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10/26/2007 12:33:26 PM · #1 |
So my wife and I are looking for a potential investment or source of extra income. We found a great commercial property smack dab in the middle of a historic downtown area and it just so happens to be next door to my favorite little ale house.
We̢۪re toying with the idea of buying it and turning it into an art gallery. We̢۪ve bounced around some ideas, but frankly, neither of us have ever even spent much time in art galleries, yet alone run one, so we don̢۪t know much of anything. We̢۪re thinking converting the building should be pretty easy (walls, floors and lighting), no license would be needed and overhead should be pretty low as most stuff on display or for sale would be on commission basis and we would not need a large staff. The area has several bars and restaurants and a ton of antique shops so we would have instant traffic into the gallery and would not need to advertise much.
Has anyone worked at, managed or owned a gallery and have some thoughts? Is it a profitable business or is it a more of a break even for fun thing?
And yes, I̢۪d have a DPC members wall!
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10/26/2007 12:47:00 PM · #2 |
you could do worse than look through the phonebook, check the web and see what other galleries are nearby.
How much stock do they carry? What sort of work? What sort of price range ?
In fact if you've never been in this line of business before you (or your wife) could do worse than try and work for one of them for a while and see the realities of the business . .
Sounds a great life - but I'm guessing most don't turn over a handsome profit. |
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10/26/2007 12:53:00 PM · #3 |
Wow....where to start.....
First, just let me say that I'm neither trying to talk you out of this, nor trying to be a pessimist. These are just the kind of things that you will have to deal with as a business owner, especially what is essentially a "Boutique" business.
Looooooooong and sucky hours.....galleries MUST be open when people are off work, so that automatically means that you can kiss evenings, weekends, and holidays goodbye. It's also a flighty, whimsical, and impulsive business; there will be no rhyme or reason behind when people will show up, what they'll buy, and how much they'll be willing to pay for the offerings. The Christmas holidays will always be your best shot at buyers that you won't get any other time of year.
As far as consignment goes, you will have to be careful.....offend the wrong person in the area, and you won't get any inventory, too willing, and you end up with garbage that clueless artistes think is the second coming of Da Vinci, when your pet chimp could do better. You'll have to become the comnsummate diplomat to get and keep quality stock.....and you better hope it sells!
Do not think of this as an investment......if this is a dream, go for it, and realize that it will take a while, years probably, and it may never take off. Most galleries live a fragile existence and/or are owned and operated by people who don't need the money out of it but do it for the prestige or because that's what they've always wanted to do, OR......for the pure love of art/photography/sculpture/whatever.
Don't forget to look at your overhead, rent, utilities, startup costs-letterhead, business software, invoices, signs; and make sure you know what it costs to open the doors for a day. If you go into this with your eyes open, work your @$$ off, and keep your expectations reasonable, you can make it fly.
But do it for the right reasons......if you need the money NOW.....take a part time gig at Fed-Ex.....if you're doing this 'cause you always wanted your own gallery and you can suffer a little 'til it gets legs, then go for it.
Just be careful!
Good luck and let me know where it is, I'll bring you some stuff to sell for me! LOL!!!
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10/26/2007 12:57:57 PM · #4 |
How many pieces of art are you going to have? How many customers do you think will walk through your doors each day? From those, how many will acutally purchase something? Now, how much is the art work they're purchasing. If you only have 3 buyers/day but they each buy a $500 piece, that's $1,500/day. Try fiddling around with some things like this to figure if it will be profitable. Of course there's so much more thinking that goes into it, but this should be good dinner table talk for now
Good luck...I hope it works so you can get a DPC wall! |
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10/26/2007 01:20:03 PM · #5 |
 sfalice operates an art gallery with some partners in SF. Perhaps a PM to her would be helpful. |
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10/26/2007 02:44:27 PM · #6 |
Write a business plan. Your local library will have plenty of books on how to write business plans. If you don't have enough information to write a business plan, talk to the owners of other local galleries, and ask questions. You will probably find them to be surprisingly helpful. Once you have the business plan in hand, you'll be in a better place to make a decision.
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10/26/2007 03:00:57 PM · #7 |
Thanks so far! To answer some questions, we already do run a business from home so we are pretty familier with having a good business plan and what will go into making this happen. I'd talk with a lot of the business owners on the street before going forward.
It's not by any means a dream. I think it can be fun and if I can prove it'll make a few dollars I'll go forward. It's a busy little downtown area right on a river. Most of the buildings look to be about 100 years old. I love the area, everyone says hi as you walk by and no art galleries near by, just a lot of antique shops!
We don't plan to man the gallery ourselves. We'd hire people to operate it, or have artist volunteer to put in a shift or two here and there in exchange for displaying.
Rough numbers put expenses at about $3500/month so I'd need to sell about $250/day (assuming 50% commission) to break even. However, this does not consider what it will cost to convert the building (which I don't expect to be too much and I can do most of the work).
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10/26/2007 03:27:55 PM · #8 |
I say, go for it with all the gusto you have. I've seen people start businesses with their business plans, accountants, homework, everything that someone is supposed to do, done, and fail miserably. I've seen people that had a idea and a heart's desire open businesses within a month of getting the idea and be wildly successful.
I think your energy will carry you through the rough spots. And your brains. A lot of the people that have to do it by the numbers can't think when they hit those slippery spots in the road. After all, THAT wasn't in the business plan. Think, have fun, love what you do and you will be successful.
If you buy the building, you'll always be able to rent it out to someone else if the location is ok and things don't work out with the gallery. So if you have the money, that part is a non-issue. |
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10/26/2007 04:34:53 PM · #9 |
Ten things for your gallery's success:
1. Large, uneven, well-worn wooden plank floors. Stained, not painted, rich & dark.
2. Brick and/or stone walls.
3. High ceilings with wooden ceiling fans.
4. Large, soft, leather chairs scattered here & there in pairs or threes.
5. A water cooler, but don't have a dispenser of those little paper cone-cups, have a rack of champaign glasses hanging next to it.
6. A couple of cute & sociable college students to split up the work schedule on evenings & weekends. They should wear skimpy French outfits and be happy to give shoulder-rubs to people relaxing in the leather chairs.
7. Do NOT invite Art Roflmao, he doesn't put the toilet seat up, and he'll just make a mess of it.
8. Mints at the checkout, but not the cheap restaurant mints. Get the little, thin chocolate ones that are individually wrapped in the shiny, green foil. Don't put them in a bowl, put them on a raised crystal platter. Don't just pile them on there, build a funky pyramid, change the shape daily.
9. A big, fat cat that will spend all day on one of the leather chairs.
10. Good tunes with lots of tiny little speakers hidden out of sight.
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10/26/2007 04:42:04 PM · #10 |
I don't think you should open a gallery simply to make money, because, chances are that you'll be greatly disappointed unless you are passionate enough about it to persevere through a rough several years.
You should read Living The Artist's Life by Paul Dorrell before you do anything. The author is the owner of a successful art gallery in Kansas City and while the book is intended to inspire artists, he relays a great deal of his experiences in establishing his gallery. |
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10/27/2007 12:33:09 PM · #11 |
turns out the cost of the building is a lot more then we thought it would be! A full restaurant across the street with a patio overlooking the river is $440K. I figured this one, other side of the street with no river view, only slightly larger, less character, with out all the restaurant equip would be cheaper, but go figure, they are asking $1.1 million!!!
We'll still keep our eyes open for a bulding though. While I think it will be a blast, I'm not in a position to put the time and money into something that would not be profitable (but if I buy the building rather then lease I'd be happy to break even).
Slippy, love the ideas!!!
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