Zig When Everyone Zags
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.
—Charles Darwin
Change is the only constant in life, especially these days when everything is hitting us at once.
Convulsive changes seem to be slamming us on a daily basis. Sometimes it’s overwhelming and we are tempted to give up and hide under the covers until everything goes back to normal. But is there ever such a thing as normal?
ZIG ZAG ink study, exploring line
Did you know that only 50% of small business owners survive their fifth-year of operation? Businesses often close because they continue doing things the old way, hoping the outside world will eventually change in their favor. Sorry, but that rarely happens.
Over the past 28 years, I’ve witnessed how technology, shifting social views and a global health crisis has had unfavourable and, in some cases, devastating affects on small and large business owners.
However, have you ever noticed how some people somehow, not only survive, but thrive. They may not necessarily be better than the next, but they’ve seized the opportunities others did not see.
Change Creates Opportunity
In my basement studio in 2004
Being a full-time professional artist automatically makes me a small business owner with similar challenges.
Just like any business, I make a product (art) and art needs to be shown and made available to customers (you). Just like any business, I have overhead costs, production costs, marketing costs, employees and of course taxes.
Nowadays, the success of a long-term career or business depends on many things.
One of the most important keys to surviving during an onslaught of change is the ability to stay flexible. Look for the ‘silver lining’ and there will always be an opportunity to move foward.
Although occasionally, it’s been a real struggle, I’ve had to adapt my art career path in many ways over the years to keep my art business alive.
I’ve written before about the ways in which the internet, especially, has impacted the art world.
If ever there was a time to take another zig in the zag of life- this is it !!!
New Gallery for Local Art Lovers
The Studio Gallery, was recently opened for the convenience of local clients. It’s a beautiful little 500 square foot jewel box exhibition space attached to my warehouse studio in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The gallery is conveniently located near the US border at Detroit.