starting own tattooing business

I am trying to start my own business in tattooing and need some help is what I have to do before I can open shop . I have a bedroom in my house that I am making over for tattoo's only but, I don't know where to call to see what I have to do to get started besides buy the kit and some furiture, lights and supplies. please email me and let me know what i can do . Thanks Brenda

in your fucking bedroom? Here's an idea- do what all respectable tattoo shop owners do and go to your local downtown area and rent a shop. What you are doing is cheap, unsanitary, and most of all a disgrace to the tattoo community.

Hey guess what Brenda, I can think of a lot better ways you can make money in that spare room. Heh. I tried the home tattooing thing. It doesn't work. Start from the bottom, get yourself involved in the tattoo world, make connections, and get one of them thar so-called "apprenticeships"... the biggest myth in the tattoo world.

Um..yea. .. Bad idea. Try again. Perhaps you might instead enjoy one of the lucrative bedroom businesses listed below... -Boudoir Brain Surgery -Incendiaries For The Home Enthusiast -Alpaca Herding For Housewives -Herbal Hydroponics For Green Thumbed Asocialites -Cockroach Obedience School

hey there ....dont listen to them nice idea tryin to start a shop at home ...hell i did it ...and ive been doin it for 4 years now .....love every sec of it ....didnt even have to get an "apprenticeship" thats just a bunch of bullshit and a way for tat shops to make some cash find out the laws for tattooing in ur state.....go to the health dept. they help alot be sanitary ALWAYS ....new needles blah blah blah good luck ......and questions about it just ask on yahoo ....my s/n is down_with_a_clown

I'm all for people for chasing their dream, but the bedroom aproach is a very unprofessional one and will do no good for the industry...the fact that you mention buying "a kit" puts it over the top in terms of a bad idea in to the relm of foolhardy. An apprenticeship is not optional if you care about tattooing, your customers, your own health. There's more than one way to aquire that apprenticeship dispite what some pros say, but you need to get one before tattooing live people.

More than likely it's illegal where you are. And this is a good thing. In stead of fucking up a bunch of people's skin with trial and error tattooing, try working on a really strong ART portfolio and aquire an apprenticeship from a licensed shop in your area. If you can't find anyone who's willing to help, it probably means your art sucks and you need to get better. It shows no respect for your "clients" if you use them as guinea pigs. Get some training...it's the only way. "kits" arent worth a shit. Always subquality , always overpriced. Manufactured to sell to uneducated home tattooists such as yourself.

Remove all carpet and put linolium down.Contact health dept. for more laws and guidelines.Best of luck.

HI MY AKA IS CHINO I AM THE OWNER OF PAIN AND PLEASURE AND I AM IN BUSINESS 22 YEARS AND I WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOU IN ANYWAY POSIBLE AND THE CHEAPPEST WAY TOO BUT WITH OUT LOSING QUALITY AND CLASS. I CAN HELP YOU WITH GOOD INK AND NEEDLE COMPANIES PLEASE DON'T SEND MONEY TO ANY PERSON THAT OFFERS TO HELP YOU IF THEY OFFER TO HELP IT SHOULD BE FOR FREE IF THEY ASK FOR MONEY THEN THEY ARE ASKING FOR A JOB FROM YOU. WELL FEEL FREE TO ASK ME FOR ANY THING THAT YOU NEED I WILL NOT SEND YOU ANY MONEY BUT WILL GIVE YOU COOL CONNECTIONS IN THE TATTOO INDUSTRY THIS IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL LINE OF WORK AND YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF FUN AND THE FIRST YEAR YOU WILL SEE HOW YOU WILL SEE THAT 24 HOURS A DAY IS TO SHORT BUT PACE YOUR SELF AND REMEMBER THE YEAR HAS A LOT OF DAYS WITH 24 HOURS DON'T GO CRAZY OVER BOOKING CLIENTS BECAUSE THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK CAN BE IN DANGER MAKE SURE YOU ARE WELL RESTED AND CLEAN AND YOUR WORK AREA IS CLEAN IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA OF FLORIDA I CAN GET YOU THE ADDRESS OF THE DEPT OF HEALTH AND DEPENDING IN WHAT STATE I CAN GET YOU THE RIGHT PLACE WHERE TO GET YOUR LICENSE I REPEAT DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANY BODY IF THEY DON'T DO IT BECAUSE IT COMES OUT OF THEIR HEARTS WELL TO BAD FOR THEM AND THEY ARE NOT DOING IT TO HELP A FELLOW TATTOO ARTIST SPREAD THE ART THAT WE PRODUCE GOD BLESS YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD LIFE AND BUSINESS.

HI MY AKA IS CHINO I AM THE OWNER OF PAIN AND PLEASURE AND I AM IN BUSINESS 22 YEARS AND I WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOU IN ANYWAY POSIBLE AND THE CHEAPPEST WAY TOO BUT WITH OUT LOSING QUALITY AND CLASS. I CAN HELP YOU WITH GOOD INK AND NEEDLE COMPANIES PLEASE DON'T SEND MONEY TO ANY PERSON THAT OFFERS TO HELP YOU IF THEY OFFER TO HELP IT SHOULD BE FOR FREE IF THEY ASK FOR MONEY THEN THEY ARE ASKING FOR A JOB FROM YOU. WELL FEEL FREE TO ASK ME FOR ANY THING THAT YOU NEED I WILL NOT SEND YOU ANY MONEY BUT WILL GIVE YOU COOL CONNECTIONS IN THE TATTOO INDUSTRY THIS IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL LINE OF WORK AND YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF FUN AND THE FIRST YEAR YOU WILL SEE HOW YOU WILL SEE THAT 24 HOURS A DAY IS TO SHORT BUT PACE YOUR SELF AND REMEMBER THE YEAR HAS A LOT OF DAYS WITH 24 HOURS DON'T GO CRAZY OVER BOOKING CLIENTS BECAUSE THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK CAN BE IN DANGER MAKE SURE YOU ARE WELL RESTED AND CLEAN AND YOUR WORK AREA IS CLEAN IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA OF FLORIDA I CAN GET YOU THE ADDRESS OF THE DEPT OF HEALTH AND DEPENDING IN WHAT STATE I CAN GET YOU THE RIGHT PLACE WHERE TO GET YOUR LICENSE I REPEAT DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANY BODY IF THEY DON'T DO IT BECAUSE IT COMES OUT OF THEIR HEARTS WELL TO BAD FOR THEM AND THEY ARE NOT DOING IT TO HELP A FELLOW TATTOO ARTIST SPREAD THE ART THAT WE PRODUCE GOD BLESS YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD LIFE AND BUSINESS.

Well said Chino, yes there is a lot of help out there available just for the asking, you just need to find the right people.

CHINO, Hi, my name is Jeremy, I want to start my own tatto shop and I need to know how to get started. I am a very talented artist, but with my busy schedule im not sure how to go about doing this. I am going to look into getting an apprenticeship very soon. If you have any input or suggestions, please let me know. I need all the help I can get! Thanx

IM ALSO WANTING TO OPEN MY OWN SHOP.. NOT AS THE TATTOO ARTIST BUT JUST AS THE OWNER.. I AM IN LOVE THE WHOLE IDEA OF BODY ART.. AND THIS HAS BEEN BY GOAL TO OPEN A SHOP WITH GREAT ARTIST.. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP PLEASE DO AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU..

Oh christ..not another one!!! "I want to own a tattoo shop cuz its like sooo kewl...FUCK!!! Read the fuckin posts!!!!!

thats it ..shut the site down ....keep these fucking clowns as far apart from each other as possible.............wow.

I'm a recreational gynocologist and thinking of opening my own clinic.... I have a spare bedroom.

"recreational gynecologist " Yes, just what I was looking for. I just bought a van I'm going to use as an ambulance and I'm going to use my garage to start a hospital.How close are you to Ohio and are you willing to relocate. Thanks- Willy Poontangwinski M.D.

I am gonna start a Proctology clinic...I have a nice basement well except for the dirt floor and I have a sterilized gravy spoon...who wants to be my first customer

"I am trying to start my own business in tattooing and need some help is what I have to do before I can open shop . I have a bedroom in my house that I am making over for tattoo's only but, I don't know where to call to see what I have to do to get started besides buy the kit and some furiture, lights and supplies. please email me and let me know what i can do . " sounds like you're in it for all the wrong reasons. its not a business. its an art form. its not just a kit that makes you a tattoo artist.. sounds like youve never even held a machine and youre all ready to just jump in head first. are you even an artist? im sorry but im not the only one out there who wouldnt get tattooed in some ladys bedroom running a out of wack sounding superior precision machine.. heres what you can do. stop and look at the situation. tattoing isnt a get rich over night kinda thing. and if its a get rich attitude you have. then you have the wrong fuckin attitude. youre not going to buy a kit and set up in your living room handing out flyers at conventions or whatever. its hard work and you live and die for it.. get an apprenticeship, talk to people, read up on the mechanics on tattoo machines. i dont down on people who dont tattoo in shops. but i hate business men.. " please email me and let me know what i can do . " #1.get a clue

There has always been something that drives me away from discussion boards and it's the cattle mentality that does it. What do I mean? I mean, follow your heart and don’t let anyone discourage you. I’ve followed this very advice and I laugh at the “nay sayers” all the way to the bank. My professional advice: Owning your own business takes something that most people don't have. Those who are willing to stick their neck out and make something of themselves find ways to improvise and overcome their obstacles. You can tell the differences between the tattoo shop owners and the morons on this discussion board. The mindless cattle are the ones throwing out the “you’re an idiot” responses while the tattoo shop owners are giving encouragement and advice. Brenda, I myself am an artist and a photographer. I currently own three tattoo shops where I employ three artists each, a photography studio where I employ two persons, a web design business, a sign painting business and I own multiple apartment buildings which I rent out. I started all of these businesses from home as any business owner can tell you, that's probably the only way to start a business. It takes a special kind of stupid to think that you can start a business by renting a store front without any business capital what-so-ever. It takes money to open a shop. Those who think your idea is silly or impossible should keep punching their timecards and continue to rake in their “minimum wage” earnings while keeping their opinions to themselves. It’s people like us that these morons come to when looking for a job. They don’t have the brain power to think outside the box. Don’t listen to them. Ok, if you are an artist then you only need to learn the media itself. A kit is great to start with but once you begin to learn the trade you will find that the machines that come in kits are low quality. Be realistic, kits are a great start but save up for the real deal. Begin to practice with, “Ink It! Tattooing Skin”, it costs around $15.00 for a 6” x 6” square but it’s worth it. Practice, practice, practice. When you’ve got it down go to the next step and give yourself a tattoo. Although your reach is limited, you can give yourself a good tattoo on your ankle, thigh, forearm or anywhere you can reach without too much discomfort. Begin by showing off your new talent. Keep the Tattooing Skin you’ve been working on for your portfolio. If you’re good, some people wouldn’t mind getting a tattoo from you out of the trunk of your car. Trust me on this. I started out in my basement. KEEP IT SANITARY, STERIL, NEAT AND CLEAN!!! Build your reputation and before you know it you’ll be booking a couple of clients per week. Then one day you will realize that you’ve outgrown that spare room in you home and want to open a shop in a nearby town. That’s how I started. Hell, I started my photography business by doing portraits of couples, children and H.S. Seniors in their own living rooms. I traveled to their homes and set up my studio right in their living rooms. I used their furniture as props and set up my background and lights. I began doing this back in September of 1992 from my home. Not one customer was photographed in my home, ever. By September of 1993 I had an $11,000.00 monthly gross income. At that point I could pick and choose where I wanted my business to be located because I had the income to do it. Sure I had a couple of complaints from some who wanted to walk into a studio and that’s fine. But out of the entire year of business I obtained I can only remember two people who didn’t use my services because they wanted the “Studio atmosphere”. I later ran into one of the two who admitted that my work was better than the photos they got from a “Professional Studio”. Oh, don't think I didn't have people telling me I was a fool for starting a business like this. I recall my Mother as well as y uncle telling me not to waste my time because ,"people wanted to be photographed in a studio, not thier own homes". Bull, I had people knocking down my door to get me to come to their homes and photograph their families because it was "more convenient" than travelling to a studio. If you’re really doing your best and you are producing top quality tattoos, the atmosphere won’t be as important to your clients. Oh, and my last words are concerning the “apprenticeships”. Most people aren’t aware of this but the typical apprentice at your local tattoo shop doesn’t even do tattoos. You will see most of them running errands, sweeping floors, cleaning equipment, getting coffee and just about any other mundane function that has nothing at all to do with learning how to tattoo. I do take apprenticeships but only for the purpose of training how to tattoo. I will not let them tattoo any clients until I know they are ready. I don’t pay nor charge them. They come to me as students and if I feel they have the talent, I will train them. I don’t watch much TV but I think the show was “Miami Ink”. There is a Japanese man under an apprenticeship at a shop where he does everything from sweeping the floors to kissing everyone’s ass. One episode shows him being put under the gun to “do his first tattoo”. Talk about using your clients as guinea pigs. This poor guy isn’t even an artist and he bitches on the show about that fact. After doing everything under the sun except actually tattooing, they tell him he’s ready. WHAT!!!!! This is coming from a “professional” tattoo shop. If you’ve got the talent, don’t waist your time under an apprenticeship, just practice and get to know your equipment like the back of your hand. My final advice is to follow the law to the book. Contact your local health dept. and they will be able to help you. Good luck and don’t let the “9 to 5 drones” keep you from your dreams. To those on this message board spewing negative comments rather than actually trying to give constructive help to Brenda's request... If you disagree with what I've said here, I'll compare my bank account with yours any day. In fact I've run across some relatives that gave me their "opinionated advice" when I was just starting out. I now make in one week what they earn in a year. I can go fishing in the middle of any day of my choosing while they are on their hands and knees begging their "Boss" for a vacation day. I eat when I'm hungry while they are forced by their employers to "take lunch" only at the specified time as outlined in the employee handbook. My best advice, don't listen to others and do what you know you can achieve and one day you will be approached by one of these drones for a job. And you will then be in a position to politely tell them to "KISS YOUR RICH ASS!!!" Best wishes. RT

Here's a fucknut who "owns the world" and tells this woman to follow the law after he admitted to starting off in his basement, claims that some people will let you tattoo them out of your trunk if its, "neat, clean and sterile"..... THE LAW STATES THAT THOU SHALT NOT TATTOO ANYWHERE WITHOUT A LICENSE AND A SHOP..... If you are so exhaulted Mr. Fancy Pants, what are the names of your buisness, how can we contact you, where are you located? Let's see you work..... All I'm saying is MAN THE FUCK UP!

Put up or shut up asshole...Show us pics of your work!...Wheres the proof?...Anyone can be anybody on the net but I will bet we never see any of this chodes shops or one tattoo that came out of them....Be careful who ya listen to on the net unless they can back up what they say!!!...TAz

i guess this is why there are private message boards... some of this stuff is scarey... is there a start yer own choppershop messageboard cause that'd be a better idea for some people... go hack up some bikes or sumpthin...

Got that right Jolly! I am just amazed that we don't have more documented deaths from amateur tattooing than we do....guy comes into my shop who had been in a week previously and thought our prices too high...head hung low he proceeded to peel the bloody bandage off of his arm...from elbow to top of shoulder the blood poisoning could be followed quite easily just by tracing the black and red lines...the tattoo itself , which was of course unrecognizable, was seeping pus and exuding a horrible dead body odor...he could raise his arm only with extreme difficulty and when he did we could see the lymph nodes in his armpit were GROSSLY swollen...this was as VERY ill man!...he told me that his "artist" looked at the tattoo and said to take some aspirin and pour some VODKA on it!!!...We talked the man into allowing us to take him to the emergency room where a nurse we know very well told us that he was probably going to lose the arm. I did take pics but until I get the mans written permission I won't use them...hopefully soon. This man wanted to save a measly HUNDRED BUCKS so he went to a hack working without license no autoclave cheap "kit" and will now lose an arm!...When will people learn?...TAz

Look first go here-> ATI http://www.tatsmart.com/online_certification,then check your local laws and health requerments.I DO NOT RECOMMEND A TATTOO SHOP OUT OF HOME!! but if your gonna at least do it rightdo not buy tattoo kits,get some fake skin,grapefruit to pratice on for a while a long while tell great art work is produced.I am a tattoo shop owner,it takes a lot to get started and hard work to keep it open , my cost to open my tattoo shop was about $12,000 and thats not for the rent every month thats in supplies,certificates,LLC,etc.if there are any more Q? email me at [email removed] also check out my sites www.anarchy-owns.com & www.anarchy-tattoo.piczo.com

Damn, Does this shit ever end, I mean christ I love tattoo's as much as anyone but l like GOOD QUALITY work, and not everyone can do this, Please sell Mary Kay if you want to make extra money, DON'T buy a kit and think you can tattoo. Blacktri

I'm not an artist so won't comment on the previous guy's... um "work". I just say check his site... then check www.paintedangel.com... That's the shop TAZ owns, a real shop.

Meant anarchy not Black... Black you posted a few secs before me ooops...

your site isnt even up and yea ill DoS that ip of yours lol kunt

Mine isn't a tattoo site. I'm not an artist. My wife is. Learn english. One quick question. (I kept the sentences short to match your bus.) Did these come from your "shop"? http://ihatescratchers.com/default.cfm?SiteMenu=ImageGallery&ImageGalleryMenu=SearchResults&Category=Fucked%20Up%20Tattoos I'm sorry, this guy does make a good case for apprenticeship.

Anarchy, I've seen better scratch work than your shop work. I better nearly every artist here has too.

My GOD!!!! And from a "professional" studio?... Gives us all a bad name!!!

Open that shop in your trunk if you want just be clean about it....all disposables are the only way to go....Lexan tubes and pre-sterilized throw away needles.....Don't worry about these mean old farts who hate on everybody who didn't get screwed like they did for an apprenticeship......Remember....EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM SUCKED IN THE BEGINNING!...NO ONE CAME IN THIS BUSINESS A PRO>>>....you just have to age like wine and get sweeter and smoother with age.....Chase your dreams....Krush the idiots who would dog the "BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY APPROACH".....however you can do it, do it....by hook or crook you'll end up on top...Just know your shit when it comes to cross-contamination and follow aseptic techniques and you can do this shit in kitchens so long as you know what your doin'.....have you ever seen a truly traditional tattoo shop like the ones in Hawaii or other islands.....Not as clean as you may think.....but somehow they survive still.....as do their customers.......You guys all need to remember where you came from!....A bunch of monkeys pokin each other with dirty sticks.....

man, anarchy i just went to your page and im shocked at how bad the tattoos were! i don't usually agree with alot of the people on here but those tattoos were bad!. i've done an apprenticeship and worked in a few shops and i know the difference between good work and bad. i don't know how you have a shop with that level of work bein put out. i'm havin a hard time getting in a new shop and my work is much better than that! not bragging just bein real. you should all put the machines down and take an art class or two then do an apprenticeship under a good artist. because the stuff on your page is just not worthy of a shop. i know ALOT of kitchen magicians who do far better work than that.

Anarchy, you are in no position to be giving advice. Not only are your tattoos pure scratch but your flash is shit, too. I have been saying this over and over again, just because you manage to rent a shop and maybe even get a business license, that does not make you a professional. I had the unfortunate experience of working for two months in a completely unprofessional shop and regreted it to no end. I shoulda walked out the first day. Such studios have the potential to do some serious damage to the profession, more than just the kitchen magicians. I know this first hand. To be a professional tattoo artist requires much more than just knowing how to line and color, knowledge of cross-contamination, etc. Those things are requisites, of course, but it also about ethics, professionalism, and respect for a noble artform. This knowledge doesn't come overnight and these qualities cannot be bought from a "kit" supplier. There are so many bullshit artists out there opening shops with no knowledge other than what they read in some manual they bought off of ebay. It is a sad situation. Taz, that story is truly freightening. I may have nightmares about it! Please keep us posted and let's hops this guy's arm can be saved. If that isn't reason enought o keep one from tattooing in his bedroom with a kit, I don't know what is. - Paul

I just thought this comment (a few lines up on this thread) was hilarious: RE:starting own tattooing business Posted by [email removed] from IP: 207.192.207.158 on 07/09/06 HADES Put up or shut up asshole...Show us pics of your work!...Wheres the proof?...Anyone can be anybody on the net but I will bet we never see any of this chodes shops or one tattoo that came out of them....Be careful who ya listen to on the net unless they can back up what they say!!!...TAz

ya know whats kinda funny about this guys "work". <------Speaking of anarchy half of it can be found on deviantart.com (home of scratcher artists) from dozens of different people. sounds like copy and paste came in handy. regardless of whose work it is, its shit. plain and simple S-H-I-T sound it out. but im not agreeing with TAZ either, ive never seen any of his work, people are constantly asking to see somethin, and he normally just disappears for a while. and thats gettin kinda old too. wise ol' taz. he knows how to disappear pretty good. might as well be a magician cuz youve proven your good at that. every time you turn your head taz has posted something else tellin someone 'lets see some of your work' and even when its shitty work they still post it, and taz just kinda talks shit and runs. and im sure the wise and powerful taz is gonna ask me to post some of my shit which i will, and then he'll call it shit and disappear for a while before showing up again. by all means taz prove me wrong tho, i would actually love to see some of your work, as much as you build it up to be. and so would everyone else. and the halloween ball. of course, how could i forget? hes gonna tell me to come to the halloween ball and have a sit down. which i would love to do. because for the 7 years ive been tattooing(which isnt a lot but at least i did it the right way), it seems like taz has been talkin shit on tattoonow.