What is an artrepreneur exactly? Well since it is a made up word everyone may define it a little different. For me, an “artrepreneur” is an artist who has made the choice to pursue his/her art career with a business mindset. An entrepreneur is someone who starts a business with an innovative idea, considerable initiative and risk often developing new business models in the process. When both the artist and the entrepreneur converge, an artrepreneur is born.

Are you an ARTrepreneur? Here are 4 distinctive traits of a successful artrepreneur.

Strategic Thinking.

Embracing the present while planning for the future is a common practice of an artrepreneur. Artists with this mindset are not only mindful about their here and now but also look at how each current activity affects their future. They don’t say yes to everything because they don’t believe in scarcity. They know opportunities are not necessarily all good ones as they look at the big picture. A strategy gives you a roadmap to follow. Of course, it may evolve and change overtime as new ideas and opportunities arise.

Business Insight.

Do you understand how the art world works? Artists who take the time to study the business of art have a significant advantage over those who do not. They know how to negotiate and navigate the system. Everything from pricing your work, working with galleries, managing inventory, shipping should not have to be a mystery. It takes time to learn the business of art but the rewards are enormous.

Focus.

A good artrepreneur learns to focus on the important things and that’s how things get done in and out of the studio. There are so many artists out there working in all directions. I am not necessarily just talking about style but rather a lack of organization to get things done. As an artist with a multidisciplinary practice, I know that getting things done is important. Otherwise, I would not be taken seriously. Are you getting things done in an organized way?

Mindset.

Artists with a positive and determined mindset show up and do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. They look at every possibility and learn to discern the good and the bad of every situation with optimism. A positive attitude can go a long way. At the end of the day artists always work with people and who likes to work with a negative person?