There comes a time when you realize that you’re spending more money on reprinting comics for conventions than you’re spending on groceries. Then you start wondering if there’s a better way to keep track of all of this.
I know I’ve given business a bad name in the past. That was business in the sense of doing boring stuff I didn’t care about to theoretically make more money in the future. This is business in the sense of creating an organizational structure for stuff I was going to do anyway.
That means setting up a business checking account and learning a little about accounting. It’s kind of overkill right now, but I figure I’ll learn something in the process.
I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a long time. I haven’t been for reasons I will cover in the next comic.
What a great place to be! I am so proud of you. Keeping track is the key! Also don’t be intimidated if you spend more on business than yourself. That’s normal. For example, just one costume for my dancing costs as much as groceries for both Loki and I in two weeks. However, all of it is budgeted and it comes from separate accounts so it’s no hardship.
As long as you make more than you spend and avoid incurring new debt, you are in good shape. You might also consider seeing a SCORE counsellor (free) and Springboard for the Arts. They help a lot.
That is some good advice! Thanks!
Nice comic and post, Ryan. Budgeting and tracking of dollars and sense is a big (and crucial) step from taking comics from a hobby to a business. Good luck with it!
I think that keeping art separate from business will become even more important, once you start taking the business site more serious.
Actually, I think budgeting and tracking dollars can been important even if you want to continue to be a hobby. You can still make tax deductions, you just file them differently on your tax forms. Also, you can’t deduct any income past your hobby income. DISCLAIMER: I am not a tax specialist and may not know what I’m talking about.
I think I’m going to shoot for profitability for the next two or three years, and if that doesn’t work out, I’ll move back to being a hobby.
As for keeping art and business separate… I’m not really sure if that’s possible. A lot of my art comes from my life, and if part of my life is going to be business then business is going to be a part of my art. I’m not sure I can keep the two separate. In fact, my last bout of writer’s block came from me trying not to write about business.
Like I said before, I’m still doing all of the stuff I was planning on doing anyway. I’m just carrying it out in a more organized fashion.