I am quite a positive person and I believe in sending positive 'vibes' out into the world, especially when it comes to business. Lately, I have been doing some soul searching on a range of things, some work related, others personal. What stands out most is the challenges we face as creative business owners, which are unique and different to those faced by our full-time employed friends. We so often think about the fun things that surround running a business, like flexible time, living out your dreams and getting to be crafty. Very often, we don't focus on the stressful truths that face us or allow others to see them. I thought, I would share a few of mine and in turn I hope I will inspire you, inform you, level with you or enlighten you. Don't get me wrong I love having my business, but there are highs and lows too, some which are never seen by the rest of the world.
You have to be your own cheerleader, critic and commander...You are in charge of almost everything. You have to (wo)man the fort, cheer yourself on, command yourself to stay up and finish that project or go back to the drawing board. It can be exhausting being the CEO and the tea lady, the admin assistant and the lead designer. Goodness me!
Social Media is only a glimpse... It showcases the highlights and only a small element of the lows, failures, heartache or anxiety. On social media it looks as if we swan around from market, to event to coffee meetings, in reality we are working harder than most at keeping the ship afloat.
Sometimes clients drive you insane... Every creative who works with clients will agree with me on this one. Clients reading this - I love you all!
Sometimes clients don't pay on time... The bills and banks don't give a damn that you stayed up until 1am to get that job finished and nor do they care when you can't pay your rent on time or afford a new outfit. Luxuries sometimes go by the wayside and often we will spend the extra cash on our craft or business related items, anyway.
It is the road less travelled... There is no recipe or map for making it on your own. You just have to get on with it and forge your own path.
You gotta have faith... DAMN, you need a lot of faith, faith in yourself, your work and in the general good of humankind. You just have to believe that everything is going to be okay!
Your comfort zone gets stretched (all the time)... There is always uncharted waters to explore, new ideas to try or orders to take on!
Sometimes things don't workout... You have to start again or move on. Sometimes new ideas take trial and error and sometimes they don't work out at all. You have to head back to the drawing board and keep on going, you are the CEO-MD-Lead Designer-Tea Lady and don't you DARE forget that!
