Naval Lodge No. 4
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Afternoon Session
Summarized by Charlotte Starnes
For information about the morning session, please see the summary of the first half of the event, by Alice Craigie.
Panelists (in order as they appeared on stage):
- Julia Brennan, Caring for Textiles
- Anna Ersenkal, District Art Conservation, LLC
- Connie Stromberg, Stromberg Conservation, LLC.
- Howard Wellman, Wellman Conservation, LLC.
For the afternoon session of the Private Practice seminar held by the Washington Conservation Guild, a panel of four conservators with different specialties were gathered to speak about their individual experiences working in private practice. Some questions were submitted prior to the event, while others were fielded from the attendees. Answers given by panelists were largely paraphrased below.
Julia Brennan: has worked for over 30 years in the DC area as a textile conservator. She does both private and institutional work. Truly believes in talking to the community and other institutions for networking and helping to foster confidence to take care of their own valued objects. Some of her major priorities in her career have been outreach people based and value-based collections care. This is inherently connected to textiles as they are often valued because of their deep personal connections that people have with them. Connie works from a home-based studio and sees all clients for consultation with no charge. Doesn’t personally like working alone and has built a team that she enjoys working with.
Anna Ersenkal: as the youngest on the panel, has only had her private practice opened since 2023 and has worked in conservation for 16 years between preprogram work and school. Anna mentioned the challenges and expenses of beginning a private practice, and stressed finding resources for the business side of things was critical -such as private practice groups with AIC, small business associations, sharing experiences with other private practice conservators, and even pro bono lawyers to help withdrawing of contracts. Anna mentioned currently working with government contracts. Anna’s private practice studio space is part of an artist collective, so although currently working alone, has access to the artist community.
Connie Stromberg: lived abroad for 14 years and moved back in 2001, starting a private practice in 2002. Connie’s experiences abroad consisted of doing conservation work in Nepal, collections survey and staff training for the Barbados Museum, disaster relief working for a Baroque church doing fire response in Quito, Ecuador, and finally working as a cultural patrimony specialist at the US embassy in Lima, Peru, that included a preventative training program.. Connie mentioned the importance of networking. In 2002 to 2004, Connie was involved in her first large project in DC with the conservation of plaster reliefs, limestone figures, and aluminum sculptures at the Justice Department on a GSA contract. Connie often works at Smithsonian and other area museums and prefers to collaborate with other conservators in the area as well.
Howard Wellman: first worked in theater doing set design, and then went on to study archeology which ultimately led him to archaeological conservation in London, England. Howard then spent three years in Egypt working and setting up a basic lab in Alexandria. After this stint abroad Howard moved back to the U.S., to Maryland where he worked for eight years for the State of Maryland/Maryland Conservation lab which ultimately led to his studying and interest in stone conservation. Howard opened private practice on the weekends doing stone conservation, ultimately a conflict of interest came into play with which he realized he had enough work to merit a full-time private practice. Howard made quite a few contacts while working with the local archaeological and historical societies working for the state that he never had to pay for advertising. His private practice work is generally 50/50 cemetery and private art contracts.
Note: All panelists really emphasized the importance of networking and putting yourself out there, not just within the field of conservation with associations like the WCG and AIC and potentially referrals, but within other fields and specialties as well. Know your limitations and what you like to work on as well, finding a niche can also be rewarding.
Question: Do you ever do a sliding scale when charging for treatments or pro-bono work?
Howard Wellman: Absolutely. Often will do work for small parishes or small societies, they can pay for the materials and will do the work for free. In terms of sliding scale, will often calculate what is affordable for him to give them and cut his hourly rate if they are struggling with a budget.
Connie Stromberg: Will often give referrals and basic care information without charge to potential clients.
Anna Ersenkal: Believes most conservators will do this in some way. It can be difficult with clients who are very emotionally attached to their items. Will not change hourly rate. In some cases, small discounts can be given with the caveat that I may use the treatment done on their work in a presentation or on my website.
Julia Brennan: Judging/negotiating prices comes with experience. Often choosing to charge a lower amount, take a loss is the choice of the business owner. But those projects can help generate goodwill. Small projects can help with money flow while waiting on larger federal projects as well. They have formed a solid part of business in her tenure.
Question: How do you determine your hourly rate? And if you do work out of the state you reside in, do you modify this amount to adjust to normal rates there?
Connie Stromberg: Clients cover for the hotel, per diem, travel if work in another state is proposed. Typically do not change rates to those of other states because the client is bringing us in because they want us to work on their project for a reason. Sure, there are other states where the average rate is higher, it goes in the other direction as well. Typically it is as we gain experience and clients a raise in rates can happen.
2022 AIC Compensation/Salary Survey can be helpful for some aspects of figuring out what should be charged.
Managing expectations is very important through this process as well.
Anna Ersenkal: There are resources that are available to help with figuring this out. (2020) ECPN virtual talk with Ariel O’Connor which is still available on AIC Website. This is good for government contracts and conducting your bid. How to adjust and navigate those contracts to be competitive and strategic.
Here is a link to some of that information: https://learning.culturalheritage.org/products/making-the-ask-developing-negotiation-tactics-in-the-field-of-conservation
Often clients may not understand the price of conservation, so spending some time on the phone with them so that they understand before giving them a general price can help.
Howard Wellman: There is an element of bargaining and understanding the world of general/government contracts. Adjusting hourly rates and hours charged to reach the end amount. Being flexible and savvy is key.
Having a spreadsheet that documents your projects, time it took, what was charged. After a few years, you start to develop an idea or an algorithm that can help you figure out what you may charge per piece price, hourly rate, daily rate, etc.
Phrasing to clients is important in terms of managing expectations and overall outcome of your work. Also managing your own expectations is important- knowing your starting points and those of your clients through dialogue, prioritization and triage with long term projects, etc.
Julia Brennan: Really read the contracts you may be applying to. Some ask for daily rate vs. hourly. Understanding/ breaking down your work in those terms.
Communication is important with clients in terms of managing expectations. Often initial assessment is from photos which is not ideal. So when giving a price estimate, ranges are very helpful as they often are seeking an approximation: 3-5 thousand dollars vs. 13-15 thousand dollars rather than a specific amount.
Question: Advice for those looking to open their own practice?
Howard Wellman: Was fortunate to have taken a basic accounting class which was very helpful. Understand and learn how to navigate practical business issues.
- Basic bookkeeping, cash flow issues.
- Understand debit vs. credit. It is not as intimidating as you think it will be, you just need to be informed and organized.
- Read the fine print of everything for your business license. Know the state rules for business licenses, tax implications etc.
- Have a business plan in general and know the capital costs it takes to start your business, and this can vary depending on your specialty as some are more capital intensive than others.
Connie Stromberg: I was fortunate to have support from my spouse. I started out: Things like health insurance were taken care of through my spouse’s work. Also, I was a sculptor and had several tools already accumulated.
The IRS website for small businesses is very helpful.
Anna Ersenkal: Setting up your business can also be easy with the right resources. There are many free things to help you get started that can be very cost saving. Keep your business and personal finances as separate as possible. For example:
- Local small business associations have a lot of resources available.
- Wave Financial (like Quicken but free). It connects to all credit card and bank accounts. It has categories that it applies to all my purchases etc.
- If you chose to have one, agents are great for keeping your business separate when setting up your company. All public records are generally tied to them instead of you. An example is Northwest Registered Agent (https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/). They do generally charge a small fee but are very helpful.
Julia Brennan: Having a website is important for visibility and education.
Question: Are other forms of social media utilized in your practice?
Howard Wellman: A website was a bit expensive for me to maintain, so used Facebook as a landing pad for business interactions online. However, as a client base was developed, even that has fallen to the side. Does believe that social media is changing the way you can reach out to potential clients and can be very important for some.
Connie Stromberg: No website as well, mostly because there was no need, but it is a great tool for a lot of people.
Anna Ersenkal: With a 2020 graduation, websites, electronic portfolio, and presence on social media was sort of a requirement. Tries not to use Instagram for work for personal reasons. Trying to find a balance and what works for you with all these platforms is important.
Julia Brennan: Has hired young tech savvy graduates to organize all clients into a database that has been growing to upwards of five thousand clients and institutions. Using this database to send out newsletters, information about fun projects, etc.
Question: Do you all use contracts or have business agreements with clauses that allow you to use images for posts or publications?
Anna Ersenkal: This can depend on the client. Terms and Conditions in my contract allow me to use this legally. However, I will still email the client for permission to use and whether or not to use their name specifically when published.
Howard Wellman: Very similar. There is a basic contract template from AIC’s private practice group that has language about using images.
Question: Are you concerned about cyber security in private practice or being defrauded in any way? Do your contracts require you to have insurance protecting you from these things? How do you keep up with this ever-evolving aspect of our lives as a private practitioner?
Julia Brennan: Having a young tech graduate who is knowledgeable of these things, having a good lawyer, a good relationship with your accountant and your bank to minimize risks to your business is helpful. Having good intuition about scary emails. Just constantly try to minimize risk in every way you can.
Use your basic intuition and your business intuition, learn how to politely say no to someone when you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation where it may cross your ethics line or other lines.
Anna Ersenkal: Do your due diligence; do your research. Rely on those who help keep your business going, like your CPA, who are up to date on the latest laws and protections for data.
Comment from Janet Fries: Make sure the person you are dealing with is a real person and they are who they say they are.
Connie Stromberg: There are people out there who will ask you to authenticate something- but I stay away from that and will not be an expert witness either. There are a number of bad actors out there that are not specific to conservation but are scammers. This can range from stolen checks to scams that can affect your business-just be wary of them.
Howard Wellman: Have a reasonable amount of paranoia, this includes things as simple changing passwords, not accepting sketchy electronic transfers, etc.
Final Comments:
Howard Wellman: Retirement and succession of your practice are a current dilemma that a number in private practice are facing. The difficulties of finding someone to pass on either the business or the tool set. Maybe using social media to reach a younger generation and garner interest in what I am doing to pass this on, other ideas, etc.
Anna Ersenkal: Sometimes finding business can take many forms, maybe it doesn’t necessarily go to a person in conservation but conservation adjacent. Networking with colleagues is an excellent way to learn and collaborate.
Comment from WCG: Directories of association members can also be a great way to reach out to those working in your specialty about passing on a practice.
2024/2025 WCG season memberships are $35 for professionals, $25 for renewing emerging professionals, and free to emerging professionals who are entering their first season as a WCG member.
Join or renew at www.washingtonconservationguild.org/membership.
