Transcripts
1. Introduction: So, you're ready to
start an art business, but how do you make it legit? How do you cross the t's and dot the eyes so
everything's official. Becoming a business owner often feels scary and overwhelming, so we're going to break it all down for you to make sure you're set up properly to start
making money from your art. Hi. I'm Katie. And I'm Malana. We're the two designers and
co owners behind Good Type, a community of over
1 million creatives. Years ago, Katie and
I both left our jobs as our directors to become
self employed artists, and we quickly
learned more about S corps, estimated tax payments, contract terms, and
all the things about running a business
that we really never thought we'd need to know. The more time we spent
learning this stuff, the more we realized
how overwhelming it can feel and how much more accessible it should
be for artists. And now that we've worked
through it ourselves, we want to share what
we've learned with you. In this class, we'll help you properly set up your own artist. We'll help you figure out which business
structure is right for you and give you a checklist of what steps to
take to get started. We'll get your finances
set up next and we'll cover how to manage
your business with system. You'll learn how to delegate
tax if you need to and what tools you can use to really make your
life so much easier. This class is all about giving you the tools
and resources to confidently call yourself
a business owner and make money doing
the work that you love. So without further ado,
let's get started.
2. Prepare Your Business to Operate: First thing we're going to do is talk about business structures. In the United States, there are two really common
business structures that self employed
artists usually consider. We're going
to break those down. There are several others that we won't really cover
in class today because we found that they're really not common for self employed artists who are
just starting out. The two business structures
that we're going to focus on today are
sole proprietorships, which are also
called Sole props, and LLCs, which is a
limited liability company. You can always talk to a
business attorney to discuss what entity would be
best for you if you still have questions about
your specific situation. We've got to include
a disclaimer here that we are not attorneys, and this information is definitely not
direct legal advice. When we say business structure, we're really referring to how the government and the IRS
look at your business. Those business structures you choose will affect how you are taxed and what level of liability protection
you may have. We also want to make a note that we are located in the US. And so if you live
outside the US, you definitely want to check
the rules in your location. The first structure
we're going to look at is a sole proprietorship, and it's really,
really easy to set up. In fact, you actually don't
have to file any paperwork. You just have to start doing business, AKA,
selling something. In this case, there's really no separation from you
and your business, which means that
you're personally liable for the
business debt or loss. This also means that if
your business was sued, your personal assets
are on the line. However, it's
really not all bad. You may find that your line of work isn't particularly risky. If you're doing
something that is very unlikely to result in a lawsuit, maybe injure someone, you may not need that extra
liability protection. Both Katie and I have
personal businesses as lettering artists
and illustrators, and those are both set up
as sole proprietorships. LLCs or limited liability
companies are another really, really popular business entity
for self employed artists. You've probably heard the
term LLC tossed around a lot, and you may think you need one, but that's just not
always the case. One really big
difference between a sole prop and an
LLC is that an LLC separates you from
your business and protects you from the liabilities
your business may face. If your business were to file for bankruptcy
or a lawsuit, for example, your
personal assets, and your income would
still be protected. To tap into these
extra protections, setting up an LLC is a bit more complicated and costly than
a sole proprietorship. Creating an LLC does differ
a bit state by state, but it usually costs
under $500 to set up, and there's typically a
yearly fee in most states. Katie lives in Texas, where there's no annual
fee for an LLC. So you definitely need to check your own states regulations and requirements to know exactly what your costs are going to be. Filing an LLC does
require some paperwork, and the best place to check those requirements is your
local government website. We've both created several LLCs, and we typically
suggest working with a lawyer to prepare and
submit the documents. We definitely recommend doing that if you feel uncomfortable, or just want to have
the peace of mind that it's actually
set up properly. Another important
keyword to know is DBA, and this stands for
doing business as. Registering a DBA
allows you to do business under a name that is different from your legal name. So if you decide to work
as a sole proprietorship, you'll need a DBA if you're
using a business name. A really good example is
Katie's lettering business is a sole prop and
her business name, DBA is Katie Made that. Since that name is different
from Katie's given name. I know it's shocking. That's not her last
name. She had to file a DBA with her
local county clerk. However, if you've decided
to file as an LLC, your LLC will be the name
you're doing business under, so you won't need to
also file for a DBA. If you decide to
change your name or use multiple names
under your LLC, you will in fact need
to file for a DBA. Here's an example of
when that might happen. When we first filed for our LLC, we registered our name
as Artist Mean Business. Later, we filed a DBA to
change our name to Good Type. DBAs are filed per state. So if you're ready to file, check your state website
for the appropriate steps. It's really important
to know that this is not the same as trademarking. It's a whole different
conversation if you want trademark
protection on your name. We want to mention
one more entity that you may have
heard about before, and that's in S corp. This one's a little
more complicated, so we're going to keep
it pretty top level. Because of the way taxation
works for S corps, your art business could
actually save money on taxes with this structure if you're earning over a
certain amount in profits. You should definitely
consult with a CPA about this if you
want to learn more, since it's really personalized
to your own situation. CPA is a certified accountant, and they definitely come in
handy for this and tons of other questions you might have
about finances and taxes. Okay, before we move on, there's one more step we
really want you to take. Once you've determined
which business entity makes the
most sense for you, it's time to get an EIN or employer
identification number. This is like a social security
number for your business, and we really like setting these up right away because
it allows you to avoid putting your personal
Social Security number on all the forms you
need to fill out. To file for an EIN in the US, just head to the IRS website and submit an application.
It is totally free. Here's a quick summary of all
the things we just covered, and the first steps
you need to take to make your business legit
if you're in the US. Pick your business structure, probably either a sole
proprietorship or an LLC. If you picked an LLC, file the necessary
paperwork and pay the fees, and if you picked a
sole proprietorship, just start doing business. If you chose a sole
proprietorship and you're using a different
name from your own name, go ahead and file that DBA. And we want you to register
for your EIN with the IRS. We recommend finding a lawyer that specializes in working with creatives or small
businesses when you're just in the beginning stages
of your business journey. We know it sounds really scary and expensive to
work with a lawyer, but it can actually be pretty affordable when you're
just hiring them to give you a small bit of
guidance or just to fire your LLC
paperwork, for example. Plus, it gives you
the peace of mind, and it is well worth
it to have that. If you're still
totally freaked out, you can answer a lot
of questions with the good old Google
Search or by calling your local government offices if you have the
time and patience. But perhaps to you for
getting through this lesson, we've included these steps in the class materials as well. So make sure you
download that and check them off as
you complete them. Let's move on to
the next lesson.
3. Setting Up Your Finances: Now that you know what type
of business entity you are and you filled out the
appropriate paperwork, it's time to set up a bank
account. Y, for money. We strongly recommend setting up a separate bank account from your personal one right from
the beginning so that you can really easily track
your earning and spending. We've linked our favorite small business bank account
and credit card under the project and
Resources tab below. We already mentioned how
helpful it can be to have a CPA certified public
accountant that you can call. So if you haven't found one yet, we really want to encourage
you to do that now. Ask local friends for referrals
and really start to build a relationship so that
you don't want to just like pull your hair
out during tax season. Yes, it costs money to have someone help you
with your taxes, but it is so worth it. Taxes do unfortunately become complicated when you
start a business, and getting help is
a necessary expense. Budget it in now and it will be so much less of
a headache later. We promise. We highly
suggest setting up your 1 hour meeting with a CPA as soon as you begin
working with them, so you can ask them all
your questions at once. If they're nice, they may
even include that session for free if you're already planning
to file taxes with them. We'll include a summary of
questions that you should ask your CPA at the
end of this lesson and in the class materials. Next, we recommend
getting some kind of accounting software to keep
your finances organized. And if you're up for the challenge and you
want to save money, you can use a simple
spreadsheet to track all your expenses
and income manually. Otherwise, you can
look into any app like QuickBooks or any of the ones listed in the resources town. The most important
thing is to make sure your platform of choice will sync directly with
your bank account. Once you find a system or
software that works for you, your job will be to
categorize your transactions, whether it's an
income or an expense. These categories will be so important when it
comes time for taxes, especially because
they'll tell you what kind of deductions
you can take. We'll talk more about
what a deduction is and how you can utilize
them in just a minute. It's safe to say
that most people find tax season
pretty stressful. So we're going to
give you a few things to keep in mind to help you clarify and ease the
tension around taxes. First, there are several types
of taxes to be aware of. So let's look at income
tax and sales tax. Income tax is a tax for
anyone that brings in income. So if you're making money,
you have to pay this. When you work a traditional
job with payroll, these taxes are already
taken out of your paycheck. But when you're self employed, you need to pay them yourself, which is a major buzz kill. You'll probably need to pay this tax by dividing
the amount you expect to owe into four
quarterly estimated payments. You can set these up on the IRS website to automatically come out of your
bank account each quarter, or you can pay them manually. Then when it's time to
file your tax return, you either get a refund
if you overpaid or you'll owe more for taxes
that were underpaid. Do you want to know
how much to pay? Great question for your CPA. Sales tax is the other tax we
really want to talk about, and it's a tax on goods and on some services collected
at the time of the sale. You have to collect the
tax from the customer, and then you have to pass that collected tax onto the state. The amount of tax you need to collect is actually
different per state, and you usually only
charge sales tax to people who live in the
same state that you live in. Again, because the rules are based on where you live
and what you're selling, a CPA will be such
a great resource to help you clarify
everything here. If you do determine
that you're selling a product that requires
you to collect sales tax, you'll also need to file
for a sales tax permit. This is a really simple process, and you can actually
do it right through the state government website. It gives you permission
to collect sales tax. And once you collect that
tax from the customer, you have to then, again, pass it on to the state government. So if you're fully
self employed, you should talk to your
CPA about retirement, maybe setting up a Roth
or traditional IRA, so you can save for
when that time comes. They'll be able to
advise you on what makes the most sense for your in Okay, now we get to the fund stuff. We get to talk about write offs. Unlike what David from our favorite show, *****
Creek, Thanks, tax write offs are definitely
not where you get fully reimbursed for
whatever you buy for your business. I
know it's shocking. However, legitimate
business expenses can be deducted to reduce
your taxable income. While this definitely
will not magically wipe away hundreds and
thousands of dollars. It is really important to
make sure you're taking advantage of every
opportunity for a deduction. And this is another great
place to tap into your CPA. There's a really huge range of items that contribute
to your deductions, and that's why
learning to categorize your income and
expenses correctly, like we mentioned
earlier, is so important. Business expenses such as
rent, utilities, advertising, office supplies,
they all fall into this category and are
considered deductions. So if you work from home, you can also deduct a portion of your rent or mortgage
insurance policy, and other expenses related
to the space as well. If you're traveling
for work, maybe to see a client or
maybe a conference, your meals, your mileage, and several other
expenses related to that travel will also
contribute to your deductions. Plus, if you regularly
use your car for work, you should be tracking
your mileage, and there are tons of apps
that allow you to do that. All of those trips to the post office or print shop
can really add up. Other deductions might include
health insurance premiums, retirement contributions,
business interests, and taxes, and
professional fees. And again, that CPA is there to guide you through
this and help make sure you're taking advantage of every opportunity to lower your taxable income so you can categorize your
expenses accordingly. We requested a session with our CPA to have them go through a month of finances and show
us how to categorize them, which was really helpful. And now we use a virtual service that does
this for us and sends us a message anytime they aren't sure of how
to categorize something. That was a ton of information. So let's summarize
and remind you what conversations you should
be having with your CPA. First, you're going to open that business bank account and keep that totally separate
from your personal finances. Anytime you make or spend
money for your business, it should go directly
through this account. Next, we want you
to find that CPA, and we want you to set up
your accounting software or system to track
your spending and start categorizing
your transactions. And we want you to figure out how much money you
should be paying for your quarterly
estimated tax payments and pay those
throughout the year. You should also figure
out if you need to charge sales
tax, and if you do, then you'll need to apply for that sales tax permit and make sure you're paying
those sales taxes. Decide what retirement
account you should get, open the account, and start
investing your money. As we said, all
these steps are very customized to your
specific situation. There really is
no substitute for having this conversation
with an accountant? Here are some important
questions you can bring to your accountant
when you meet with them. Do I need to be paying
quarterly estimated payments? If so, how much? Do I owe sales tax? What percentage sales
tax do I need to charge? Do I only need to charge sales tax to customers
in my state? And where do I pay
it and how often? How about retirement?
What retirement account makes the most sense for
me, and how do I open it? What else do you need from
me so that we'll have an easier time when it
comes to tax season. We know this is a lot to manage. But once you get your
system up and in place, it'll be so much easier. You can lean on your
accountant for help and ask other small business
owners when you get stuck. You're not alone, and this is a really tricky
area for everyone, but you've got this onward.
4. Financial Goals & Planning: Money talk can feel
kind of gross, but it really shouldn't. If you don't have money coming in, you don't have a business. So this discussion really
should be had early and often. How do you plan your finances? What are your goals and the milestones you're trying
to reach along the way. These are the pillars
of your business plan. We're going to tackle this
by breaking it down into 90 day financial goals
because baby steps. This whole plan is
about taking a big, scary goal and making it much more bite size and manageable. So let's get out your workbooks
and talk money already. Now, this does
involve some math, but it's simple, and you're
allowed to use a calculator. Let's find out first the amount of money you'll need
to make in a year, and then we're going to
divide it to find out how much you need to make
for your 90 day plan. So first, figure out the expenses that you
have for your business. This should be pretty
simple, especially if you're already using
a bookkeeping app. So consider rents, Internet, any apps you're paying for, any cost of inventory, contractors that you hire, services you use, et cetera. So if the money your
business brings in is exactly the same amount that your expenses cost
you, you'd break even. You'd make $0 in profit, but we don't want to do that. We want you to make a
profit so you can pay yourself and reinvest
in your business. So the next step
is to figure out what that profit number
is that you want. So Do you want a $50,000 salary? Maybe 80,000, maybe more. And then how much extra
do you want to bring in to reinvest in your business
or put into savings? Remember, you're
going to have to pay taxes on this, unfortunately. So if your number is $100,000, you're not going to
get all that money in cash just ready to spend? You may owe as much
as 30% in taxes. So Make sure you include enough buffer so that you'll have what you need
even after tax. Whatever that total
profit number is for you, your salary plus profit, add it on top of your expenses, and that is the total number
your business needs to make. That's your total revenue
goal for the year. One more time for the
people in the back, your expenses plus the profit you want to make equals
your revenue goal. We're going to take
that figure of how much you need
to make in a year, and then we're going
to divide it by four. There are roughly 490
day periods in a year, 90 days is close to a quarter, so that's how we
like to think of it. So in this example, let's say our yearly revenue
goal is $100,000. So we're going to divide
that into four quarters. And now in this 90 day period, we only need to make $25,000. That may sound like
a lot to you, but, at least it's a
little more helpful and a little less scary. And instead of thinking about
my plan for a whole year, now I'm just concentrating
on this 90 days and this $25,000 goal.
We can do this. Now, let's break it down
even further to help us know exactly what actions to take and where to focus
to hit those goals. You may have multiple
income streams, or you may just have one. Either way, for
each income stream, we need to know, are we
aiming for ten sales? Or are we aiming for 100 sales? That's a very big difference. So let's figure it out. To decide how many sales we need to make for
each income stream, we need to consider what the average price is for each sale. So let's look at
freelancing, for example. Let's say you have
a $5,000 branding package that is your
most popular package. Well, if our total
revenue goal is $25,000 for the quarter, and your main
service is branding, you need to sell five
branding packages at $5,000 each to
reach that goal. Now, let's imagine you're an artist who licenses your art. Let's say the average
amount you can get from licensing your art for a
greeting card is about $750. And greeting cards are
your biggest market. Maybe licensing is just one
of your income streams, and you decide you'd like
to make $5,000 of your total $25,000 revenue goal for this quarter from licensing. Well, if we do the math, we see that you
would need to sell about seven cards at that $750
average to hit your goal. We like to define
goals like this, so we have a really
clear understanding of when we're on track
and when we're not. And if something
doesn't work on paper, it's definitely not going
to work in real life. For example, if I want to
sell stickers at $2 each, but I see I'd have to sell 12,500 stickers to make
my $25,000 revenue goal, I might put a pause
on that idea and find something that works a
little bit better for me. Again, just remember,
this needs to be a realistic goal for you and your business,
whatever that looks like. Now that we know the
sales and revenue goals that make sense
for our business, we can make a plan that will
help us achieve those goals. So when we go to sit down at the computer in the morning,
we're not meandering. We're not unsure about
what we should do. So L et's say you ran the
numbers and figured out, you need to book three freelance clients
to meet your goal. Now it's time to
reverse engineer the outcome and figure out how you're actually going
to make that happen. Some examples of steps
you might need to take might be send 100 outreach e mails to potential clients
within that 90 days or offer past clients
a referral bonus for bringing you new business, or maybe you're working
on pinning new work to Pinterest and making
sure you're using keywords, so people are going to start finding you from those searches. These could all be actions
you can take that move the needle forward towards these financial goals
that you just set. So for your class project, go ahead and pick out a few of these actions you really
want to prioritize and write them down in the 90
day accountability sheet we've provided in
the class materials. Then upload it to the
class project area. And this way, you'll feel more committed to these actions, and you'll be more motivated to stick with them and
see them through. Once you have your
financial goals and the actions you need
to take to reach them, it's time to actually
do the work. That means you need a system for working through the tasks. How do you execute and
organize your to do list? How do you, as a business
owner, get stuff done? Let's talk about it
in the next lesson.
5. Setting Up Systems & Getting Organized: For anything like
us, you probably have a lot of
really crazy ideas, open projects, big goals, and sometimes it feels impossible to keep
track of them all. From the passion
project you want to focus on to giving your
studio a total makeover, redoing your entire website, starting a line of Merch.
We totally get it. That on top of all
your client work, commissions, or whatever
else it can be. Is a lot to manage. And as someone with ADHD, I've learned a lot
of tricks that help me manage all my ideas and prioritize my existing projects without letting something
fall through the cracks. There are so many
systems out there, and there is no one perfect answer that
can do everything. You will likely be
using a combination of different systems to
create your own workflow. But we hope you don't waste too much time comparing
different apps. We really want you to pick
one and just get started. We really like to use notion to keep track of all of
our random ideas, keep our standard
operating procedures, tasks, social content,
events, you name it. We keep it all organized
within notion. Everyone on our team
has access to it so we can communicate
really easily there. If you're not
familiar with Notion, it's kind of like the
ultimate dashboard for your business that
you can really mold into whatever
you want it to be. We actually made our
own notion template with Emily who
works on our team, and it's available to purchase
right on our website. So if you'd like to use the
exact system we use, can. Here's a look at how
our template is set up. We keep the most
important things that we need to see first ns
right on the main page. So our clients and projects
are laid out first so we can check the status and click into the pages to get
more information. Then we have our schedule
and at a glance, so we can know
exactly what projects we've got to work on
and when they're due. Or to do list then breaks
down our daily tasks, which we prioritize
by importance. We label them, A list, B list or C list. We like to plan our social content calendar
right on Notion two, and we keep anything
else that we might need in the folders
that are on the sides. I really like to start my day by doing really small
and easy tasks, and then I break up the rest
of the day into bigger, more focused chunks of time. And anything on that A list is top priority with
an upcoming deadline. And anything on MB
list is either next in the queue or important,
but not urgent. The C list is a place
to keep track of really big ideas that aren't urgent or
important at the moment. And when I do my
quarterly reflections, I can check and see if any of the things on the C list need to be moved up or maybe
moved off the list entirely. Another tool I use to figure out my priorities is the
Eisenhower matrix. The Collins and rows are
for importance and urgency, and this really helps me to figure out which quadrant
my tasks fall into. The four quadrants
really boil down to do, schedule, delegate and delete. Once I figure out where my idea or task lies on the matrix, it's so much easier
to understand and be honest with myself about
how to prioritize it. This really helps me figure
out if something is actually important and maybe a needle
mover for my business, or if it just feels
really exciting. Exciting things
are important too, but they might just
need to be completed after some more top
priority tasks are handled. In addition to all
of these tools, we use a ton of apps and
systems to run our operations. We use Slack for communicating
between our team members. We use Google Drive
for storing files. We use Convert Kit for
managing our e mails. Circle for hosting the courses, we teach square space for
hosting our web account, Thrive cart for
accepting payments from customers and Zapiir along
with a few other apps. Zapiir allows most of our
apps to talk to each other. For example, we can set up
a Zap so that when someone purchases a course
from our online cart, they're immediately tagged
correctly in our mailing list. They're added to an e
mail sequence and sent instructions to log in
to our course platform. There are so many apps
and integrations, and we have yet to
find one that is like a one stop shop that can
do everything for us. But there are more
options out there lately that are trying to combine
some of these capabilities. Don't feel like you need
to take advantage of all the fancy tools you can
find online just for kicks. You can start really,
really small and slowly integrate new features once you really know what you need. I don't know a single
creative business owner who hasn't gone through a
total systems overhaul. Maybe they've switched e
mail list providers or other back end projects
in the past few years. I've seen so many people
have to make these changes. So start small, and as
you grow, you will pipot. Don't forget that what
systems work for someone else might be what you
need for your business. We all have different
ways of working. Even Katie and I have
different ways we work, and there are so many ways that the same tools can
really be personalized. Learning about your own workflow preferences is really important, and this can be a really, really great place
to ask for help. Now is your time to think
through the systems, workflows and apps
you'll need to put in place to
manage your business. Take a moment to fill out the
section in your workbook, and then we'll move on
to the next lesson.
6. Hiring Help & Protecting Your Mental Health: Care of your mental
health is and should always be a priority. Thankfully, we've had years of experience to learn our
own triggers and patterns, so we can hopefully
prevent burnout or at least redirect it when
it rears its head. As you get more comfortable
working on your art business, you'll learn where you need
to implement boundaries. And believe us, you need boundaries to preserve
your mental health. You need breaks, time for
self care, time for family. You need time to be offline, to decompress, and to
stop thinking about work. When we first started out,
this was really challenging, partly because we
were hungry to grow, and we didn't want to
miss an opportunity, and partly because we thought being a
business owner meant, being on all the time. But too many times, we've over exerted ourselves
or worked on the weekend or answered e mails at 10:00 P.M. And it has only
led to burn out. Friend, not neglect your needs. It all adds up in the long run. So be a good boss and
treat yourself the way you would want to be
treated as an employee. Rest, recover, and say
no, when you need to. We're doing creative
work. Nothing is actually going to be an
emergency. But money. You may be saying?
Oh, yes, that guy. When we're in charge
of our own income, and our actions directly affect how much we're
able to bring in, we can get a lot more obsessive
about how much we work. But again, we're focused on building a sustainable
business here, not one that will run us
right into the ground. So, in addition to working on mindset Here are some things you can do to help find balance. One of the things
that really kept us in the burnout
cycle for too long was the toxic thinking
that we had to do everything for ourselves. While there are plenty of things in our business that
only we can do, it turns out that there are a lot of ways we
can ask for help. We already mentioned working
with a CPA and an attorney, but we also have several
other people we work with that help us manage
and grow our business. Some of that comes in the
form of apps and some comes in forms of
contractors or employees. We have a podcast editor, a social media manager, and a web designer
just to name a few. We use a ton of systems and apps every single day to help
us get things done. We've even worked with
virtual assistants when we need help with specific
administrative tasks, or when we know
our time would be better spent focused
on something else. Also know plenty of
other artists who hire production assistants
or other designers to help them complete
their client work. So that's something
else you could consider if your workload
is overwhelming. Investing money into
hiring help is scary, but we've rarely done it
and regretted it later. If you're going to hire help, just make sure you get to know the person a bit and take
some time to vet them. They have references or
examples of their work. Make sure you
communicate clearly with them what your
expectations are, and try starting with a
trial period before you commit to any kind of
long term relationship. We know you're really
talented and you can do a lot of things, but you definitely can't do
them all at the same time. You are no less valuable if
you delegate or ask for help, and you can start
with something small. Write down in your workbook, some of the parts of managing a business that
cause you stress. You may want to prioritize getting help with
those things first. Other thing you can do if
you're feeling like you can't step away
because your finances will suffer too
much is to adjust the strategies you're
using to make money. Can you set up an income stream that can make you
passive income? So even while you're
not physically working, you can be bringing
in some extra cash. So, for example, maybe you can create a
digital product or a course that can work in the background while you're
doing client projects. You can also ask yourself, is there a way I can
restructure my time, so I'm working more efficiently? They say time is
money for a reason. Maybe you could stop
taking calls with potential clients as
soon as they contact you and implement an
intake form instead to make sure there are more
qualified, solid lead. Or maybe you could start
packing all the orders from your online shop on
the same day each week, so you're not constantly pulled away from the other
tasks all the time. If you need more time to rest, how can you find it by restructuring your
current workflow? It's a good habit to make
a list of the things that help you feel
rested and recovered, so you can build in the
moments of those self care acts now, not
when it's too late. Go ahead and write
down in your workbook some self care acts that you can do and make sure
to schedule them into your calendar and
actually block off the time. I like to take my dog to the dog park and listen to
a podcast while I walk. I schedule lunches with my friends or family
during work days. I get a manicure once a month on a Friday
during work hours. So make space for the
fun stuff and enjoy the flexibility of being
your own boss when you can. Overall, keep reminding yourself why you're doing this
in the first place. You love making your art. So let's try to focus
our business around that joy and when the
stress inevitably comes, meet it with patience and give yourself a
whole lot of grace.
7. Wrapping Up: Congratulations. You're
a legit business owner. We hope you're
feeling accomplished and ready to kick
some major butt. We set out to work
for ourselves, to really be in
the driver's seat, and to be able to work
on our own schedules, and spend more time doing
what we really love, which is creating art. So let's get to it. Know some of the things we
covered in class have been sitting on your to do
list for way too long. And it's time to get them done, and honestly, out of the way, do not let those annoying
tasks like filing for an LLC, be the thing that
stands in your way. Use the systems and workflow
suggestions we talked about to plan out
those tasks and start checking them
off your list today. We hope everything we covered in this class has made you
feel more confident about what you need to do to run a successful
professional business. You know, it can
be intimidating, but the benefits of being your own boss can
be so worth it. You can figure this
out, especially if you follow the steps that
we've laid out for you. Way to go for
completing this class. Way to go. Make sure to
upload your class project. And if you want to
learn more head over to our other
classes on Skillshare, we are so excited for
you and your business. Go, be legit. To legit to quit. Yeah, yeah. Too legit. To legit to quit. Y, yay.