I don’t know about you, but I keep hearing “Boh, sorry, I’ve got a thousand things on my plate at the moment!”, although the “at the moment” can drag on for a few months. Somehow, people in our industry are always stressed, have no time left and hardly know how to manage all the things they have to do. The result: more and more health problems (back, neck, hands, etc.) and burnouts. But what can you do? You’re self-employed and just get on with it.
Why is the industry so rushed and stressed today? Where have the golden days gone when everything was somehow easier?
They say there are more and more formal requirements. But if you take a closer look at these requirements, you quickly find out that they have been in place for a long time. Apart from a few local exceptions, it’s not the case that the authorities are carrying out more checks, rather less, as the authorities are reducing rather than increasing their staff. Tattooing or piercing itself has not really become more complicated, but rather easier, as better and better equipment is becoming easier to obtain.
So why is our industry becoming more and more stressful?
I heard “existential fears” as the answer to this question today. And there is indeed something to it. The number of studios has multiplied in recent years. The market is becoming ever tighter and the clientele ever more demanding. We suddenly find ourselves in a competitive environment and everyone instinctively knows that not everyone will survive.
The methods are becoming correspondingly harsher and in some cases more ruthless. Cohesion in the industry is crumbling. And no matter how good your own work is, the question is always on your mind: am I doing enough? Enough advertising, enough 5-star ratings, enough posts, enough likes, enough projects, enough deadlines, enough to survive?
While I usually make a point of proposing at least one solution for all problems in our articles, I can’t do that here. It’s true: not everyone will survive. And as someone who has already started from scratch twice, I also know how bitter that can be. But looking back, I can also say that it was good every time. Sometimes it takes a small catastrophe to give our lives a jolt in a different direction.
My humble advice is: trust in yourself. No matter what happens: you will find your way, one way or another. And as the locals say: “es küt wie’s küt.” Do the work that makes you happy and do it the way that makes you happy and don’t worry about the rest.
With this in mind, we are back from our summer break and wish everyone a good start after their hopefully well-deserved vacation!
Yours
