Embarking on your first entrepreneurial journey can be scary, especially when your educational background is in art rather than business. But nearly anyone can start a business if they’re passionate about entrepreneurship, and these three ideas from The Underdog Print Shop will help to make the process seem a little less daunting and a lot more attainable.
1. Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset
As an artist, you already possess skills like problem-solving, creativity, self-confidence, and critical thinking: All strengths that can be transferred to your new career as a business owner. And while certain entrepreneurial skills such as leadership, negotiation, and strategic planning can take a bit longer to develop when you’re new to business ownership, cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset is easier than you’d think. Here are a few ways to get started:
- Set goals for yourself. What will you accomplish each day to help you achieve your goal of starting a business?
- Learn about entrepreneurship. Take free online courses on Coursera, edX, and Skillshare to develop your knowledge of business, accounting, digital marketing, and leadership. You could also listen to podcasts on entrepreneurship; join a nonprofit board; or follow business websites like AllBusiness.com, Business Insider, Inc., and Mashable.
- Start a side hustle. Consider starting your business as a side hustle so you can build business experience before taking the plunge into entrepreneurship.
- Create your business plan. Create a detailed business plan to keep your goals and ideas organized, increase your chances of obtaining business funding, and prepare for success as an entrepreneur. Every great business plan should include an executive summary, market analysis, business structure, marketing strategy, and a company’s financial projections.
2. Connect With a Business Mentor
In addition to developing an entrepreneurial mindset, connecting with a mentor can help you to build confidence as a first-time business owner. Mentoring provides you with an opportunity to ask questions about business ownership, improve your entrepreneurial skills, and build professional relationships through a series of virtual mentoring sessions. Mentorsme is a great starting point for finding a mentor as an aspiring entrepreneur in the UK.
For those who live in the US, the SCORE Association offers three options for finding the right business mentor. You can either request a mentor that matches your specific needs, browse mentors online, or connect with a mentor through your local SCORE chapter. SCORE Mentoring is free, effective, and perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs.
3. Keep Marketing Expenses Low
If the high cost of marketing has you second-guessing your plans of starting a business, you’ll be glad to know there are plenty of ways to advertise your new business at practically no cost to you. As a few low-cost marketing ideas, you could publish relevant blog posts on your business website; create promotional videos for YouTube and TikTok; and post attention-grabbing graphics on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
When it comes to creating marketing materials such as business cards, flyers, and brochures, there’s no need to hire a professional right off the bat. Your artistic skills and talents can be used to design these marketing materials online before saving them as PDFs and having them professionally printed.
In the event you need to edit your marketing materials in the future, you can even use a tool to convert a PDF to Word online. These conversion tools make it quick and easy to edit your PDF files without losing the original formatting, and all you need to do is upload the PDF, download the editable file to your computer, and make your edits in Word before resaving the file as a PDF.
Don’t Let Your Startup Jitters Hold You Back in Business
Art may be your expertise, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have the entrepreneurial skills needed to start your own business. You may not go from artist to entrepreneur overnight, but your creativity, critical thinking skills, and ability to solve complex problems will help you to confidently take strides toward business ownership.
The Underdog Print Shop showcases original artwork created by independent artists. View our art collections, check out our blog, or get in touch with us at info@theunderdogprintshop.com.