Chewing Pencils

Over the next few weeks I’ll be working my way through a series that concentrates more closely on the business side of cartooning. The drawing side of cartooning we love. The business side, well that’s a different story.

To be a successful cartoonist means you can’t avoid getting your hands grubby with the negotiations, politics, arguments, pressures, competition, disappointments and mistakes of business. Most of us simply pray that some syndicate will walk by our house, see our work stuck on the fridge, and then ring the doorbell with a multi-million dollar deal.

Reality check: It’s not going to happen.

We have to spend as much time, perhaps even more, on the business aspect of our industry as we do on the art side. If you don’t, your ‘career’ becomes lop sided and you end up walking in circles

Most of us arty types don’t have a head for business, and the whole thing is a chore that we’d rather do without. Fortunately there are people that love this sort of thing and are quite happy to help you get started. Once the momentum starts, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to operate your cartoon ‘business’.

When I was starting out, the thing I dreaded most was tax. Working in a regular job meant that I only ever had to worry about tax stuff once a year when I lodged my return. But as a cartoonist, I had to allow for tax in every job I quoted, comply with the reporting laws, register as a sole trader and recheck every statement I sent to the tax office to make sure I was all above board. Most of this was beyond me, so I enlisted the help of a good accountant to make sure everything was as it should be.

Fincancially, this hurt. At this point in my career, the amount of money I was earning from drawing was minimal. I was already making a loss and paying for an accountant made it even worse. But the investment was well worth it for she was able to make sure I was able to claim the depreciation of all my computer stuff and claim also sorts of exemptions for things that I was clueless about. It was all legal (and moral!) plus it meant that potential corporate clients were willing to commission me as I complied with all thetax requirements that they needed for business transactions.

So, the first part of this series is quite simple: Get yourself ready to be a professional cartoonist by applying for everything you must to be a sole trader in your country. Establish good reporting procedures and accounting practices, and enlist help to do so if you must.

To be turn your drawing into a business, you have to operate as one. Whether you like it or not!

In Australia, this means applying for an ABN (Australian Business Number) and getting your head around the GST (Goods and Services Tax) laws. Fortunately the ATO (Australian Tax Office) has consultants that can guide you through this process and answer any questions you have.

American clients have often asked me to fill out a W8 form, but I’ve never really been sure what for. I just do it becasue I won’t get paid if I don’t!

Your country will have it’s own unique system. If you’ve done this already, share a little about what you’re country requires in the comments.