Skipping university to pursue entrepreneurship in...Art. Balancing his time between his two startups, while actively pursuing his passion for the arts. We sat with Aneirin Flynn to talk about how he went from 0 to 1 for his art subscription firm.
(Aneirin Flynn)
"I personally feel that Singapore suffers from a “creative deficit”, and it’s my dream to change that."
What is Artseize?
A friend recently said to me, “This sounds like the Netflix of art!”
Artseize is B2B art subscription service, offering clients a curated selection of artwork by local emerging artists. These clients are typically from the hospitality sector, and the pieces displayed are refreshed every 3 months. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship: clients don’t have to go through the messy and expensive ordeal of purchasing and maintaining artwork, instead enjoying a renewed selection of artwork every quarter; artists enjoy wider exposure to new audiences and a new channel to sell their work. The bottom line is to ensure local emerging creatives have a viable and sustainable platform from which to base their business.
How did you get this idea?
All artists want to make money from selling their artwork. Art typically gets sold when it’s physically on display as potential buyers make stronger connections with the pieces in person (as opposed to online or through a digital screen). The problem is many artists don’t get the opportunity to exhibit their artwork as often as they’d like and to the right audiences.
Businesses want artwork on their walls, but rarely do as it’s expensive and often a difficult task to source and maintain. I saw a gap in the market between artists who wanted to display their work and business who wanted artwork on their walls...
The sharing economy has taken off in a big way - we see it with car-sharing and home rentals, so I thought why not apply the same model to the art market?
The main motivation here is to support local artists. It’s tough to make it as an artist as the barriers to entry are high and the market is controlled by private agents and galleries who enjoy huge commissions from sales (about 50%!). It’s not a sustainable model for artists. It’s time for a new model… to encourage more artists to create more artwork via a commercially sustainable platform. I personally feel that Singapore suffers from a “creative deficit”, and it’s my dream to change that.
First 3 things you did?
1) MVP (supply of artwork) - Since I was already working together with a group of artists, they were quickly onboard to take this experiment with me. To differentiate ourselves, we decided to start with round canvases… can you believe no one in Singapore makes round canvases?
2) Early adopter / test bed (get the client!) – Reached out to a friend’s cafe.
3) Get a following - Built a community behind the idea through the launch of an exclusive art exhibition, which attracted close to 300 attendees.
How did you get your first major client?
We are in the midst of scaling the business to serve bigger clients. I’d like to get my foot in the door with big names like Facebook and Google, as well as banks (whose staff and clientele have the purchasing power to buy).
What is your revenue model?
1) Subscription service - Calculations are flexible, depending on the duration of the service and the area of wall space.
2) Art sale - Interested buyers can buy the artwork if they like it. We will facilitate the delivery. Our platform takes a 25% cut, which is half of what the galleries charge. Ultimately, we want to enable a viable source of income for the artist.
The long term goal is to massively increase the scale and rate of exhibiting artwork. Going out to buy artwork isn’t something that the mass market prioritises… so we want to bring art to the people!
How do you ensure a supply of artworks?
We usually set a theme, 2 months prior to the actual exhibition. Before that is an open call to our artist. The artworks have to fit the setting, hence, we first secure a buyer and venue before customising our work to the theme.
What are your plans to scale this up?
The plan is to elevate this to a school or community level, and identify managers to manage their own portfolio of clients. Aside from selling the subscription, we incentivise the account managers by providing a commission for the sale of the artworks.
What is your main challenge?
Logistical costs. We currently work with Lalamove. Compared to transporting an ecommerce parcel, the artwork requires plenty of packaging, adequate air conditioning, and is often quite fragile.
Biggest learning?
Identifying the sweet spot for the pricing of our artworks, to categorise a patron’s willingness to spend based on the venue. We’re going through a lot of trial and error.
Top 3 advice for entrepreneurs
1) Keep going
You’re going to face setbacks - rejection, operational hiccups, but you can’t let that affect you. A lot of time you just need blind faith. At the end of the day it’s about persevering, and maintaining wild amounts of energy and enthusiasm along the way.
2) Be kind
A lot of the time when you’re selling a new idea - people aren’t buying into the idea, they’re buying into you. Be someone that is trustworthy and exciting.
3) Empower others
Let people do what they want to do, be who they want to be. In the POV of a manager, let your team take charge of a project, delegate, and give them a sense of ownership. Every client project is an open book - if an artist wants to take charge with a particular idea, we’ll all chip in to help make that a reality. If you’re dictating and giving people orders, your team won’t stick with you for very long.
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