Opening a shop Need Help

[txtatz]

yep, I am wondering the same thing, I have a guy that wants to invest in a shop and he has checked out a couple of places for rent, but they were to expensive. He said he would be willing if you can find a place in good area around a grand a month. I also told him I want to do more investigation. I already have almost everything except furniture, and I would want a second autoclave for back up.

[Anonymous]

Well I have been contemplating this for a few years now ....I have all the flash I need and a decent work center , machine , pretty much everything I need but a copy machine , and a autoclave, but I dont need that if I proove that all I use is pre made , disposable needles and tubes ...but its good to have in the shop anyways ...

I dont think U should pay any more than a 1000 per month , unless its just an ideal spot . thats from being at a shop for a year apprenticing . The owner was in a dumpy little shop , but a good location and payed 800 per month . then he moved across the street to a shop twice the size and alot newer and nicer , his business doubled ...and of course his rent did too , but it was well worth it . The shop I work in now , used to be 1200 on the front street , now after moving and coming back and not wanting to be right beside the old shop which was sold we are on the back side of the building , rent is 500 . But this only works cause everyone hates the people in the old shop up on the street so they are all finding us down below . When the shop up around front moves , then we plan to move back up there .

There is a shop 2 miles from us that is in a very good spot , on a busy road in the middle of this small snobby richy part of the town . they prolly pay a little more , but there business does exellent . And Most people I meet that have been there wont go back , cause the attitude really sucks , and the people are rude ...but it doesnt matter to them , cause they get so much business ...im not sasying thats right , I m just giving an example of how important location is .

I have been thinking of applying for a government grant to start a business . I know its really hard to get , but I have been told for some reason its easier for a woman to get a grant , so if your married .....

I figure if I can get a grant , then ask for as much I can ...otherwise I would prolly have to take a loan , I think if u have ALL the equiptment u
need and u find rent for around 1000 I would try to get 6000 as a minimum ... and thats only if u can get the renter to make adjustments to the building for u , otherwise if u have to do all the floors , and do some remoddling , then I would prolly take 10,000 . And I would stay away from strip malls , theres always some extra hiddn fees (triple net) that u have to pay on top af the rent and you dont want to get stuck in a years lease ...Always when starting out try to get the renter to let u go month to month starting out .

and remember cleanliness , is very importane to customers . I would put in new tile floors , paint the whole shop , relpace any stained ceiling tiles , make it look brand new ...

and when I think of expenses , theres pretty much electricity figure 100-150 a month unless u have the AC on all day every day , water depending on the renter , and IF your renting the owner should have some insurance on the building , so u would want to get theft and liability insurance at least I wouldnt worry about much else thatn that when your just starting out . so all u really got to put back into the business is your rent plus utilities ,insurance and advertising which u can do for 2000 or less , mainly your rent being the defining factor ...

[Anonymous]

And as far as advertising goes , after talking to my old mentor , and working in the shop now , I think the best advertising is simply the phone book , they will (usually)put your business name and phone number in for free , but if u want bold print r a picture thats always more . The ad my boss has now is only 250 per month and its 2 1/2 x 2 inches , plenty big enough to put our logo and the basic info for the shop , but I dont even think we need it that big , and remember your rent , utilities , advertising , thats all tax write offs. And when I started in this shop , it was not known for tattooing , so we did a half off special for two weeks , I went from doing nothing the first 2 weeks , to being booked the next 2 weeks ... and if your shop owner u can do that and still make a profit , my boss just didnt take her half the money , so I was doing OK .

u might also consider a radio ad if u could afford it , It is very expensive , but its the fastest way to get the word out about your shop , and if u advertised half off for 2 weeks on the radio , u would do enough to pay off the advertisment . at half price I would make 300 per day on the week ends ...and we wernt even on the radio .And I wouls say the best time of year to open shop would be in spring time , April or may , but not in late summer and definatly not in winter time . well at least in Oregon , not sure how the weather goes where ur at ...

[Jillsta]

Okay, this might sound weird, but what about buying a camper and turning that into your tattoo shop? There's this guy that rolls through our town about once a year and he has a camper with sliding glass doors, tons of florescent lighting, flash racks, tiled floor, etc. and it was a nice set up. You could tell it was very clean too. I'm sure he had to get permission from the county commisioners to do business over the weekend parked on the corner.

I'm thinking of possibley doing this, because I currently only work on friends in my house and I don't want stangers in my house if this takes off. There's probably some local hoops to jump through to run a business on your property, but it might be something you would be interested in.

That, and you could hook it up to a truck and go to biker rallies and stuff. We've been to biker rallies where people are getting tattooed OUTSIDE on a chair with dust blowing all around. I can't believe they can do that. I definitely wouldn't want to get a tattoo in those conditions. I think they're really relaxed on the tattoo laws here in Nevada... obviously.

In any case, just a thought.

[Anonymous]

I dont believe Nevada is regulated at all , that means their not just being leanient , but thay simply have no rules for it , so ya you can pretty much do what u want . Washington is the same way , I knew a guy there who had a shop , no licensng cause there is none , exept a business license which anyone can get . HE had no autoclave , and didnt change the bags on his spray bottles , unless they got all messy ...not good . My sister goes to little Bazars and market places on wekends and sells jewlery , and she sees a guy in a van doing tattoos sometimes . I think I like the idea of every state being regulated , I know its more expensive , but its for the best ...Another thing to think of is that if someone wanted to they could set up in a temperary location and work for a weekend and be gone in a few days , now in order for them to get in trouble , they would have to be reported to the health licensing office , which is only open on the weekends , then it takes them forever to go out and investagate the situation .... so if nobody knows the persons name , how could they get caught ? Im not saying in any way to do that , im just saying its another explanation for the camper people who travel around like that ...

[txtatz]

There use to be a guy here that opened up a shop in his existing bike shop, but he was not set up properly at all, no autoclave, not good conditions or precautions at all, he also had a camper he would travel to biker events and do the same, he got shut down by the state health department, and they shut down his bike shop also so he took off. The laws here are pretty strict, if they catch you tattooing or anyone complains, and you have no shop or license you could do jail time.

The guy that wants to invest is a guy I have tattoo'd a couple of times now and he wants to learn how also, but he would be cool about it, I had many talks about that kind of situation. We check on another shop that got closed here cause the owner died in a bike wreck and the artists there were to stoned and lazy to keep the thing going but that rent had that triple net thing in there which brought it up to 3500 a month so that went out the window.

I would not want a mobile shop, cause laws very state to state, our laws are strict to ensure saftey and I don't believe thats a bad thing and I want to have a high standard shop thats nice and clean to make the customers feel safe, you can get a bad rep here quick if people get infections or tell everyone the place is a mess.

Aggresive if ya get one going let us know, I will do the same, and I would love for ya to come down and due a guest spot from time to time, I really like your work. I am working towards that and I need more experience and info, but I am planning on one in the next 1 to 2 years.

[txtatz]

HE might if we could get a first shop open and it does well, he is a really cool guy and loved to hang around shops alot. right now he let me use his house to set up appointments at.

[txtatz]

Yea I hear ya on the money thing, things here have been tight, I am hoping they get better soon. Need to win the lotto that we could have a chain of shops in each city in Texas. Oh sorry dreamiin again , but that is my dream, I would especialy one day like on on the river walk in San Antonio, that place would do well with all the people there all the time.

[txtatz]

now I don't know about franchising cause ya get one that hires rockstars with there attidudes or an owner that runs it bad it could make the name look bad which could reflect on the other shops.

[Anonymous]

try for a government grant , that would prolly take a while to even find out if u qualify . other than that , I dunno , can u borrow from family ?or friends ?

[txtatz]

I know telecom. I got layed off last year, made it thru 2 sales of the company, busted my ass for 5 yrs, was on call 24/7 just for them to come and say we have to lay you off, can't afford your position any longer, then I get in a different industry and got layed off again after 10 months.

Aggressive, try grants, I always see things on the internet for small business grants that don't always have to be payed back. I know with loans there pretty tuff to get unless you have cyrstal clean credit history.
Godd luck, I'm rutin for ya, don't give up!!!!

[Anonymous]

go to the college and post flyers , offer discounts for cololege students , that kind of stuff , I do that for waitresses and bartenders , and Strippers ...ect Also I think doing a half off special when u open will help alot ...and yes go full time , if your not there then u cant do the work ...
and if u can have product , t-shirts , hats , alot of jewlery , just a reason for people to come in and look around . and and advertise gift certificates . ill think of more ...

[Anonymous]

and do u have alot of flash ? if not , look on ebay , and start drawing !!!!
I had a big problem with people not having enough to choose from .

[txtatz]

Good Luck Aggressive, stick to it you'll be ok, keep us informed on how it goes, I believe you will do fine. So ya got a name for it yet? Shoot me an e-mail with your contact info, and If I get a chance I would like to come check ya out, and get a peice done by ya.

[Jillsta]

Yes, good luck AD. You obviously have the determination and the drive to make this work. Add that to the fact that your tattoos ROCK, and you're well on your way to great success!! Please keep us updated on your progress. Just reading the steps to this point has been very helpful and interesting.

[txtatz]

So do all employee, just have to take the blood bourne pathogens coarse and register with the health department , or do they have to get there license. From what I have checked into just the shop needs the license, but i have read that all employes must have that course and a cpr course.

[Anonymous]

in Oregon the tattoo artists have to go through a state approved apprenticship , then take the exam , but all the piercers have to do is pay 35 $ and take the bloodbourne pathogens/cpr class and thats it ...our shop has a fireman come to the shop and give the class , so we can all do it at once .

sounds like your getting well on ur way , I really hope it works out for u .
I think Ill prolly stick it out at my place for a while and since the owners getting old and has cancer , I will try to buy the business from her in another year or two .

[Anonymous]

I hope things work out for u , I think by looking at ur work , you will be very successfull with ur shop .

We were trying to find a new location for our shop , but cant seem to find anything worth the money they want . Also the cosmetic tattooist that is up on the front street , has hired this lady that I apprenticed with . And they hava a huge tattoo sign on the street . but I have built up a loyal clientel for myself , so I might be alright here .

[Anonymous]

also remember to keep ur recepts for EVERYTHING!!!!!! write it off , thats my motto . Here in Oregon I can claim total loss for the first three years , and can write off up to 25 $ per day without having recepts ... not that I do that , but u should check it out in ur state .

[KnightRum]

i am currently thinking about opening a shop here in town. I am from Pennsylvania. Does anybody know what the laws and requirements for my state are? or where i might be able to find this info online? I used to work at a shop here in town, and i swear the guy had nothing.....no autoclave......no cerification.......no liability.........Nothing.......in fact the guy told people he was certified and then furnished a Superior Tattoo Club Membership printout as his ""Certification"" haa, go figure. He no longer has a shop here, i'm not sure what happened, i've heard several rumors. One, that one of his employees got angry at him and turned him in for using dirty needles.........dont' know, I personally have never seen him use dirty needles, BUT i wouldn't put it past him now that i know him a little better. Another rumor i heard was that he was arrested for some type of theft or fraud, not sure. But neither of the sources of the rumors is valid in my book. So i don't know. Do you think he was arrested or shut down for theft of Tattoo Flash, and does that type of thing happen often?

[framey]

:evil:

[KnightRum]

that is the same document i found.....so what you and this are tellin me is the only law/regulation in PA is that i cannot tat a minor without parental consent???? o and thanx btw

[KnightRum]

oic, there is a little bit more to it than that, all jumbled up with numbers... :roll: