The Number One Thing You Need to Build a Thriving Creative Business
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
Do you dream of living the creative entrepreneurial lifestyle? You know, being able to work anywhere, doing creative work that you’re passionate about, making good money to support yourself and your family, having creative freedom, having lots of great clients and loyal customers, wearing whatever you want, and not having to answer to anyone but yourself?
If the answer is a clear and loud, hell yeah! You’re in the right place amiga! I know how exciting it feels to dream of your ideal lifestyle and thinking about the success and impact you want to have. This is the kind of vision and dream that we need to move us forward into inspired action and to motivate us along the way in our long business journey.
But what if I told you that this is also exactly where so many creative entrepreneurs go wrong? I know what you’re thinking. How can having such an inspiring vision be wrong? Let me explain. It’s not that it’s bad to think about how your business is going to support you but it’s not enough to stop there.
If you’re living in today’s business world, especially online, you’ve probably heard pretty much everyone talking about monetizing your skills, quitting your job, and aspiring to be your own boss. This kind of messaging is really enticing for many creatives who already possess many of the skills needed to succeed with creative entrepreneurship.
These skills include things like—our inspiring visions, our deep sense of empathy, our powerful storytelling ability, our capacity to work independently, and most importantly our talent to innovate and create. It’s a total no brainer for us to make the jump and almost always end up in creative entrepreneurship by accident.
Here is where we tend to lose sight of the most important aspect of business, which is being of service and helping others to problem solve. We are too quick to start building things without spending enough time getting to know the people we want to serve and understand their struggles (pain points).
Too many creative entrepreneurs start building businesses with too big of a focus on themselves and what they stand to gain. As a result, the business operates with a strong undercurrent of self-centered energy that permeates all aspects of their business. This kind of energy is quickly felt by potential clients and customers.
In addition, in today’s highly saturated business world, consumers are tired of being treated like just another number. They are done with generic and cookie cutter solutions. They want specialized services and products that are highly personalized and curated just for them.
No one wants to just be sold to, especially without the required preparation and research before blasting people with your latest offering and asking them to buy from you. People want to feel seen, understood, and most importantly supported by your products and services.
We must never forget that business is all about human relationships. People pay those who they like, trust, and make their lives better. Building a thriving business takes time and building relationships is absolutely essential to the lifeline of any business, especially creative ones.
We must be crystal clear about how our products and services are responding to the current needs, struggles, and desires of our ideal customers and clients. This is what sets apart the average business to the outstanding ones. We must learn to balance our personal interests along with our commitment to serving others.
Renata is a creativity coach guiding women of color creatives to breakthrough creative block with therapeutic art making. She’s currently offering a free copy of her therapeutic art making workbook when you sign up for her email list. Sign up here to get your free copy.
