A WOMAN has revealed she earns more than £200,000 a year from a side job she does in the time she used to commute.
Dominique Brown, 28, started her art business DomoInk in 2020.
She creates hand-drawn and digital artwork, which can be purchased printed on a variety of different products, such as mugs and t-shirts.
All of Dominique’s items are made to order, which means it was easy for her to set up her business without having any money, as she only needed to purchase the materials after her customers had already paid.
Dominique also has a day job as a marketing manager, which earns £67,000 a year, three times less than her side job.
She said it’s easy for her to do both jobs, as she used to commute two hours a day, but now works from home, so she uses the commute time to focus on her artwork.
“I literally have so much more time and energy“, she said CNBC.
Dominique said she grew up in an area where there weren’t many black people, so she almost never saw people like her represented on greeting cards or through art.
Therefore, she decided to use her art to give a voice to those who “are always underrepresented”.
She said: “It’s really important that children growing up can see themselves on the wall.”
Dominique said a woman sent her a photo of her daughter with one of the artist’s paintings and said her daughter was very excited about the painting because she thought it looked exactly like her mother.
“She bought it right away and hung it on her daughter’s wall,” she said.
Dominque’s business really started to take off after she shared a video of herself drawing a picture of Martin Luther King.
Since then, she’s done collaborations with big brands like Target, Bath & Body Works, and even Disney.
Dominique said her dream is to earn £400,000 a year from her side job.
How to start your own business
Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis has revealed his tips for budding entrepreneurs:
- One of the biggest barriers aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners face is a lack of confidence. You must believe in your idea – even more than that, be the one who bores your friends to death with it.
- Never be afraid to make decisions. Once you have an idea, it is the confidence to make decisions that is crucial to starting and maintaining a business.
- If you don’t take calculated risks, you will be stuck. If a decision turns out to be wrong, identify it quickly and resolve it if you can. If that fails, find someone else who can.
- It’s okay to not get it right the first time. My experience of making bad decisions is what helped develop my confidence, making me who I am today.
- Never underestimate the power of social media and remember that the Internet has leveled the playing field for small businesses.
- Don’t forget to dream. A machine can’t do that!
She would love to do more collaborations with brands and even start making NFTs to generate more sources of income.
The artist is also thinking about doing 3D printing, or doing 3D modeling.
“I would love to turn it into a big home retailer,” she said.
“My dream is to sell my artwork at Target 365 days a year.
“I really want to create a great brand that brings color to everyone’s home.”
She added that creating artwork for Black people made her feel “empowered” and gave her a purpose.
Sharing advice for anyone thinking about starting their own business, Dominique said: “You can build your own business, you can bring your own place to the table.
“The secret is to always believe in yourself and avoid negativity.”
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