Starting up a Gallery and Frame Shop Paperback – March 15, 2011

Very informative! Covered just about everything one could think of. Only problem was it felt with Great Britain.

Very informative book

Not useful.

This is a book that has some useful information in it. And I guess it's aimed at the complete novice. There is some useful business advice: setting up a limited company, or being a sole trader for example, but a lot of this advice and more can be found in other books. If it's the business side you need assistance with, I'd recommend looking at a book written specifically on setting up a new business. Because this book mixes art industry advice with business advice, both sides suffer as a consequence.The information on writing a business plan is awful, repetitive and pedantic. The result is an unstructured, verbose, repetitive plan that is no use to anyone. I suspect the author didn't consult banks when she wrote that section of the book. I know from writing my own business plan along with extremely useful advice from a friend that the business plan advice in this book is not what banks are looking for.Instead, go to a bank website (HSBC for example) and download templates for business plans. These will tell you exactly what the banks want to read.But the art industry advice is not much better. It's vague and pretty basic. It doesn't get the real issues any business person wants to know: How do you get people to spend money on art? Having many years of experience in the fine art industry I know a little about why people invest in art. The truth is, a person rarely walk into a gallery and buys a painting because they simply like it. People buy art because of the image of the gallery, the reputation of the gallery, the reputation of the artist and the many factors that back these up.The art industry advice in this book doesn't go that deep and only covers the basics which is why I assume it's really aimed at someone who doesn't really know much about art. If so, why would they want to start an art business?As I said, there is some useful advice in this book but is you feel you know the art industry well, you don't need this book. If it's business advice you're looking for, look elsewhere.

This is an excellent book full of helpful advice, facts, information and ideas for making the most of your art business from the first notion through customer relations to window displays and paying tax on the profits! All the financial aspects, pre-set up, actual and predicted are covered clearly and concisely, you learn how to set out and write a Business Plan as well as receiving practical advice on stocking, arranging and lighting your space for optimum results and much more. There are other books on starting businesses but if, like me, you are about to open a gallery (with or without the framing), or any other art related business, you'll find the specific information in this book invaluable. Annabelle Ruston works in the art industry and really knows her stuff and the wealth of information is well laid out, easy to follow and put across in a very straightforward, readable way. If use of a highlighter to pick out important passages is a mark of success, my decorated pages speak volumes!

Fast and better than described.

I am fully satisfied