How to Start a Tattoo Shop Business from Home in a few easy Steps

Tattoos have become very popular in South Africa and are used by people from all walks of life and for different reasons – religious, personal, professional, cultural, etc. More and more people are acquiring tattoos every day which means that if you are thinking of going into this business, then this is certainly the right time for you.

Before you can start this business, you would need to be familiar with the tattoo industry and get properly trained by enrolling in a tattoo artist apprenticeship program which can take a year or two to complete even though you might not start tattooing immediately after the program.

Try and get to know where you can get this training done, how much it would cost you, and the best place for you in terms of distance and their programs. This would help you acquire all the experience needed to start and run the business. If you, however, will not be drawing tattoos but just want to set up a shop, then you need to pick an experienced tattooist to run your business.

Regardless of whether you will be a practicing tattooist or just a non-practicing tattoo shop owner, you must get in touch with the health department in your state or county to know about the regulations regarding the tattoo business in the area where you intend operating from.

Conduct Market Research and Feasibility Studies

Demographics and Psychographics

The demographic and psychographic composition of those who require the services of a tattoo shop varies for those in certain professions such as those in the military, security, trainers, and other sorts; those in club culture, certain religious people, couples, business executives, and all sorts of people.

This is not in any way limiting those that get tattoos to just certain groups of people as anyone – male, female, young adults, and middle-aged adults can all get tattoos as more and more people in SA are seeing tattoos as something they should get, even if it is a small one.

here are however some who are offering services that would make them stand out. Therefore, some of the niches that a tattoo shop might decide to major in to stand out include;

Predesigned tattoos
Custom designed tattoos
Tattoo removals
Piercings
Sale of jewelry

Decide Whether to Buy a Franchise or Start from Scratch

When starting a business, the decision on whether to start your business from scratch or buy a franchise is usually very important as no one plans to start a business that would fail halfway. However, in the tattoo industry, there are no franchise options yet and this is due to the independent nature of the tattoo artists who would prefer to work out their designs or that of their clients without having to be subject to decisions from a franchisor.

Some of the basic things you need to start your business are:

Starter tattoo kit with 2 guns
Aftercare
Tattoo chair
Tattoo Bed
Headlight
First aid kit(optional)
A small operating place(Optional)
marketing strategy
some youtube videos
basic understanding of ink types and their quality