Mash your art to make it work!

His focus was art, his dream was independence, his goal was success. He started his business on a dream of having his own company with the business focus on him being a full time artist. Having good drawing skills and nothing else, he entered the business and found he was behind the eight ball in his skills and while business was slow he went and took courses at the local high school to get more involved with the digital side of the art business. He began to teach drawing classes, and when he had achieved the skills he needed he was able to expand his services to include website design, logos, and more. People said he was crazy having so much to offer because he would lose focus on the art.

Folks that was me when I started this business in 2003 and took it full time in 2006. The industry changed when I began to enter it so I had to quickly catch up. Today I am busier than ever and do many things in fact have grown the company into several divisions. Many business professionals will tell you to do one thing and one thing only, and while I agree with that to some extent you can also find yourself out of business. Things have changed in business these days and being diversified is a great way to ensure longevity. So how do you ensure you are still focused while expanding? Always keep your core product or service as the main focus of your business. For instance my business is about art. So I could say well I am only going to provide art for sale, but instead I am willing to look at any opportunities that revolve around art. So although cartooning is the heart of the business, I also offer classes, animation services, video and web design, marketing services, logo design and more. By diversifying this way I am not locked into doing only one thing when times are tight. You are not cheating yourself by adding services or developing other products, you are expanding your business and horizons. In my mind that is a good thing.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is an illustrator, cartoonist, and business consultant. For more information on Bruce and his work please visit www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com