my chance to turn this situation into my favor and accelerate this new chapter of my life where I am a successful printmaker! Why not?!

Well, I must admit that I have had a few jobs interviews the last two weeks, but that’s another story - (thanks imposter syndrome!)

That being said, I quickly realized that my big and fun ideas of doing collective exhibitions and touring were not going to bring me enough money to live. I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but I need to consider adding more sales channels into my mix as a winning strategy. 

I am starting to have a solid work routine, and that includes allocating myself reading time in the afternoon (without the guilt). My reading time is for me to get exposed and learn business tricks, tools and considerations. I’m currently revisiting Tim Ferris’s book Tool of Titans. It's only been two weeks and my notebook is almost done. I’ve begun to establish a game plan with some of the astounding and awe-inspiring examples I'm ready to put towards my own. Some are also making me question my business foundation and challenge me in the right way. 

Here’s the main components I am dedicating my time now for my plan:

  • Finding my 1000 true fans by Kevin Kelly. I truly believe in this theory as I am a true fan myself of some musician and music band. I will drive, fly and wait for hours just to get immersed into their sounds (and get my book sign- hm, maybe I should not reveal all this…). Anyways, I am now brainstorming on ideas on how my future true fans can discover me. Honestly, this one is going to be tough, as I am struggling to keep my 200 IG followers (...). So far, here’s my plan of action:

  • I am more than ever active on social media: commenting, posting and trying to get as much visibility that I can;

  • Created a Buy me a beer page where I offer exclusive high res digital art pieces to print and frame for a couple bucks; 

  • I changed my Call to Action on my website - out the 15% off on your first purchase. I am now trying the “freebie tactic” and will send you a high res digital print in exchange of your precious email.

  • The law of the category and brand story; I pretty much cover the main idea behind it in my last post. Here’s an update of the situation, I didn’t find my category yet. I am still qualifying myself as an awesome printmaker for the moment. However I still need to develop my WHY Statement in order to state my HOW and really stand out from my competitors. I need to keep in mind that my brand story isn’t just about what my prints//products can do or look like. It’s really about what people can do with those items, how it affects them. The next step in this area is to turn my story into a winning pitch deck to be successful with my final  idea; the wholesale side hustle. 

  • Developing the wholesale business. So in order to make a living (while supporting shopaholic habits for thrift shops) and while I am busy building my list of true followers; I need sales volume. I quickly did some maths, and if a big retailer like Urban Outfitter purchased 10 prints for all their North America stores, this could settle 80% of my needs (plus, I'm already thinking about my upsell pitch for the renewal to keep it coming). So I had to slow down my creation of prints for Summer of Lust//Olympics 1976 in order to build up my catalog. Yeah, I am not really a web designer, so it’s taking me forever, but I am proud to say it is really looking great and I can’t wait to start sharing it and pitching it. 

It feels good to write all this down. Although, it certainly will help me when people look at me with a confused stare and ask “What do you do again? You’re not actually working now right?”… Once again, your ideas are more than welcome. As I am in the process of creating a healthy wealthy business, I am super interested in hearing thoughts (of experts or not) on how I can achieve this list. I want to thrive not only survive. 

This is super exciting and I'm so grateful to be able to learn and experiment ideas while creating art at the same time. Let’s just say I'm in a good state of mind right now.

Thanks, Geneviève

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