Will you ever stop expanding the kits and make $$?? And other random thoughts.

Laurie,
I wish people would just come to my house!! I'm not that awesome yet. lol. But... I am REALLY lucky in October. I have a gig at a little boutique village that brings a LOT of people. It's free to bring your kids and they have activities and a witch hunt. So.. on the weekends I set up outside one of the stores. (I basically pay her a booth rent and represent her store). I do pay per face. $3-$10. I paint 12 hours straight on Saturdays. About 9 hours on Fridays. Some Thursday evenings depending on the events they have going on. On good days I paint almost NONSTOP and I've been painting there for enough years that I can whip out some pretty nice Halloween cheek art in under 60 seconds. $5 faces in 2 min. $7 faces in 3-5 min. I'm in PAIN by the end of the weekend, but it's worth it, and the day flies by! The best part is that there is SO much traffic that I get a lot of business cards out. I don't think there is anything equivalant to what I'm doing... but I would check out farmers markets and corn mazes.. things like that.

I've never been in the red. I bought my 1st kit (a bunch of snaz, brushes, sponges, etc) from Sillyfarm 6 yrs ago. I've shifted & expanded since then. My 1st few years I didn't make much, but once I got the hang of the business side of things gigs started coming. I now budget about 20% of what I make to go back into the business. This buys the paints & other goodies. I still like to try new things, but find if I like the new thing it will replace something else(one paint color for another, etc). My goal is for my kit to not get any bigger. If it can't fit in the Fatmax setup I don't want it.

But, if you moderate your spending, you can easily make money.

I'm in agreenment for PPF & Artycakes. They make the line move fast & time is money. Prisma cakes are the same. I do make my own Prisma style cakes. But, I usually use paints that have large hols in the center & slow my line down. I replace them w/ a full new paint & take the edges to make Prisma style or arty style cakes.

What a great topic...I was thinking the same thing..I need to sit down and work things out, I am presuming at this stage I am still in the red..I have made some enormous purchases this year.But it is paying off and I am gettin very busy with many bookings taken for next year..YAY! However I have a question for Shannon, What did you do in your first year to make that amount of money?. That is some serious cash and I would love to bring in that kind of money. I have done some radio advertising just to make sure everyone hears about Face Creationz. Word of mouth has been enormous and thats great. My small town has really got behind me and I so appreciate it. I really want to take it to the next level , I feel I am on the right path and I only have a couple more purchases...Mind you then there is the glitter tattos,,air brush system that I would still like..Argh I have been in business since Febuary so I am giving myself another 6 to 8 months to get those things..Any how I would love to hear your strategies Shannon.

It took me about 18 months to figure out what I liked and what I didn't really need or use. I'm very happy now with everything. I've made way more then what I've spent.

If you are working more then you are spending, you should be fine! I've had a gig just about every weekend since June. Some weekends 2 or 3 gigs. I don't even advertise, but on my personal facebook. I've got at least one weekend booked every month until May.

I've got 2 or 3 one stroke cakes I need to restock on next month and then I'm set.

freedspirit wrote:! However I have a question for Shannon, What did you do in your first year to make that amount of money?. ......Any how I would love to hear your strategies Shannon.

Ah.. think you mis-read it:

My first year in business I spent $17000... and made $35. (that includes getting my make-up diploma/training, kits, etc.)

Now I make about that much before expenses doing it part-time. Trick is to keep the expenses down.

Well I have to say that I'm pleased my comment on another thread has sparked such a lively discussion

Yes, i was (sort of) joking. I've only been painting for about 6 months, so am still in start up mode and getting drawn like a moth to the flame to all things shiny, colourful and potentially profit making! One thing always leads to another. And I have discovered that I have a real talent for shopping online, like many of us i suspect!

So far I think I have made fairly good choices and I have a wide range of splits and one strokes in my kit; some pre-made, others I have made myself. I am fairly well set up now and I don't have a lot left on my wish list. Although I need to replace red very soon (having already replaced white/black a couple of times but now I get 90g pots) and will probably be tempted to buy one or two more split cakes / one strokes... maybe.

I have a website, which I created via wix and pay $5 a month for (plus registering my domain name $40 for 2 years)... and a facebook page. I've invested a small amount in business cards, postcards, and banners... and a little more in paints, glitters, stencils, pigments, those colourful faux feather hair extensions, storage/display etc... a market umbrella, a chair... insurance too of course. it all adds up! Actually, I think the forum is a distraction from doing my accounts - I've been meaning to get to that for a while...

Oh, and I invested a fair chunk of future earnings in a workshop in October: difficult to estimate the ROI on that one, but definitely picked up some new skills and refined techniques which is personally satisfying at least. Plus met some awesome fellow painters. BONUS!

I have been getting my fair share of work, that's for sure. I am becoming a regular at the local markets (once/month) and occasional at others. I have several clients that have already rebooked me and I have quite a few gigs coming up over the next couple of months. I have developed a good menu board, built for speed and impact...

So it's time to get offline and actually put my accounts together. I have no doubt that this will be a profitable venture long term, and I am already at the point that of having enough paint / glitter as necessary (honestly, I don't have THAT much - just enough )

So it's nice to read all your thoughts on the subject and be reassured that there is a bright and shiny future in this 'industry' for me. Quite honestly, I'm really enjoying it on so many levels, I don't think I could give up now. And I've often said to my partner: face painting must be one of the very few arts that brings in quick cash.

Oh ..How funny Shannon..My eyes were really lighting up at $35,000...SIGH....Oh well we will just keep on plugging along.

No prob... If I made that much I'd have to get a Tax Number and start reporting quarterly...

I finally crunched some numbers today, and vowed to stay on top of it in the future... ie, as soon as I've purchased something it goes on my spreadsheet.
Actually, I was a little shocked to see how much I've spent over the past few months... around $3500, which includes training, paints, glitters, stencils, my market umbrella and a few other things. It sure does add up!!!

Seeing as I owe my credit card for most of those purchases, I am thankful that I am well on my way to repaying it. But my goodness, I didn't expect to have invested that kind of money already.

Ah well, at least I have plenty of work coming up, and I'll be going back to my official job p/time from mid January. Must focus on paying down that credit card though.