Top 5 Business Skills for Aspiring Tattoo Artists

Top 5 Business Skills for Aspiring Tattoo Artists : Many tattoo artists are born with great acuity and can effortlessly whip up outstanding ideas for the growth of their business. But since you are reading this article, it means you are hungry to succeed and can’t help but pursue all the valuable information that is out there.

Is that the case? If so, then we are going to talk about the top five business skills for aspiring tattoo artists. In a hurry? Let’s jump straight into the juicy details then.

Top Business Skills for Aspiring Tattoo Artists

If you want to make it big as a tattoo artist, here are a few core business skills you must acquire:

Sharpen your people skills

You’ve probably heard that barbershops and beauty parlours are some of the best places for laidback conversations, right? Of course. But guess what, so are tattoo shops. Holding intriguing conversations is one of the best ways to distract customers from focusing on the pain-particularly.

Telling great stories makes you personable and fascinating to be around. And here’s the thing about being interesting-your clients feel comfortable, and they’ll certainly not want to try the neighboring parlor-no matter how glaringly pompous it looks.

Bonding with clients can feel unsettling if you are an introvert, and even extroverts can find it challenging to unearth exciting tales. However, small talk can include anything, and luckily one thing usually leads to another.

Ask questions to know your customers like where they come from, what they studied, etc. Note that you’ll also need to share your answers, so clients don’t think they are being interrogated.

Another way to brush up on people skills is to read books. Stellar recommendations include Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends And Influence People and Leil Lowndes’s How To Make Anyone Like You.
Learn and test different styles

Helen Keller said that life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Another anonymous individual said Be daring. Be first. Be different. The truth is, your tattoo career hinges more on your needle skills than anything. So spend some time creating and trying new styles to stand out from the crowd.

There are many tattoo books and online forums where ink enthusiasts share their killer inventions. Make use of them if you find it hard to invent your own designs.

If you are still green or not that good, we might recommend working with pros first. This will help you understand the challenges of running a tattoo shop and avoid gruesome mistakes made by the tattoo studio owner.
Expand your network

Do you have clients that refer you to others? If yes, then that’s great. You are also a member of several online forums where people share everything about tattoos? Which is valuable. However, as a professional, you still need to network with experts. Such relations turn out to be profitable later.

There are a couple of networking etiquettes to follow. First, if you hand out your business card, it’s fair to ask the receiver theirs too. Next, you need to regularly follow up with your contacts to keep the relationship alive.
Track your numbers

Accounting and bookkeeping are essential parts of running any business. It helps you keep track of all activities and how much you spend on them. This way, you can tell if your business is profitable or not.

By staying on top of your finances, you can shield your business from incurring unforeseen penalties such as forgotten bills and delayed loan payments.

In order to successfully keep track of all expenses, entrepreneurs should not use personal bank accounts for business. It’s not only unprofessional but can interfere with accounting as well.
Go social

It goes without saying that social media platforms have become prime real estate for businesses to mine customers. Your shop too could benefit-especially since it involves sharing evocative pieces of art.

Cold fact; you are not going to grow your page in a month. It’s probably going to take longer. Unless of course, you have the money to hold contests and other proactive lead gathering tactics.

However, all you need to do to grow gradually is spend 30 minutes every day to post something, follow similar interest pages, and comment on other posts. Stay professional, and don’t post irrelevant, controversial, or copyrighted content.

Bonus Tip: It also helps to have a handy set of tattoo forms for all your clients just so that all the paperwork is in order.

Conclusion

Besides these business skills for aspiring tattoo artists, there are a few more that can ensure your startup doesn’t run into hurdles.

For instance, you need to understand blood-borne pathogens, how to curb contamination, and treatment options to recommend to those infected. You can learn about communicable diseases in seminars and even get certified.

Above all, you’ll need to be passionate, resilient, and patient. These three skills are paramount for growth.

Author:

Ashley Johnson drives content strategy at TattooPro, a cutting-edge cloud-based software solution for tattoo studios. She’s inspired by the hustle of the artists to create more.