hi there boys and girls, my name is Jay, i’m in the process of setting up my own tattoo shop/parlour, in cheshire, so wanted to introduce my self…..
now as it stands, there is just one shop in the town i live in, subsequently, they have monopoly on the market, i want to change this, so i will be looking for, to start with, 2 kick ass artists to change things around here, and one piercer :p
i am a tattoo’d and pierced enthusiast, and i want to own a shop and run it as it should be run and i want it to be a cool place to be as well 😎
so, wish me luck!!
cheers
😀
good luck with the shop jay, i agree to a point with your ethics about reducing the monopoly, but i feel if its a small town then it aint fair on the other artist……. just my way of thinking
quick question time ….
1. so where have you worked upto now ?
2. how long have you been a pro ?
3. who was your mentor ?
i look forward to seing some of your work, either in your member gallery or online at your website if you have one
I agree with Outlaw…but then how do you define small? I live in a small town in texas (population 16,000), and my shop is in a small town 14 miles to the east, in Weatherford (Population 33,000?) There are two studios around Weatherford and both of us are just getting by.
I read through your post a couple of times and I have an impression reading between the lines. Now I could be wrong, so please correct me if I am.
It appears to me that you are not a tattoo artist. That as you said yourself, you were a tattooing and piercing ENTHUSIAST.
You are opening a studio to break a “monopoly” fropm another artist. Now again, I may be wrong, but it appears that you are what we call in our capitalist United States, as an opportunist. You see an opportunity to take someone else’s business.
However, the tattooing industry does not support a lot of studios, and if youre poulation is not large enough to sustain both studios, then both studios will fail. What that means is that in the long term all you are accomplishing is ruining another artist’s business and driving him to bankruptcy. To top that off, you’ll do the same to yourself.
My studio services about a 60 mile radius, and so does Texas Ink. Texas Ink is about 20 miles south of us, so our service areas overlap.
Both of us gross between $1,800.00 to $2,500.00 a week. I don’t know how their finances look, but my studio just breaks even with that. Very rarely do we run with enough money to do more than pay wages and bills. Another studio would force me to shut down and relocate.
Why don’t you either rethink your business plan, or more fully explain it so we know what you are doing. Shutting down an artist just to do it will not be recieved well here. Especially by me.
ok folks, i should explain a little more, i do not want to come across as trying to shut down the other artists business, thats i snot what i am about, i will not mention any names or the exact location to protect this….
ok, as i said, i am an enthusiast, and i do want to make a living from this venture, but, i am in it for the long haul, not just to make a buck and move on, to the next thing/opportunity….
now, i am not an artist, but i wish to use the opportunity to learn the skills of the industry at the same time.
now the reason i mention a monopoly, and more importantly, how a shop should be run, i have been into the other shop in town, and, have enquired about a thing or two as have many of my friends, and it laves nothing but a bad taste in the mouth, the whole attitude is all wrong, there is no advice on offer as to what would/could work for various different designs. all the response you receive is, “if you don’t know what you want i can’t help you”, now i get this to an extent, if you come in with a blank piece of paper, you aren’t gonna get helped, but i have been in with examples and asked whether this could be done, and that, and get the same repsonse….. so how are you meant to get an idea of what is possible, or indeed not poosible, if they aren’t willing to put some input in, and then, get work from it……
also, said shop is charging more than double the going rate across the country, which i feel is unfair, as there is no other shop n the town, he is getting away with it, and, he is choosey over what he does, a friend went in, with a full back piece, already drawn out, full size, he looked at it, and said, no i don’t want to do that, it was an intricate, but basic tribal design….. so right there, he turned down £2500-3000 worth of work, he also has a 4-6 month wait, which, lets be honest, you want it doing as soon as, not 6 months time, and to top it all off, the staff that work there, do not get any of their own ink done there….. what does this say to you? now, its not that there is a policy that they cannot…..
another friend of mine was booked in to the place, he knows the guy “well” he had 2 dragons put on either shoulder, and was having it done in sittings, so paying by the hour, or so he thought, original booking was for 4 two hour sittings, it was finished in just over two sittings, but he still took the full amount for four full sittings, does that not seem a little wrong?
now the town i live in is not small, and the nearest other places are a good 20+ miles away, the area is very affluent, so there is plenty of cash floating around the local economy to support another shop, and i feel if its done right, treating the customers with respect, offering advice, and not arrogance, so it will be a great place to be tattoo’d
i will be also maintaining my full time job and supporting my family through this, so its not something i am doing on a whim, its something i really want and want to do it right, and offer the best service i can
hope this helps folks, so i am not trying to ruin something for someone else, i just want a place thats does it well, and does it properly, for a good price.
how are you going top run a business that you know nothing about, it aint just a case of hiring some tallent and opening a shop…..
I agree with S.Niell……… get yourself another business plan !!
ps…. please remember there is no unlicensed tattoo discussion allowed on the forum, this includes advice on running a shop !
i haven’t asked for any advice……..
so how are you supposed to get into the industry then? and it is that simple really, no need to over complicate it, as long as all licences and health and safety is followed, why not go for it?
i know i can offer a better experience at a better price than is currently available, with the emphasis being on the customer, and afterall, thats who pays the bills…….
so how are you supposed to get into the industry then? and it is that simple really, no need to over complicate it, as long as all licences and health and safety is followed, why not go for it?
i know i can offer a better experience at a better price than is currently available, with the emphasis being on the customer, and afterall, thats who pays the bills…….
That is the problem. You don’t know what the hell you are talking about. You don’t know what an artist’s time is worth, you don’t know how the industry sets prices, you don’t know how to tattoo, you don’t know how to sterilize, you don’t know jack shit. You are just some asshole with money that wants a tattoo and can’t get one.
Those artists, if they are backed up as long as you say they are, have earned the right to be picky about what they will or will not do. Just because you are in a rich town doesn’t mean everyone in your town is going to get tattooed. Just because you are in what you deem a large city doesn’t mean everyone is going to get tattooed. And just because that artist is backed up doesn’t mean you’ll make it if you do open a studio. The tattoo business isn’t about being nice, its about being good at what you do. Most tattoo artists are assholes because they are tired of people like you. It is people like you that make us assholes. You come in with art that sux, and expect us to beg to do it for a bullshit price. You don’t know what the hell you want and you expect us to tell you, you try to jam $5,000.00 worth of work into $500.00 worth of space and expect to get it for $100.00, then you get all pissy when you don’t get your way.
You didn’t listen to what I told you. With the two towns I’m in the middle of the poulation is around 50,000 people, but I service a 60 mile radius. In that 60 mile radius there is another 50,000 people. My studio services an area of 100,000 people and I’m barely making a profit.
You don’t understand the business, you don’t understand your clients. It is not just a matter of buying a health license and getting a tax permit.
How do you break into this business and get respect?
The hard way, by serving an apprenticeship and learning the ropes from the inside. Tattoo Studio owners are tattoo artists. The ones who are not are just opportunists.
I’m done with this conversation.:mad:
Hi
For the sake of argument :p
I think people are getting a bit too emotionally involved in the business side (not that certain points are not valid I am just tossing in the otherside of the argument for balance).
I own the only burger place in town lets call it ‘Sludgepackers’. (Based on the fact that food poisoning can kill)
Sludgepackers motto is ‘If marketing convinces you to eat shit I will be the one to sell it’.
As you can guess the quality sucks but ppl eat there because it is convenient and I am the only takeaway in town.
So if you ordered a sludgeburger with cheese and I go nope you can have it plain or not at all would you put up with that shit?
Probably not.
If you pay for 4 sludge in a box and only get 3 would you accept that?
I most definately wouldn’t.
As the owner of Sludgepackers I don’t give a shit as no competition is around and i only have to do enough to be average but can keep doing as I please.
Bob comes along and is a money guy he has no clue on how to run a takeaway/restaurant but knows that he ain’t happy with Sludgepackers.
So he rents premises and gets an experienced chef, service staff and a trainee to do all the physical stuff.
They tell him what he needs and he fronts the right equipment gets the hygiene certs etc and sets up his own business called [‘Mucky D’s’
Now Mucky D’s policy is to do things where people can have more choice at a slightly cheaper rate.
Of course Bob has no clue on how to fry a burger or use a till so he is relying on staff to do that. In the meantime he is busy learning everything from scratch and doesn’t actually cook or deal with the customers until he has full training.
What he does is manage the place makes sure the stock is in the staff are not fiddling the money and that customers are happy. maybe down the line he will take a more active role
Does Mucky D’s give a damn that Sludgepackers is losing business – hell no it is business and if Sludgepackers is shit hot at their food they won’t worry about the competition.
Obviously the above is simplified but a person can manage a tattooist without tattooing or piercing themselves.
Since they are the ones fronting the money and paying their own wages an experienced artist can apprentice them along the way.
All I would say is don’t tattoo until completed an apprenticeship and let the pro’s do it for you.
Also I respect the fact that many artists have worked damn hard to get their studios up and running but for me at the end of it if they are good and have a great rep they can handle competition.
If you have a tattoo artist who is good but cannot front the cash for their own studio and somebody steps in as cash and manager nothing against that. I would have an issue if they employed any old shite off the streets but then it would go under as nobody would go back.
Take Care
Matthew
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