How to Start an Art Consulting Business

Part 1 - How to start an Art Consulting business - Background

Art consultants serve two separate (but related) business functions. They may work with artists to help them find their best target audience and to promote the artist’s work to increase sales. An art consultant may also work with collectors who wish to acquire specific kinds of art or galleries who wish to commission specific work from specific artists. Either way, a consultant is an important way for a community’s artistic presence to grow and thrive.

You may also be interested in additional low cost business ideas.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start an Art Consulting business - Background
• Part 2 - Our planner tool to see if this idea is the right fit for you
• Part 3 - Action plan to get started

What are the costs involved in opening an art consulting business?

One of the best things about an art consulting business is that it takes very little money to start. Functionally, you will often be working from home, on the road, in an artist’s home, or in an art gallery. That means that you don’t need to lease a separate space or pay for special supplies. You can effectively start this business for $2,000, with $500 of that going towards the design of a professional website and $1,500 going towards a mixture of traditional advertising (such as local newspapers, radio stations, and possibly cards and fliers at relevant art venues) and online advertising.

What are the ongoing expenses for an art consulting business?

Aside from paying for any of your travel expenses and providing more marketing for yourself (both of which are variable costs), your only real ongoing expense will be the hosting upkeep of your website (about $100 a year). The low cost of starting and maintaining this business means that it can function well as a part-time job for someone to try before they make it their full-time gig.

Who is the target market?

The target market varies based on the clients. For instance, art gallery demographics can vary wildly based on the tastes of the art director and their own specific niche. For art collectors, a surprisingly growing audience is affluent millennials, as they are likelier to see art purchases as an investment rather than a luxury. As for the artists themselves, they will typically be young artists who are fresh out of art school and looking to make a name for themselves.

How does an art consulting business make money?

Typically, art consultants make money by charging different fees for their different services. For instance, you may charge a flat fee for acquiring works of art for collectors, or you may negotiate a percentage fee in which you receive a certain percentage of its overall price. Similarly, in promoting the works of artists, you may charge a flat fee for particular services (demographic research, marketing consultation, and possibly marketing design), or you may function more like an agent who receives a certain percentage of profit from sales.

How much can you charge customers?

The amount you charge clients depends on the service you render and who the client is. For instance, if you are helping an artist or gallery to sell a work, it is reasonable to charge them between ten and fifteen percent (like a typical agent) as a commission. If you are helping a collector to procure a work of art, it is reasonable to charge them between fifteen and twenty percent as a commission. Typically, you will negotiate a rate by considering the intended price of the work of art and calculating how much time it will take you to buy or sell the item, allowing you to insure you are properly compensated.

How much profit can an art consulting business make?

Obviously, the exact profit of this business depends on how many clients you have and how many works of art you help to sell for artists and procure for collectors. For the related field of “Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average income is $127,650. Your initial years will probably reap far less than that, but once you have a steady array of clients from whom you are getting ten to twenty percent commission per artistic work, it’s easy to develop a steady cash flow.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Don’t ignore the social aspect of your job. Organizing community events for artists and art lovers (such as a happy hour at a trendy bar or an informal exhibition at a coffee house) can help you grow your network and expand your influence. Consider helping young art majors put on their first exhibitions and sell some of their first major woks: this allows you to discover talent early and possibly become their representative for many successful years. Finally, consider expanding your sphere of influence: as many of your customers (both artists and collectors) will be millennials, they are likely to be comfortable working with you remotely. This allows you to help people throughout the nation and across the world, greatly increasing your chances of developing steady (and affluent) clients.

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at an art consulting business?

Because of the multiple roles an art consultant plays, any given day may be different from the one before it. For instance, you may spend some days conducting demographic research and coordinating with advertising firms to help promote the work of an artist. On other days, you may spend a lot of time browsing online and offline art auctions in order to acquire specific works for art collectors. On other days, you may be contacting artists on behalf of art galleries and negotiating the commission of unique works of art.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful art consulting business?

As mentioned before, any experience in studying, creating, and selling art is invaluable in this business. Aside from the raw experience, any existing networks you have of fellow artists, art directors, and art collectors can help provide you with resources to get things started quicker. Finally, your own experience collecting art can be a big help, as you will already know an assortment of tips and tricks to find the best works of art at the most competitive prices.

What is the growth potential for an art consulting business?

The growth potential for this business is modest. While the Bureau of Labor and Statistics does not track art consultants specifically, related fields such as “advertising, promoting, and marketing managers” are projected to grow by nine percent between 2014 and 2024. Combined with the fact that you have three different types of clients (artists, collectors, and galleries), your business can safely diversify and grow in whatever area is more profitable at the time.

What are some insider tips for jump starting an art consulting business?

One way to help your business take off is to pick a particular niche to focus on. For instance, the world of decorative art is very different from the world of corporate art, which itself is very different from the world of art galleries. While being able to work for different kinds of clients is a strength of this business, you will have an easier time focusing on one niche and then expanding. Another way to hit the ground running is to reach out to your existing network of artists and art collectors to see if they need your services or if they know of someone else who does.

How and when to build a team

Art consultants typically work on their own. This helps reduce your overhead, maximize profit, and underscore the personal relationship you have with clients. If you ever choose to build a team, it should organically come from your own success, meaning that you now have more clients and prospective clients than you can reasonably handle on your own.

Part 2 - Is an Art Consulting business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Art Consulting business in 90 days