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On a similar note I've been thinking of starting up a Terrain Service. I don't know of really any services like it out there, and if you can quickly put together nice pieces especially industrial type, then you might have it made.

I think the best route is to do it part time.

But some advertising would help along with sample minis of what you have done on a thread or website.

We started selling single figures and small squads on eBay years ago - just like others have mentioned, standard type stuff - Ultramarines Sgts., Blood Angel Assault Marines, etc. - anything that can be added to an existing army without having to worry about matching. We would usually not base the models, and offer to base at the end of the auction to match the buyer's army, though just as many preferred to base it themselves once they got the pieces.

Repeat clients on eBay alone convinced us to make this our sole sourse of income - if you offer a good ratio of quality to price, and dependability, you can easily carve out a niche of clients to keep you afloat.

Do's:

- Know your games! Rules, fluff, etc. is essential information. The one (and probably only) drawback to the international, super low-cost services is that their artists may have no idea the specs of what they're actually painting - i.e., what color is a Ultramarine Dev Sgt.'s helmet? Little things like this - getting these details spot on correct - will register to clients, particularly those that didn't give exhaustive instructions to begin with. Bottom line - this is not a job for a non-hobbyist or non-gamer.

- Price competetively. Let's be honest - if you're a gamer, you're competetive, right? Might as well be competetive in your business as well. Calculate your prices based on the time and effort you put into painting a miniature. Most services offer varying degrees of excellence, and you probably should too - this way, you can cater to the 'mass army' wargamer as well as the 'high-end' collector.

- Get your work up anywhere and everywhere you can. Cool Mini Or Not - great site. Are there 100 or more people on there that paint waaaay better than me? Yep. Does that discourage me? Not anymore. FLGS, forums, any way you can get exposure. eBay, again, is excellent for this - make sure you have your website address on every auction, and then you're selling and advertising at the same time. You do have a website, right? If not, that's your priority.

Caveats:

- Be very wary of working with others. Sad truth, but money, and the management of it, absolutely changes people. We've worked with two other painting services in the past, and eventually encountered the same problems: unchecked avarice and questionable activities from those running the show. Best bet - go it alone, or with a small cadre of other professionals you honestly can trust.

- Calculate what you need, and establish a 'ceiling' for your service. We paint only so much a month, and that's that - if we're booked, and someone writes us for a price quote, we either refer to another service or explain that we can't start the project right away. If you're not careful, this can become a joyless job and your love of the hobby disintegrates.

- Pick your market, rather than try to be all things to all people. We've yet to paint a Flames of War project, and that's cool - I'm not particularly interested in getting into that scale. We've never won any Golden Demons, and that's cool - I'm not really motivated to achieve that. Paint what you like, and paint to a quality you're pleased with, and then offer it to the world. Contrary to alot of people's opinions, I don't think this is a zero-sum industry, i.e., there's enough work out there theoretically for most anyone.

Everyone has posted some really great insight into the world of small business ownership.

I have a few pointers on documenting your finished models.

1) Document. It's not a bad idea to have a picture portfolio of your past work on hand. You never know when a repeat client is going to ask you to match something.

2) Buy a GOOD camera. I started out with a Olympia 3MP camera. I recently purchased a Kodak Easyshare 8MP camera. WOW, whatta difference! For figures this small, MP stands for Megapixels Prudent.

3) In my experience, a whigger rigged cardboard box works better than a $40+ photo booth.

4) Limit your background. The client is purchasing your models, not your trees & hills & village, unless of course, he is. I personally like to use a plain white background for detailed photos to show the client, although habitual backgrounds are nice for candid pics.

5) Don't overcrowd. Pictures of individual squads are nice. One pic of the whole 3000 point Tyranid army isn't. Nobody cares that your Hive Tyrant can look like an ant.

6) F**k the rule against mugshots. Mugshots make a model.