Some nitty-gritty numbers for the in-person shops. This does not include income from participating in street fairs, income from my online store, or income from writing stories / essays (but does include physical books sold in the in-person shops).
Now, we start with some small numbers, and end with some larger ones, but don’t get too excited — this is purely gross income.
I note rent costs (and which months I didn’t make rent), but I don’t note any other costs, such as my own time (massive percentage), paid staff time, supplies (massive percentage — I have GOT to slow down / stop buying supplies for a while), marketing costs (minimal so far, but I did do a run of business cards, and a few paid FB ads). In 2025, I should almost certainly spend much less on supplies and more on marketing.
Mostly, I think this is useful for noting the month-to-month seasonal swings (gods, Christmas is a powerhouse for sales). Also, when I opened up the Shops in October, I mostly was just too busy to also promote the booth at Sprout, and sales dropped off precipitously compared to last year as a direct result. I think it’s reasonably clear that in both locations, the bulk of sales are coming not from passing foot traffic, but from my own social media drivers.
Ready for some numbers?
Berwyn Sprout (the booths in Cermak Plaza)
Rent $225 / month for booth.
*did not make rent.
Oct 2023: 458.85
Nov 2023: 272.65
Dec 2023: 1056.89
*Jan 2024: 138.70 (January is SO DEAD — everyone is broke)
Feb 2024: 331.46 (a little pick-up for Valentine’s Day I think)
Mar 2024: 837.24 (surprisingly good, possibly due to Easter)
Apr 2024: 314.07
May 2024: 499.70
Jun 2024: 235.60
Jul 2024: 579.52 (another nice bump, I think mostly because I was spending more time on publicity)
Aug 2024: 340.58
*Sep 2024: 103.55 (semester started! minimal time for shop AND I was invited to the sheds, so I was focused on getting that set up)
*Oct 2024: 156.28 (sheds have started up now)
*Nov 2024: 161.98
Dec 2024: 748.13
Berwyn Shops (the sheds):
Rent $575 / month for shed, open Fri -Sun only.
(numbers rounded a bit)
Oct 2024: 1740
Nov 2024: 3500
Dec 2024: 3500 (oddly similar! but only open 3 weekends, and most sales were first two weekends)
Final conclusions — I think I’m starting to find my audience, and also figuring out what I like making, and what people like buying. I think I’ve become a better artist in various ways, and I’ve had opportunity and motivation to practice a lot of skills, without paying for, say, tuition in an MFA program.
And art supplies are expensive (a bit of sticker shock for the writer!), so covering supply costs is certainly significant. I’ve mostly broken even on money in vs. money out, not counting my own time. Maybe a little bit of profit.
Obviously, eventually, I’d have to count my own time and pay myself a reasonable hourly wage to actually consider this a successful business. But since I do have another job that actually pays the bills, I can give this art thing some time to grow and evolve, assuming I continue to stay interested in it.
So far, very interested. I came back from a week on holiday just ITCHING to get back into the studio and make more things. My hands like to be in motion, and it calms my brain. So that’s good. Onwards to 2025.
(This weekend, though, I have to finalize my syllabi. Classes start on Monday! No new preps, thankfully (which take a lot more time). I would like to teach a creative nonfiction course at some point in the not too distant future, but I’m just fine waiting another semester or two for a new prep…)
