I created a unique product (metal roses) that people want to buy, but I'm struggling with production capacity and don't know how to scale. What should I do?
Hire someone immediately and find an understudy to learn to make the product as well as you do. This is a lesson from contemporary art history—successful artists like Damien Hirst have understudies create the work while the artist focuses on the idea and the business. As Hirst said, the end product comes out of the factory, but the idea comes from the artist’s mind. If the idea came out of the factory, that would be a problem. You need to separate yourself from being the only producer. Find someone in your network who can work in your shop and train them to your quality standards. This frees you to focus on marketing, selling, and scaling the business. Don’t let production capacity limit your growth—this is a solvable problem.
Asked by a metal fabricator selling art · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-09-02