If you were to start a brick-and-mortar business and needed to acquire funding, every potential lender or investor would want to see your written business plan.  These conform to a pretty similar structure, though some vary with differing types of business.  As artists, ours will vary considerably while adhering to the same concepts. 

Your typical business plan will have the following sections:

  • Executive Summary
  • Company Description
  • Product Description
  • Market Analysis
  • Marketing/Sales Strategies
  • Management Team
  • Financials

 If you were submitting this plan to obtain funding, you would also have a section dealing with that request and how you can repay whatever you’re attempting to borrow. 

While I intend to devote an article to each of these, here’s a brief summary of what you put in each section:

Executive Summary: Essentially, this is just a summary of everything to follow.  Shorter is better in this part since you’ll be going into detail later.  Since most of the info here is derived from the rest of your plan, we’ll deal with this part last.  Hey, nobody said you had to do this in order!

Company Description: This is where you tell your story.  Write down your history and what led you to this endeavor.  Describe exactly what that business is, or at least what you think it is. Tell why you’re in this business and what factors you feel will make you successful. Remember, this is all more art than science and much of this will change over time as you learn your business more.

Product Description: What are you selling?  If you’re trying to make money in the arts, you’re selling something, so what is it?  Be very specific here.  Think of yourself or your art as a commodity.  What are its features? Its benefits to your customers/audience?  If your product is unfinished, you will also discuss where it is on the path to completion and what steps you have planned to bring it to a marketable level.

Market Analysis: Arguably one of those most extensive sections of your plan and one that will grow dramatically as you grow and learn.  Here you will analyze your target market, including not just your audience but also your competition.  You’ll also discuss how your market operates, how and when you get paid, etc.  MUCH more detail to follow in the article!

Marketing/Sales Strategies: How are you going to get yourself out there?  How will you penetrate what is likely a very competitive and crowded market?  Will you be seeking representation by an artist manager? 

Management Team: This is part where where we’ll differ greatly from more traditional businesses, but I feel it’s a good place to list your support structure.  In the beginning it could be teachers and mentors, and you would discuss their qualifications and track record of success and how they’re contributing to your success, what you expect of them, etc.  As you evolve, this will become a place to list your agent, publicist, business manager, accountant, attorney, etc. 

Financials: THE most important and detailed section of your plan.  Also the most evolving.  From our personal business finance perspective, this will be where your personal and artistic budget are reconciled with an eye toward growing your business.  Deals with profit-loss, cash flow, projected income, capital expenditures, etc.  For all categories, it should cover historical, current, and future  financial information.  As real numbers come in, you adjust your projections until you reach profitability. 

Well, that’s about it.  Were you a traditional business looking for funding, there would also be a funding request section where you’d say what kind of money you were looking for, why you need it, how you’ll spend it, and most importantly, how you’ll pay it back.  Since most of our endeavors will have a hard time getting commercial credit or selling equities(stocks & bonds), we’ll ignore it for now. 

See? Not so painful after all!  Even before we get into the nitty gritty, I hope this overview will help you understand more of how thinking of yourself in business terms will help you achieve your artistic goals in the long run.