10 Things Youll Need to Accept to Have a Successful Creative Business - When I Grow Up

10 Things Youll Need to Accept to Have a Successful Creative Business - When I Grow Up This is a long-ass post, and I really dont think it needs more of an introduction other than HERE ARE 10 THINGS YOULL NEED TO ACCEPT TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL CREATIVE BIZ. {And for serious if you accept this stuff sooner rather than later, youll become successful sooner rather than later. So get on it, yo!} 1. Youll have to want to trade one type of stress for another.  When it comes down to my clients deciding whether they wanna be entrepreneurs, theres usually never a clear-cut answer. On one hand, they have to deal with someones else rules and do work thats not aligned with whats meaningful for them and feel inauthentic for 40+ hours a weekbut then theres the steady paycheck and the benefits package and a simple answer to The Dreaded Question. On the other hand, theres creating a business thats based around  the type of work thats important to them and the people they wanna work withthat is also totally dependent on them bringing in the money and bearing the weight of insurance, retirement plans, etc. It usually boils down to which stress they prefer. 2. Youll have to let go of The Sprint and really trust The Marathon.  I left my day job in March of 2010, and while Ive been getting paid for being The When I Grow Up Coach since 2008, it was so nominal I didnt track it in a formal way (but I did save it all in its own account!). But Ive been keeping the same Magic Formula spreadsheet since 2010, and I can tell you that in that entire year I brought in about three quarters of my annual pay check from the day job  (thank Moses for my effective escape and having enough of a financial cushion saved that I never felt crunched!).  In 2011, I grossed $20K more than 2010. In 2012, I made $145 less than the year before  (thanks boob cancer!). 2013 brought me $15K more than the year before, and 2014 $8K more than that. Now, its not to say that my numbers would be your numbers, and I love seeing the continuous growthbut this is a marathon through and through. At least it is when you know youre in it for the long-ish haul. Which brings me to 3. Youll have to come to terms with the fact that you wont make the same money you do at your side hustle  that you do at your day job while youre at your day job.  I remember the moment I spoke to my husband about what it would take to make him comfortable for me to give my notice. Always so sweet and supportive, he said, Well, youll just have to make the same amount of money you do as an Executive Assistant. Then well know its OK to quit. I froze up then and there, because I knew how impossible that was to do when I only had nights, lunch hours and weekends to work on my biz. Thankfully, when I articulated to him what it would take to have  me feel comfortable with giving notice and being confident that I can give this Woman of the World (aka full-time entrepreneur) thing a shot along with what my Plan B would be should it not work out he agreed. If you expect to make $40K or $60K or $150K while working on your passionate career on the side, youll be  very let down and waiting a  very long time. But some encouragement: I made about $2250 from my coaching in the first 3 months of 2010, right before I quit. My first full month as a Woman of the World brought me $1350, and the next month I made $2597. It goes to show that if you set yourself up with a strong foundation and  then give yourself the time to work full-time on your passionate career, that you  can make it happen. 4. Youll have to be on top of your finances.  I dont know a single successful business owner that doesnt know their numbers. And although I finally have a bookkeeper (hi Stephanie!), you can bet Im on top of her monthly reports, plugging numbers into my own spreadsheet and seeing whats been coming in and out. If youre scared of your finances or are used to ignoring them, youre gonna have to get over that theres really no way around it. Id suggest you get to Galia Gichons CreativeLive course  as a jumping off point (and to hear complicated finance shizz spoken in plain English). 5. Youll have to let go of your  shoulds and  musts in order to get to your  needs and  wants.  So what that youve been taking classes on how to build a successful online business? If you get a thrill from working with people one-on-one, its time to let the online piece go (or at least say, Thanks for giving me so much knowledge about marketing and copywriting and social media, online business classes. But, Im ready to do my work in person now. Ill apply what I learned to that and maybe Ill catch ya later!). Stop getting hung up on what the successful peeps in your sphere have done and/or what they tell you that  you should be doing to be successful! and listen to whats inside  you instead. 6. Youll have to constantly pivot and experiment in order to build on whats working and let go of what isnt. If not, your whole business can shut down when one offering doesnt take off. Its easy to get attached to something youve pored your heart and soul into, its also saying something when youre only gotten 3 sign-ups. At that point, you either change those sails, jump ship, or diversify your products/offerings enough that the ship wont sink. 7.  Youll have to learn how to not take things personally. Its easy to feel like someone not picking up what youre putting down really means that they dont like  you. Its especially easy when youre a solopreneur and youre doing it all. Its even easier when your brand is, essentially, you your experience, your personality, your values. Like Tiff and I talk about in our episode of Grown Up Gigs, youre gonna have to find a way to detach your emotions from your sales. I find it helpful to keep the Nancy Drew hat on and view whats happened with a detectives eye. Then, its not about you but the overall issue. 8. Youll have to tell people what youre doing. Do not expect to build it and have them come. This is not Field of Dreams. The Internet is too saturated. It took  years for me to have enough content and web hits to actually have clients tell me that they found me through Google. Instead, my early clients (and most of my current clients!) come from referrals (former clients, friends, their mothers(!)) and social media. 9. Youll have to get comfortable with NO, boundaries, and prioritization.  I was reminded recently that you can do anything, but not everything and also that if everything is a priority that nothing is a priority. Within a successful business, you can not be everything to everyone. And while I absolutely know I built my business on Yes,  I had a breaking point where one more Yes would, well, break me. Ive had to make NO my friend every since. 10. Youll have to trust that you  are a unique flower, no matter how many other people are out there doing what you do.  Go click over to the Google search for creative career coach. See how many different peeps are on the first page, supposedly doing what I do? Now go open each and every link in a new tab, and take note of the difference in the businesses. Our tone is different. Our offerings are different. We are  not the same even though our titles are, and there  is room for us all.