Business Planning

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What Art School Didn’t Teach You: How to Form Your Own LLC

June 17, 2013 in Business Planning, Kate Renee, What Art School Didn't Teach You | No comments

You would think that art school would have some business classes thrown in there to help teach artists how to manage their own business….yah because that’s what professional artists do, run businesses! Most of what I have learned and accomplished as a professional artists has come from research, asking questions and trying things out on my own. And what I have learned, is that art school does little to prepare students to walk out into the art world and live and work as a professional. Business skills are essential. The legalities of being an artists are your responsibility to know. I decided to form my own LLC or Limited Liability Company for my arts career.

There are a variety of reasons why you can start your own LLC. I started mine for legal protection. Having a company verses a sole proprietorship also adds a notion of business professionalism. You can do transactions through a business account when you own an LLC too. Here are the basic steps on how to build your own LLC business. All of these images come directly from the Minnesota Secretary of State website and demonstrate the visual steps for completing the LLC business set up process. The purpose of this post is to aid artists in forming their own LLC companies.

Step 1. Go to the MN Secretary of State Website

MN Secretary of State

If you Google search MN Secretary of State this is the first search result that pops up. You can click directly to “Starting a Business or Nonprofit.”

Step 2: This is the part that I got lost at and needed help. There is a full page of Steps and options to click on, all you need to do here is find Step 3 and click the link “Next Steps” to continue ahead.

Steps

Step 3: This is the next page that comes up. From here you want to click on the left hand bar where it says file online which is under the Business & Nonprofit tab.

Page after Next Steps

Step 4: Once you click on File Online, a new page will load. Scroll to the bottom half of the page to see this chart:

LLC Fees

Step 5: To file for a basic Domestic (within the USA) LLC for Minnesota, the cost is $155.00. The Limited Liability Company option I chose is highlighted in purple above on the chart. Click the option that you want to have for your business.

Step 6: Once you choose which LLC you want to have, you will be asked to answer two questions. The first question is if your LLC is a non-profit. A non-profit uses the funds they receive for the organizations mission and goals rather than for profit or income. If you are an arts gallery or an arts organization, you maybe a non-profit. If you an artist selling art work to make a profit and pay your business bills and to pay yourself, you are for profit.

Questions LLC

The second question is asking if your business needs to operate with personal whom are licensed. For example as listed above people in the accounting or medicine need licenses to practice as a professional under the Minnesota Status. For artists, this means you click no. Then click on “next” to continue the process.

Business Name

Step 7: Choose your LLC’s business name. There are some parameters to the name requirements as listed in the blue box above. The system will search your desired name and make sure there is not already an existing company with the same name. When it determines that your name is available, a button will pop up that says File For Limited Liability Company. Click that to continue to the application.

Step 8: At this point you will continue through the formal application. This process is easy. Most of the information provided is your name and address of your company.

Step 9: Near the end of the process of forming your LLC you will need to pay the fee. For the LLC domestic, it costs $155 and they allow you to pay this online. If there are any desired changes to your LLC company after you have filied, there are additional fees to change that information. You can also determine if you want your LLC certificate mailed to you which can take numerous weeks or if you want a digital certificate which is emailed to you directly once you have filed.

Step 10: Once you have completed filing your LLC you need to file a FEIN number and a MN State Tax ID number. Once you have those two additional pieces of information you are able to head to the bank to open your own business account.  I will blog about the FEIN Numbers and State Tax ID numbers in an additional blog post!

Seven Days of Strategic Planning: Recap

July 9, 2012 in Accomplishing goals, Business Planning, Kate Renee, Strategic Planning, Tips | No comments

If you haven’t had a chance to read my blog post series called, Seven Days of Strategic Planning, then take a look at the tools, tips, and experiences I have blogged about for the past week. I have been busy strategically planning my art career this week and have balanced personal insight with tips for acheiving your own goals.

I talk about my process of brainstorming in Day 1. I share some of my proudest moments from the past year with my accomplished goals in Day 2. On Day 3, I share my list of categories for goals to help you make your own list of brainstormed goals be applicable to all aspects of your career. I have been interested in learning more about creative visualization and making a vision board in Day 4. I also teach how you can make your own goals more effective and achievable in Day 5 with specifying. I have photos of my time management tools and calendar tips in Day 6 for scheduling and accomplishing goals. And last but not least, Day 7 I share with you my major goals I and going to work towards in 2012-2013 and encourage you to share your goals with me!

Start with Day 1 and work through the next 6 blog posts to walk yourself through your own version of strategic planning.

Day 1: Brainstorming

Day 2: Reflecting

Day 3: Categorizing

Day 4: Visioning

Day 5: Specifying

Day 6: Scheduling

Day 7: Sharing

Seven Days of Strategic Planning: Day 7 Sharing

July 7, 2012 in Accomplishing goals, Business Planning, Kate Renee, Strategic Planning, Tips | No comments

Day 7 of Strategic Planning.

Share your goals with other people. People genuinely care about you and your career so why not keep them update on what you are doing with your career? Sharing your goals is also a great way to help keep you accountable. During this week, I have had a great time both blogging about my experience and sharing tools and tips to help other artists succeed at strategic planning. This year I have three major goals which I wish to share.

These are my three large and long terms goals for July 2012 – July 2013

1. Secure and implement a solo exhibition for my Naughty Disney Princess series during the 2012 and 2013 in an established art gallery in Minnesota.

2. Find a new studio space to work at that has space to paint, have an office area, and to store my art in a building that has additional artists in Minneapolis or St. Paul.

3. Draft news releases and send portfolios to bridal magazines about my wedding shoe projects for press and publication before January 2013.

I would love for you to share with me the goals you are working towards this year. Feel free to comment on this post below and throw in a few of your own career planning or goal setting tips too!

Seven Days of Strategic Planning: Day 6 Scheduling

July 6, 2012 in Accomplishing goals, Business Planning, Kate Renee, Strategic Planning, Tips | No comments

Day 6 of Strategic Planning. 

All this goal setting is stimulating but its time to make sure that the goals that have been chosen are going to fit during your busy schedule. What I like to do is break my goals down into smaller bit sized steps. The more you break it down, the easier the goal seems. So instead of imagining yourself trying to tackle a solo exhibition, you a quietly working on updating your resume and printing new business cards to send to gallery exhibition calls. Your big goal can turn into a long list of tasks. Pick a couple of tasks to do each month or week. Write these in your calendar or planner! Give yourself deadlines and make sure you see what you are doing and when you are doing it.

I found this To-Do list journal at Office Max.

It has a column to list tasks to do and then tear out ‘Action Item’

carbon paper sheets to take away from the journal

and leave as reminders or to delegate tasks.

If you took a look at my blog post about the book, The Right Brained Business Plan, you will see a photo of my project planner. Its a blank four week calendar. The major projects I am working on get a certain colored Post-it note. I write my tasks and to-dos on the Post-it notes and stick them under the day of the week that I schedule to work on that step. Whats great is that it allows for changes in my schedule, I can pick up and shift my calendar and goal schedule as needed by moving the Post-it note a few days or until next week.

There are numerous methods of time management to help you focus and achieve your goals. Have your digital calendar email you reminders or tell people your deadlines. Have you considered having an accountability buddy? Working with another artist and talking about your goals and deadlines can help you and them reach your goals by making sure you both are accountable to what you say you are going to do. Consider choosing one day (or two) out of the week to focus on your goal during a certain time of day.

Here is an image of my actual planner!

Every month has a short list of goals that I want to accomplish.

While goal setting and planning your career for the next year seems like a long time frame, I promise you it will zoom by. Half of the goals I wanted to accomplish in 2011 I didn’t succeed at, but I left time and room for my goals to change. I ended up achieving additional goals that I didn’t put much focus on initially. For example, I wanted to write one grant, an Artist Initiative grant. Instead, I managed to write 5 grants. Changing scope of project affects the time allowed for other goals. While I greatly succeeded with this goal, my desire to write a business plan was pushed aside. Schedule but allow for change!

My last blog post about my Seven Days of Strategic Planning is tomorrow!

Seven Days of Strategic Planning: Day 5 Specifying

July 5, 2012 in Accomplishing goals, Business Planning, Kate Renee, Strategic Planning, Tips | 1 comment

Day 5 of Strategic Planning.

Choosing the goals to focus on for the year can be a difficult challenge, mostly because everything on the list is something we desire to accomplish or plan to in the near to distant future. Following career planning and goal setting, its easy to be fueled and ready to accomplish anything and everything, but with a running start out the gate, its easy to get burnt out quick.

Pick no more than 10 goals. Approximately 3 large year long or project orientated goals. And balance out your remaining year with 7 smaller goals. Have some goals easier to accomplish than others, once you start achieving goals that feel “easy,” the harder goals don’t seem so big and scary. Also make sure you have goals from a variety of goal categories. See Day 3 of my Seven Days of Strategic Planning.

Once you have your ten goals picked, make them SMART goals.

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Attainable

R – Realistic / Reason

T – Timely

So for example, I am interested in creating a vision board. On my list of goals I brainstormed it says, “vision board.” While I understand that it is a goal of mine to physically make a vision board, I need to make my statement a bit more strategic. By applying SMART to my goal of creating a vision board I can make it more specific my deciding if it is a digital or hand crafted vision board. I can also say how its made.

I am going to handmake a vision board out of collected and cut imagery and photographs.

I can make it measurable by deciding the size or scope of the project. I decided that multiple and smaller vision boards are better suited to people first tying to create one than just one large over view. So I can add to my statement above:

I am going to hand make 3 vision boards out of collected and cut imagery and photographs.

 Ask yourself is this an attainable project that you can physically, mentally or emotionally do or attain? If so, possibly reconsider different approaches to reaching your goal.

Reaching goals tend to be more successful when we have time applied. This is our light at the end of the tunnel factor. When should or do you want this goal achieved by. Sometimes the deadline is already set for certain projects. Other times we need to stick our foot down and tell ourselves when the deadline is. Step up and be your own boss. As you work through your goal, adjust time as needed but make sure you are not just pushing back time because you arn’t actively working towards your goal.

I am going to hand make 3 vision boards out of collected and cut imagery and photographs by the end of July 2012.

Most places you will hear that the ‘R’ stands for realistic. Is your goal realistic? I believe that this is extremely important to ask yourself but it does go hand in hand with attainable. So I like to replace realistic with reason. Having a reason or a purpose to your goal helps reinforce yourself why it is important to continue to strive towards your goal.

I am going to hand make 3 vision boards out of collected and cut imagery and photographs by the end of July 2012 so I can begin to apply my vision board to my career.

Come on back tomorrow for more about my Seven Days of Strategic Planning! Day 6 here we come!

Seven Days of Strategic Planning: Day 4 Visioning

July 4, 2012 in Accomplishing goals, Business Planning, Kate Renee, Strategic Planning, Tips | 3 comments

Day 4 of Strategic Planning.

During this strategic planning week, I decided to create a vision board. I think finding new methods and modes of discovering new goals is extremely beneficial and a great way to stretch your creative mind. I thought of this idea a couple of weeks ago and figured it was worth more focus and effort than just gluing on some images on a sheet of paper and tadah, vision board! So, I bought a book on vision boards to learn a bit more about them and get some examples from other artists. I bought The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life by Joyce Schwarz.

I began to read this book this week and I’m not quite half way through it. This book walks you through the process of planning, visioning and creating an effective vision board. I have also been interested in learning more about creative visualization. So, while this project is not going to be finished during my strategic planning week, its a project I hope to blog more about in the future.

Read The Suction Cup tomorrow for my post on Day 5 of my Seven Days of Strategic Planning!

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