Art inventory management: The foundation for art business success

Artpreneur.org is a huge fan of Artwork Archive, a simple and streamlined art inventory system that helps artists flourish. We asked them to share a post with us to help our readers learn more about the tool and how artists are using it to their advantage.

As artists, we know how important it is to use the right tool for the job. You can’t start a painting with frayed brushes and expect great results. Similarly, you can’t expect to run your art career without the right tools in place. Art inventory software is the ultimate tool to nurture and grow your art business.

An art inventory system like Artwork Archive allows you to streamline all of your important information in one place. Centralize contacts, sales, exhibition history and gallery information. Organize your artworks, generate custom inventory reports, craft gallery labels and invoices, and stay on top of deadlines.

Artwork Archive helps you keep track of where your artwork is, who has it, what it sold for, and empowers you to make more informed decisions about your art business. Art inventory systems are major time savers—meaning more time in the studio doing what you love.

Artwork Archive talked with six artists about why they are using an art inventory system. Here’s what they had to say:

Art inventory systems take away the stress and chaos of being disorganized
“As my art business has grown, it’s been increasingly difficult to keep track of everything,” artist Jane Hunt emphasized. “I’ve also entered a painting into a show when it was actually unavailable in a gallery. It was very stressful not knowing where everything was.” Once you start selling and exhibiting your work frequently, it becomes almost impossible to keep track of everything on your own. The more organized you are, the less stress you have creeping into other aspects of your life. Art inventory systems help you not only quickly access all the important details about your artworks, it makes you stand out as a professional artist to your collector base.

Breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Artwork Archive remembers exactly where your pieces are, alerts you when they need to be shipped, reminds you about invoice payments, and ultimately, streamlines your business tasks so you can focus on making art.

It Simplifies How You Manage Your Career
Like many artists,  Brienne Brown used to keep all of her inventory in an Excel file. But, Excel proved to be too limiting. She says that switching over to a custom tailored program specifically designed for artists has made a huge difference in her career. An inventory system helps you easily sort and filter your works so you can easily see what works are available, sold, and in location.

“When you start creating at a significant level, you need a way to organize everything easily—you need a way to know exactly what was created, where it is and how long it will be there. Before I found Artwork Archive I struggled with keeping track of shows,” says Brown.

With Artwork Archive, artists get a full history of the shows and exhibitions they have entered as well as reminders about the important submission and pick-up dates. Artists can also build a full history for each piece—which shows it has traveled to, what awards it has won and where it will go next. An added bonus? With all your info already in the system, you can print out gallery labels with the click of a button! Export all of your information to a beautifully formatted label sheet and you are ready to ship off your work.

It Increases the Value of Your Work
According to fine art appraiser Christine Guernsey, ISA CAPP, “Solid and documentable provenance increases the value and desirability of an artwork.” Christine also notes that “failure to keep careful records of this pertinent information can cause a work to be undervalued, remain unsold or lost without promise of recovery.” Artists should record an artwork’s date, title, where it was created, and any personal notes about the piece.

A powerful inventory program like Artwork Archive will also give you fields to record medium, custom categories, inventory number, size, and any other critical information.

It Gives You a Professional Edge
Professional reports with details like contact and price information along with the images help buyers understand the big picture of your work — and help you make the sale.

Artwork Archive gives you the ability to export professional PDF’s of inventory reports, invoices, consignment sheets and portfolio pages to share with your clients. Before you head out to meet with a gallery or collector, bring along a list of your current works available. Make it as easy as possible for the other person to say “yes” to a purchase.

It Cut Down on Administration Time
When you decided to become an artist is was probably not because you wanted to be a business owner. You wanted to paint, to sculpt, to create something with your hands and share that with the world. Then reality struck and you realized you had to pay attention to the business aspects of being an artist in order for your career to grow. Good news: an art inventory system is like having a personal administrative assistant to keep track of all the details of your artwork.

“I am a painter, not an administrator,” exclaimed Canadian artist Terrill Welch.  “Anything that successfully keeps my brushes in my hand and still allows me to run my business is essential. A finely-tuned, practical, reliable, easy-to-use inventory, show, and sales record system is necessary.”

It Makes Scheduling Easy & Gives You Insights
Artists are bombarded with deadlines, orders, and shipments. It’s a lot to handle! But, you don’t need a personal assistant to make sure you are on track. Art inventory software like Artwork Archive stores all of your competition and exhibition information. Keep track of show entries, drop off and pick-up dates. Artwork Archive even sends you reminders so you don’t miss a deadline.

“It’s really nice having that all in one place,” says artist Heather Arenas.

Yet another bonus? All that sales information goes into easy to read graphs to help you make better- informed business choices.

It Streamlines and Safeguards Your Information
Art inventory systems save you time and bring a great deal of convenience in an otherwise chaotic career. You are spending a lot of time in the studio; don’t spend a lot of time in the office as well.

Artists only want to enter information once. From just one Artwork Archive database entry, artists can print out reports for galleries, submit portfolios, share their work with potential clients, get sales insights, and generate invoices. Because Artwork Archive is a cloud-based system, your information will never get lost and is available on any device. The Artwork Archive team continuously updates the product to fit the needs of working artists. You’ll never have to buy new software. So, if your device fails or you only have your phone with you—all your information is still accessible to you.

It’s important for any artist, at any point in their career, to take an accurate inventory of their artwork. Inventory tools aren’t just for galleries or large art studios, they are for all professional artists growing their careers. Having a system in place frees up your time tracking down information, reduces stress and helps you put your most professional foot forward.

Artwork Archive is offering Artpreneur readers 20% off their plan when they sign up for a free trial now.