Most studio failures we see are not artistic — they are cashflow failures. An artist working out of a Karen or Lekki studio with a 10-piece backlog can spend three years "about to break through" while their gallery floats their inventory interest-free.
The fix is procedural. A separate business bank account. A pricing letter that timestamps every retail and trade price you've quoted (so a gallery can't reset your floor mid-year). A consignment note for every piece that leaves the studio, naming the collector or the gallery, the agreed retail, and the maximum discount.
None of this is artistic compromise. It is the difference between a practice and a career.