 Well, hi, hello and welcome to this video where today I'm going to be sharing with you the seven steps You can take to quit that job and go full-time as an artist Now if this is something that you really want to achieve I'm going to suggest you stay right to the end because I'm going to share a Warping mistake that I made and I'm going to make sure that you don't make that mistake as well So all this is part of what we teach in our art business Academy monthly membership Which you can find out more details about below this video Hey, if you're new to this channel, I will welcome I'm Sophie Mahia And I help female artists to make a living from their art or creativity by building a stable profitable business Doing what they love and on this channel. I share all things tips and tricks art business related So if that's what you need don't forget to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell to get notified Every time I post a new video All right, so let's go ahead and look at these seven steps That you need to take if you want to quit your job and go full-time as an artist So step number one, this might sound obvious, but sometimes people don't do it and that is plan Well ahead So for example, if you're in a full-time job, you might want to stop by just simply reducing down the days You know five days to four or three to two I actually went to two and a half when I left my job So I started my business on two and a half days and I still worked in my in my teaching job for two and a half days as well and Something about having that short little period of time that really meant there was very very laser focused on the time I did have but Preparation is key. What you don't want to be doing is saying oh, I think next week I'm just gonna leave my job and give it a go. All right step number two And this is super super important and so many people don't do this And that is to have at least 12 months income put aside or an income source That will cut that will cover you for at least the first 12 months of starting up your business You know, they often say that when you start a business in year one You make a loss year two you break even and year three you make a profit So if we know that the last thing you want to do is make a leap from your job and say I'm going full-time artist And then have to really Struggle and not be able to do the things you need to do because you're in that scarcity or lack or trying Desperately to sell and that's not the place that we want you to be in we need you to be in a space of okay I've got 12 months to really get this business going. What do I need to prioritize? And what do I need to be doing first now where you get that income from is of course up to you Some people will take a loan some people will perhaps draw some equity out of if they've got a property Some people will will use savings or redundancy pay and other people have perhaps you've already got another income source So whatever it is for you just make sure that you can live comfortably for 12 months while you're starting up your business Step 3 you need to have your artist business plan fully filled out. There's no way around it This is your live document. That's going to help you to make choices to determine what you're going to focus on first What you could do later what you're going to be selling at what price point are you going to be selling? Where are you going to be selling it? And of course to whom are you going to be selling it? There's a lot of different components to a good business plan and although it might not seem like the most exciting place to start I promise you you're going to thank me later on because fully filling out your own answers business plan It's giving you your own personal roadmap to success and again This is core to what we teach in everything that we do and particularly in our art business academy membership Step number four you need to develop your key product or service that you're going to start selling with so Yeah, for example, if you are like myself a painter Then you want to create a collection of artwork that you would be happy to set out into the world It's one thing to be developing your creative practice Which I really suggest you do every day and I've got a video on how you can be doing that But it's a whole other actually to create a body of work that you put together then make it ready to sell So that would be your first product So you want to take the time to do that first all right before you start going out and say I've got one painting for sale you want to make build a Collection and it depends on what you're doing of course if you're a teacher and you want to create workshops or online courses then Ideally you want to have really worked out. What's the key thing? I'm wanting to actually sell here and you might even try or run it You know, you need to make sure that when you start this business, you've got a good quality product or service now Here's the caveat to that as creatives Are we ever happy with what we produce probably not and we all know that we're going to be selling things that we look at and go Oh, I could do it better now or you know, I want to do something different with it But that's part of that's part of who we are You still need to make sure that whatever you're going to sell you are happy with at this point Even if you know six months down the line, you will create something different or perhaps you will have improved on that There's nothing wrong with that of course. That's great Step number five is develop feedback on your product or service and this piece I find gets skipped quite a lot Now it could be as simple as you've made something that you take to an art fair or craft fair or a local market That doesn't cost you too much time doesn't cost you too much outlay And you can talk to people as they come and look at that product and you can ask them and say hey This is a new thing. I'm the new range of X Y and Z that I'm thinking of offering You know, was it something you would buy and just getting us some feedback from people and just see if they're looking at it Oh, you know, I really like one of those or they're looking at it with that sort of They're not really a move on by Sometimes people will give you open honest feedback. They might say I really like that But I wouldn't buy it at that price point or that seems a little low Maybe you could raise the prices or I'd buy that but not if it was in blue Okay, you need to get feedback if you're going to be teaching you need to set up and run a simple workshop and get some Friends relatives anybody you can drag off the street to go through that and give you honest feedback Because what you don't want to be doing if you've never taught before is running a workshop You're gonna ask people to pay to join if you haven't practiced a few times So you need feedback Feedback is going to be the most important thing You might then need to go back into that business plan and make some alterations based on the feedback Now this is standard practice in any business Why is it that creatives don't do that and they spend hours making something and then want to sell it to their desired Audience and the audience doesn't really want it because they haven't done the feedback piece. All right So do that as your next step. That's your step number five All right, once you've had some feedback and you know that what you've got is is you're happy with you've got some Perhaps some suggestions on price point or packaging or selling or you've got some new ideas Perhaps you've delivered a workshop and you've got some great feedback. It was too long too short Started at the wrong time of the day wrong time of the week You know had more of this and less of that you've adapted and you've changed and you've got your product Your service the way you want it now. You're ready to set up where you're actually going to be selling it from So you're creating your sales platforms The next thing would be to find the first place that you're going to sell whatever it is you offer from by the way That's not necessarily your website out of the gate. All right There are lots of other online sales platforms that you can use and again I've got a training coming up on how to sell your work online So look out for the details below this video because that's an hour-long training Helping you on exactly what you need to do to be successful selling online So step number seven, you've guessed it pick a date stick to it and officially launch your business This is an opportunity to have a little bit of a party whether that's online or offline And let people know that you are now ready your doors are open and you're ready for people to make that first purchase This is something to really celebrate. All right, you don't want to just say, oh, okay. It's the first of January I'm now starting my art business Let everybody know that you're starting your art business and be very Celebratory with it and also a pat on the back for you as well because the preparation that goes into it I know it's hard work and you'll be doing things that are uncomfortable And you're not sure about but I promise you when you do open your doors Whether there are online doors or offline doors You're going to be so excited that you made that decision to leave that day job and actually go out into the world as a Professional artist. I promised you the huge mistake that I made when I very first started out as an artist And here it is. I think I was a little cocky and I left my job And I didn't fully create that business plan. I remember having three months of plan ahead I worked at some of the core basics and I just pushed the business plan document to the side And I think I said something like I'll look at that later I've got enough to be going on with and was those first three months were pretty good There was a bit of a scramble and a panic after that because of course I hadn't looked ahead I hadn't actually planned I started to really sell in those first three months and I had that other problem of oh my goodness me now What what's happening and I was very busy and the whole thing was put together in a really Ungainly fashion. It's not the way that I would like for you to run your business Now all you need to do is take the time to complete it now We know that business plan is a working document So it's absolutely fine to be to get that to moving as you go forward that you need to fill it all out The get go from the get go and I didn't as I say I was a bit like that's all right I'll just look at what I'm doing for the next three months and I'll fill out the business plan later Didn't really work for me Like I say it was very stressful the months after that until I got things back on and even keel again now all of this Everything I've spoken about today is content that sits within our business Academy membership And if that's something that you are at all interested in then there's information below this video We have the doors open for the art business Academy for a very short period of time And you have the opportunity to join right now if you're watching this video at a later date There will be a wait list you'll be able to get on the wait list And I promise you as soon as the doors are about to open again You will be the very first person to know but I say at the moment our doors are open It's exciting We are celebrating a bit like what I said to you earlier instead number seven that you'll be doing the same All right, I hope you've enjoyed the content of this video And I hope that it's inspired you to know that there are some clear steps that you can take if you're sitting there Really wanting to quit that day job and wanting to be a full-time professional artist It's the best decision I ever made and I hope it's the best decision that you will make as well Thank you so much for watching this video and I'll see you on the next one