Opening shop...

[oz tattoo]

My husband's & my plan is to open up shop here within the next year or two- we live in a small town, rural area where everyone has to drive 50 miles or more to the city to get a tattoo. I work in an insurance office with a bunch of chicks that are running to the city to get some stupid little flash pieces here and there. My thought process goes both ways- on one hand, we could be opening shop in an area that is "untapped" and is therefore convenient for the residents of these dinky surrounding towns. OR we could easily plateau with our level of business, and at such a level where it isn't monetarily satisfying to us. There's TONS of $$ to be made in this business- I just don't want to go about this wrong. Anyone else out there open up shop in a small town area & have a story of success or utter failure to tell??? Any other pointers for opening up shop??? I'm in IA- I doubt I'll be anyone's competitor in this forum!!! :)

[Madd Chef]

I too am from a small town, but there is one other good tattooist in town as well that has a shop, my old boss! My wife wants me to open up shop across the street from him but till I do, and this may help: just go by word of mouth set up a sterol studio off your house or rent a place. I personally just have a studio set up, clean, comfortable and sterole. also word of mouth is the best, because its people loving your work, Ive got a client who every time he comes over he brings someone different that likes my work and want me to work on them :!: :P

[oz tattoo]

good advice- I am currently working out of my home, and I do get a lot of referrals from former clients. I have flyers up in the area too, which have given me a few bites. When I say small town, I mean SMALL- there is a town 15 miles away that has a population of 7000, and my location is in a town of less than 400!!!! That's the way many of the towns are around here, but there are a bunch of them within a 50 mile radius.

[InkUp420]

I am about to open up a shop in an area where there are three bigger cities, and everyone from here has to drive at least 45 min to get ink done. so im bankin on location and word of mouth....its not going to be easy...ONe question though, anyone have any info on TAXES....? im totally clueless on this and where to look.

[imported_NeedleJack]

My Advice - Never open a shop up from your old boss - In fact, never open up a shop from another tattoo shop. That right there can become grounds for some bad blood in the neighborhood. Pretty soon your customers will start to psycho-babble and create chaos for both you and your competition. Nothing somebody on the outside wants more than to see people on the inside do - fight!

[coyote bob]

good luck on opening yer shop...sounds like a lot of good advice wuz posted...heres some other things ya might want to consider.... 1. put together a business plan with a budget...on paper, it can really be a eye opening experience..knowing what budget your operating within can help you decide what you "need" to charge for yer work...this was a big problem for me because i love what i'm doing and don't like to jack up the whole experience with bad money issues...so i put it all on paper and came up with what i "need" to charge against how much work I need to do stay open at first....once the cliental is built up then i make adjustments based on a realistic work history still be very competative.
2. what is the population of the area you can draw from and what is the percentage of people that are into ink...i conducted alot of investigation into this before opening my 2nd shop, as the first shop i opened was a dismal failure....i am now in a city of over fifty thousand...by obeserving people and i found that everywhere i go if there are 10 people in a room 3 have tats...resturants, bars markets where ever, so simple math is outta 50k residents about 166, 666 have tats...there are 4 shops in town so each shop has potential for 41,166 clients..(and this guyz are worryied about too many shops in town!)
3. remember, the your last tattoo is the one everyone will be talking about....one guy here couldn't make it, and he was one of the best, but one or two "quick jobs" fer the almighty$$$$ well below his ability and way to high priced and his rep went into the shitter...
really hope you guys make it the more that do the stronger it gits.. my first shop failed for alot of reasons and i learned alot from that, jes as i'm learning every day what does werk 8)

[oz tattoo]

excellent advice coyote- I'll be paying closer attention to the things you mentioned when I am out in public :) I'm sure it'll pay off, especially considering the location that I'm considering. Though there are many people around here that are into tattoos, I'm not sure that I trust that there will be enough for a steady stream of business. I just have these visions of me sitting in an empty shop all afternoon, waiting for some flesh to walk in the door. That scares me...