OK, I’m sure this question has been asked before but I have a lot of questions and it’s just easier to post them all in one thread. Anyways, it has been a dream of mine for a very long time to start up my own tattoo shop. I’ve always loved the atmosphere of a tattoo shop, and I’ve always felt like I was at home inside of them, however, I do not wish to be a tattoo artist, but just a shop owner. My question is, where do I start? Do I go to actual tattoo shops and try to shadow the owner, see how it works? How do I get paid? I heard shop owners taking a 40 / 60 cut, the artist getting the 60 of course. I just really need some information on how to get started in perusing my dream. If anyone can help me out here, I would greatly appreciate it.
Welcome to the forums man!
Yeah, I was kinda in your shoes at once. But then I decided I would like to partake in the action! So I started a piercing apprenticeship and I’m on my 9th month, doing supervised piercing now on clients I recruit lol. I’ve always wanted to have my own shop, so now I’m taking small steps to achieve my goal. I’m currently in college, and heading to the police academy after college. But AFTER I am a police officer and I’ll be opening my own shop up.
I would just reccomend checking out the competition in the area you’re looking to open a shop. Just check out the local scene, and determine how many possible customers you’ll have…. ya know, don’t wanna open a shop in a retirement community where the average age is 75 and above lol.
-Find a vacant building you can rent.
-Start building; reception area, minimum or 2 artist stations, sterliziation room/supply room, bathroom, possibly seperate piercing room.
-Provide equipment; tattooing chairs/beds, organizers for supplies, etc.
-Advertise online such as here, other tattoo forums, Myspace.com is always helpful.With this, you can recruit artists and piercers as well as potential customers.
Go around to a few local shops, or even to near by shops and see if you can get a “shop bitch” job aka shop manager/shop hand. That way you can get a feel for the workings of a professional shop.
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