The studio manager between the fronts

These are turbulent times in our industry and this does not apply to REACH! Almost everything is changing rapidly at the moment: competition is exploding, tattoos and piercings have gone from being an underdog statement to a lifestyle product, customers and tattoo artists/piercers have become more demanding and inflation is not exactly helping to ease the situation.

More and more artists are doing “their thing” in individual studios or collectives, ever larger studio chains are channelling dozens of international artists through their halls, while the classic studios (3-9 workstations, one branch) can hardly find any good and reliable tattooists or piercers.

Studio owners and managers are increasingly caught between the fronts, as they have to please everyone:

• The demanding customer
• To the artists who want nothing to do with paperwork, organization, regulations, tax
• The authorities with regard to all legal requirements (REACH, hygiene, documentation, tax, tax audit, customs, … see our article“Studios are liable for artists“)

In addition, they are always in competition with all the other studios, collectives, studios and chains that, let’s say, don’t always take their legal obligations quite so seriously.

Individual studios as a solution?

It’s tempting to give up the studio and just “do your thing”. But this model can only really sustain very few people until they retire. As long as you’re still young and hip, everything is rosy. But who of the younger generation (those who get the most tattoos) still knows a Philip Leu or Klaus Fuhrmann today?

If you don’t take advantage of your years on the wave of success to build something long-term, you will find it difficult to switch after 10-15 years, for example. Just imagine it: All this time just “doing my thing” and suddenly some choleric boss in front of your nose again. Not really, is it?

And then there’s health: how many tattooists/piercers can still manage the workload at 50/55? Carpal tunnel syndrome, slipped discs, osteoarthritis in the lumbar spine, burnout, … these are just some of the typical symptoms in our industry. And retiring at 55 is illusory given the current inflation rate.

“His thing” in the studio

But back to the studio owners and managers. It doesn’t have to be a case of throwing in the towel. The problems can be solved:

• Offering ever better service for ever more demanding customers.
• Take the paperwork, organization and regulations off the artists’ hands (as far as possible).
• Fulfill the requirements of the authorities (and thus protect yourself).

In short: the studio takes care of everything except the tattooing/piercing, which is done by the artists and they do it gladly and (mostly) well.

Is that possible?

In short: yes. However, you have to be prepared to invest time in your own further training and change your usual processes. Because the way studios were run 10 years ago is no longer possible today. Artists are no longer willing to give up 50% of their turnover as space rental (at least not in the long term), customers are tired of waiting weeks for answers and the penalties for breaches of legal requirements, if they are discovered, are becoming increasingly painful. Studios have to do more and more for less and less money. So we are now in the same situation as many other industries.

Automated processes and good workflow management can help here. Of course, this requires a good software solution and, as already mentioned, a fair amount of time to familiarize yourself and change everything over. However, once the changeover has been made, you can create a great deal more service (for customers and artists) with significantly less effort than before.

Standing still is a step backwards, the only constant is change

Our experience with over 500 studios shows that those who have implemented things like online booking, short response times, appointment reminders, follow-ups, etc. are ahead of the game. And if this is done efficiently, i.e. with a high degree of automation, you are also competitive when it comes to renting space and remain attractive for good artists.

If you do everything the way you did 10 years ago, you will lag behind these studios. If you want to make it to retirement with your work, things could get tight.

Yes, it is always difficult to change familiar and functioning processes. And yes, there are always problems and, let’s say, frictional losses. But those who no longer question and change themselves become old in the head and also old in the perception of their customers.

And yes, the whole thing only works if the studio management and the artists work hand in hand. If an artist makes or reschedules appointments themselves, the store manager must be informed, otherwise all communication with the customers will no longer work. This is only possible if everyone works with one system, consistently and seamlessly.

Just as Insta and Procreate have changed the business, so will professional studio management systems, and this affects store managers AND artists.

Maintaining the mood and sorting out bad apples

The success of your studio also and especially depends on the atmosphere in your studio. Customers sense a lack of interest, tension, conflict and disharmony and understandably don’t feel comfortable and don’t come back, let alone recommend you to others.

It therefore makes sense and is important to relieve the artist of as many of the unloved things as possible. However, when it comes to things that you can’t do for them, such as bookkeeping and taxes, we recommend that studios stay out of it completely, otherwise a dispute is inevitable. Fixed space rental for residents is one option here (see our info letter “A different kind of space rental“).

The aim is for everyone to enjoy coming to the studio, including the boss! If this is not the case, the topic should always have top priority. Because all it takes is for one person to cross the line. If you let them get away with it, everyone else will wonder why they have to document their appointments or keep their workplace, toilet and kitchen clean at all.

Our clear recommendation: Even if you have the Michelangelo of needles in front of you, if he doesn’t cooperate, he has to go. Your future depends on it.

Yours