What No One Talks About Starting an Art Business…

Hi, my name is Sarah Gruber, and I’m an artist, painter, illustrator, and also secretly a writer. My dream since high school has been to start selling my work, and this journey has been a long one. I graduated in December 2023 from art school, and just opened my shop on Etsy last month selling my original paintings, prints, stickers and more.

Now, I mentioned this journey was a long one, and you may be wondering why. When I graduated college, my idea was that I’d build an audience, open my shop and be living my dream! However, things did not go as planned.

Although I studied business along with my art degree, I had to learn so much more about starting my business then I anticipated. Like what is a DBA? Should I get an LLC? Do I need a DBA if I’m using my legal name? Yes, if I want to add “art” to the end?? What about sales tax? How does that work?? The dreaded list goes on.

What no one talks about is that starting an art business comes with overwhelm, decision puralise, and research fatigue. Every one said it’s easy, and I don’t totally disagree with this sentiment, once you overcome the mental hurtles that no one tells you about. For me this took about a year and half post graduation. I hope for you it takes much less.

What no one talks about though is the mental hurdles that one often has to go though when starting. Overwhelm is real, same with disicion puralise, and research fatigue. Those are just a few. Not to mention discouragement, the sense of impending failure, and figuring out how balance ones life so that you don’t get burnt out.