The Truth About Creative Business That No One Shares
I totally believe that every creative entrepreneur has two things working against them from the outset when they start their business.
Too many ideas and lack of business know-how.
I remember having a conversation with my brother-in-law before I started my eDesign business in 2009. I was literally scared shitless about getting a DBA (Doing Business As certificate) and a business license.
All of it was Greek to me, and I thought that it had to be a super complicated process where not just any dummy could get one... right? You had to be an executive type with a leather satchel, have an IQ of 173, and maybe have a local politician as your friend.
As a creative business fetus at the time, I had a wild imagination - that meant I would dream up the biggest and most difficult situations for anything that I would have to do related to growing my creative business.
Do I have to register my business with the county? Does that require fingerprints?
Do I have to open a business checking account? I don't have customers yet, and what if the monthly fees become larger than the amount of money Charlie Sheen had to pay for hookers back in the day?
Do I have to make a website? Holy fuck, do I look like a programmer? I can barely do basic math.
While everything I imagined back then seemed like a complicated pain in my fat ass, I decided that I wanted to start that business. AND if dummies could start businesses, then I certainly could do it, too. But I took everything one step at a time because my brain couldn't handle too much change at once.
Looking back, I've been in business for myself ten years (did you know that 66% of small businesses fail in the first ten years? Shit, you only have a 50% chance of making it to 5 years). The shit that I worried about back then - I only wish was what I worried about now.
But I wouldn't be here if I didn't learn the lessons and took risks. So, here's the unvarnished truth about what it takes to grow a creative business.
You have to take risks
No creative business survives unless you take risks. Sometimes the risk is in starting the creative business while other times, it means pivoting when you see the market shifting.
There's nothing safe, stable, or secure about growing your own business. When you start a business, you need to be realistic, which can be really hard for us creative types. We like to dance in the airy-fairy world because it's fun there and living in the real world can be shitty at times.
The biggest risk is having enough money for rent and food, but you can figure this out. I started my business after I had my kid when she was 4. My husband had a full-time job, so there was a stable income, but we foolishly bought another house before we sold the old house. So we had two mortgages that we could only pay for so long. Then we had to borrow money, consolidate retirement funds and sell things. That wasn't fun, but we did what we had to do. And you will find the inner strength to do whatever it is that you need to do, too.
BUT, this is NOT to say that you should quit your job and go out on a wing and prayer, thinking that you're going to create a business that brings in consistent income right away. That rarely happens. You need a plan for how you're going to bring in steady income until the company is bringing in money.
If that means you work a job and commit the hours at night, skipping family or fun time or working when the kid's sleeping, then you do it. But I will tell you that some people are enchanted by the idea of having their own business but refuse to put in the unpaid time.
You will spend countless (unpaid) hours doing the work to make it successful. Once you acknowledge that business building is a serious endeavor, you can shift your mindset. You will be encountering obstacles along the way, but if you really believe in your business, you're ready for the challenge.
You have to have a gentlemen's agreement with fear - I know you're there, but ease up, would ya?
I experience some fear every day in my business. The fear has been at times my inbox, and at other times it's been what people think of me, which allows my introvert side to take over.
Most creative entrepreneurs are introverts. At least in one way. Our art is personal. We don't want to create anything that isn't great, and sharing the process is terrifying. Once the project is complete, the next hurdle is sharing a part of our soul with the world or even the client.
When we hit a home run, we'll share that with the world, but in the meantime, we're perfectly content to hide in the shadows expressing our creative ideas in our own ways because it's definitely too peopley out there.
Add in the responsibilities of having to share your business with the world so you can actually get paid? Ohhhh shit. That can be even more terrifying than heading to the dentist for a root canal. People and fears are dicks. And you need to make a gentlemen's agreement with your fears that you will take a moment to acknowledge the fear. Then you put on your big girl panties (or big boy britches) and do what you need to.
The more you do-si-do with your fear, the more confidence you'll find to get the work done.
You have to wear the CEO cap
The CEO cap may not be your style or your color, but you have to take the time to wear it every damn day. You, the CEO, are the Chief Executive Officer in charge of making the big decisions about your company, overseeing the operations, managing the resources, and the person with all of the answers.
You have to set routines for regular business tasks, and if that means putting it on your calendar until it becomes a habit, then do it.
Decide what opportunities you will give a "hell yes!" to and which ones you will politely decline. Whatever those decisions are, they must always align with your ultimate goals.
As your company starts to grow, you'll need to hire help. Start by documenting your process for how you do anything in your business that you will let someone else handle for you. You can make a screen recording, so it's easier for anyone you hire to see how you like it done.
While you may not vibe with being known as the CEO since it is such a muckety muck type of title, call yourself whatever you want, but be the boss and be prepared to take responsibility for your actions and how they will show up in the business no matter what.
You have to KNOW who your customer is absolutely
Too many creatives think their customer is a person that is a certain age that lives anywhere on the planet. They aren't.
The bar owner isn't going to market to the people who don't drink. The website designer isn't going to sell to the person who doesn't need a website, and the nursery decorator isn't going to market to the bachelor.
Tons of creative fear that if they get too specific, they turn off the pipeline of clients, except when they don't get even a tiny bit specific no one buys.... which means what's half of zero clients? Still zero.
Knowing who your customer isn't optional and you can't fake that you know who you're selling to. You won't be able to market your offer effectively, and you won't know how to sell it to the rando that you do interest.
You have to know who needs what you're selling. That means do the research. Figure out what your customer's life looks like and how you can become a part of their life. Why would they need to know who you are, and how can you bring value to their life?
You have to know what the fuck you're selling
If you don't know what the hell you're selling, you won't know who needs it.
Tons of creative get lost in thinking that they are selling widgets. The interior designer is selling the floor plan; the copywriter is selling 2500 words; the website designer sells a website.
If you have a creative business, you are NOT selling a thing. You're selling an experience, future experiences, future results. Whether it's the beautifully designed home that people will share memories or the copywriter that will help the business sell their offers, the website will sell the online home for business.
You're not selling widgets. You're selling something so much more valuable. And while there are platforms that pretend to be eDesign platforms that are wolves in sheep's clothing, or the easy website creator or the plug and play copywriting generator. Yes, they exist, and they will appeal to some of the people, but not your people.
If your people wanted the easy, soulless solution, they aren't your people. Hear me... they aren't your people.
This means you need to stop looking at the competition and find the soul of your offer that people can rally behind. Anything in the world that captivates the world's attention and their dollars, then you need to speak to the emotions behind your offer. Until you do that, no one will care about your offers when it's just as easy for them to get what will get them through the night.
Ignore the competition
I'm not saying to ignore all of the competition because you do need to check them out. If people are doing what you're doing, then there is a good reason to believe that you have a market to sell your offers.
Do the research, see what you can glean about the market, and then move on to the next step. The next step is growing the business because if you get sucked up in watching the competition, you're not in the game. You're a spectator making decisions about shit you're never going to do because you're literally let them take up space in head that they don't deserve.
And if you think you can't resist watching what they're doing, let me tell you how it will go. One competitor will succeed, and one competitor will stumble, maybe make a comeback, and the other will fail. It's their race, not yours.
You have to market your creative business
Creative people, being the introverts that they are, have a real hard time with marketing their company. They want to do creative stuff only. That doesn't work.
You will do more of the shit you don't want to do, and the art comes second. If you can't get behind that, you will not have a successful business. And if you only want to do the creative, be prepared to work for someone else.
Marketing your business is the only way you can earn money for your art. But marketing doesn't have to be slimy or sleazy. Reframe what you thought marketing was and instead look at it at sharing your work.
Of course, some people won't care, and that is okay. No one is required to love your stuff, but for the people who do love your stuff, share for them.
And don't get bogged down in the bullshit that the gurus sell you. You do not have to be on every platform, and you certainly do not need to feel pressured to become a slave machine working for the algorithm because that leads directly to burn out.
Choosing passion or purpose
I have a passion for the paranormal, but it's not my purpose, and my purpose is where the profit is. Of course, I would LOVE to spend my time going to haunted places all the time and hanging out in cemeteries like I once did, but that is a hobby. Of course, there's a way I could monetize it, but I'm not that into it that I would want to make it my career.
Instead, I focus on my purpose, and I figured out how to weave my purpose into what I like to do. You have to figure out what that will mean for you.
What it doesn't mean is looking at someone else's business, copying it, and giving it a go. You're not the Buffalo Bill, and skinning someone else will not work. It's been done to me, and those who skinned me are out of business doing God knows what.
They gave it a go thinking there was easy money to be made, but there is no easy money to be made in any business. There is a ton of work, sweat, and tears that go into any successful business, all following a mission directed by purpose and fueled by passion.
Don't ever take clients on for-profit
The perceived profit you can make from taking on the client from hell will not be worth it.
You also then lose your right to bitch about them because you gave that right up when you took their money. Period.
Your creative business has to have boundaries
Art is love, but some people will screw you over. Don't get me wrong because there are amazing people in this world that I wouldn't have met had I not had this business. I've also met people that were seemingly nice only to find out that they are jerks at their core.
You deserve the best, and if someone thinks that they can get one over on you, they will. Get boundaries in place. Business is about relationships, and if you wouldn't let someone you are in a relationship with do you dirty, don't let a client do it to you.
The money is never worth sacrificing your morals.
Numbers matter even if you hate the maths
Managing your business money is so important. Don't mingle your personal and business funds. Track how you make your money. Pay your taxes even if you know that the government will waste it on some stupid thing.
You must also track your business metrics like how many followers you have on social media, your sales conversion rate, your income, your website traffic, the hours you work... like track everything.
One, you'll get interesting information to guide you in your business. Two, you'll be able to see your growth and then feel proud about how far you've come.
The 5 Dirty Words No One Talks About
Fear. Creative business entrepreneurs probably feel more fear than other entrepreneurs. Fear to put their work out there, fear in selling yourself, fear of change in the marketplace.
Excuses. Shit happens, and when you run a business, you do not have the option to bury your head in the sand. You must deal with whatever comes your way because the future of your business is counting on it.
Scarcity. Some believe there isn't enough business out there or think that they don't have the money to start a business. If you believe it, you're right. Believing in scarcity makes it a fact.
The successful business owners know that if you've been able to validate the market for your offer, then there's enough money for you to earn to be successful. People will find a way to pay you, and even if your clients say they can't afford you, it's not the truth. The truth is that you didn't prove to them why they need what you've got.
If you're saying to yourself that you don't have the money to start a business, then I'm going to challenge you to research the millionaires that bootstrapped their business. That dream is still alive and well. Believe me.
Time. If you don't make the time, you will never have enough of it. Prioritize what you're doing with your time. What becomes a priority is what you will make time for. Either you want it, or you don't.
Ego. Your business isn't about you. It's about who you're here to help. While you need the confidence to make money, you also need always to remember to come back to who you're really working for.
Growing a creative business isn't easy, and it isn't impossible. But I wanted you to have your eye wide open while you're on this journey because everything that I have written about happened to me. Learn from my business so you can avoid the pitfalls in your creative business.
Hola! I'm Alycia Wicker and I help online interior designers grow their business.
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