If you are an owner of a tattoo shop or work at a tattoo shop an individual must realize just how important it is to have the right type of artist or even apprentices working with you. Artist are the trickier to hire because this industry is full of drama, full of "I'm the Best" attitudes and frankly individuals who are not business orientated. In the apprenticeship school I teach it's a big point of mine to make sure that the students understand that they are in business for themselves. Each person that works at the shop is the owner of his/her business and must approach their career from that perspective.
As a shop owner it's only my responsibility to promote the shop according tho my marketing plan that was set up. It's the artist who contracts with the shop to ensure that they are building a client base. Lately I've been seeing some disturbing trends within my shop. Artist are getting comfortable relying on walk-ins. Walk-ins are those people who the shop has advertised for on it's own business budget. So this week I must take the step of informing the artist at the shop that they can no longer rely on just walk-ins. Most of their schedules will be based on Appointments only! I've decided that it is better this way because it helps the artist get up and moving and promoting their abilities as a Independent Business Owner.
The artist I want working at Aberration Tattoo are ones that are motivated to better themselves and never become reliant on someone else. As shop owners an individual must always do whats best for his/her shop and clients. This is why it's imperative that the owners or shop managers never become too friendly with staff. Either one of the mentioned must maintain a strictly professional relationship. I've seen many owners go down fast for either being non-professional or never at the shop at all. It's a huge step going from artist to shop owner. It's a big step because this industry is still taking baby steps forward to social acceptance for one. For too long artist or apprentices in this industry have been slow to grasp the concept of being in business for themselves.
Aberration Tattoo prides itself with being an industry leader. We hope all shop owners and artist soon realize it's up to us to set the standards in the industry. Artist must always maintain a professional attitude as well as a professional look to them. Customers don't want to walk in seeing an artist about to do a tattoo dirty or smelling bad. No they want to see an artist who is professional. The Illinois Tattoo Body Code has even stated this in its rules and regulations for tattoo shops. What does a shop do when faced with a unprofessional artist? The shop owner or manager must address the problem with the artist before it becomes a problem for the business. A shop owner must remember that it is his/her shop that will suffer when customers walk out the door.
So it is important for an owner of the shop to think about his/her business. Issues that come up should be addressed right away before the business is affected. Artist and apprentices must remember by getting into this field that they are self employed. Both need to promote their businesses because that's why most shops pay them a 50/50 cut. If an artist and owner cannot agree on an issue then it's up to the owner to use his/her best judgement in making sure the business don't suffer.