{Image from Only Sequel on flickr}
Successful creative businesses are about much more than creating. To make real money {the kind that’ll pay for all your bills plus extra for fun}, you’ve got to focus on the entrepreneurial aspects on a regular basis. There are tons of creative people in the world trying to sell their products, and you can easily get lost among them.
Ask these 10 questions before you decide to leap into a full-time creative business {by the way, it’s okay to not have the right answers – that’s what learning’s for}:
1. Are you incredibly passionate about your art or craft? Be honest with yourself about this. If you enjoy knitting in your spare time, but couldn’t imagine knitting for more than 5 hours a day, don’t quit your day job. Find something that keeps you up at night and that you can’t wait to get started on when you put your kids to bed.
2. Do you have enough money saved to take a pay cut? In the beginning, you might not make as much money at your creative venture as you do at your current full-time job {especially if you consider the benefits—health insurance, paid vacation, paid sick-time}, so you should save up enough money to cover your expenses. If you’re in a serious relationship or married, you need to discuss this with your partner. Cut back on your expenses and save as much as you can.
3. Do you have a fan base? You know that you have a fan base when you’re making regular sales, you get repeat customers, and you get referrals from previous customers.
4. Do you rock social media and marketing? Are you willing to spend time each day marketing your products or services? Think twitter, facebook, forums, and blogging. You need to learn how to use social media to market your products—and I’m not talking about crappy, in your face marketing. I mean the type of marketing that will establish you as an expert and make your customers know, like, and trust you.
5. Are you good with numbers? To make a living with your creative business, you’re going to have to do a lot of number crunching. You need to know what you want your salary to be, how many items you have to make and sell to reach that number, and how much you’ll have to pay for taxes. Then, you also need to keep up with all of your business expenses. If you don’t like this part of the job, can you budget to hire an accountant to do it for you?
6. Are you willing to constantly learn? Even if you’re one of the best in your niche, you need to commit to always trying to make your products and services better. Everyone has room for improvement. You might be amazing at making jewelry, but not so great at taking pictures, so you’ll need to commit to learning more about photography to improve your online shop.
7. Do you have good time management skills? I’ve had plenty of people say to me, “I could never do what you do or work for myself, because I’d never get anything done.” If you’re the type of person who needs a boss checking your work to ensure it gets done, going into business for yourself may become extremely frustrating. You need to become a master of checklists and strict scheduling of your time.
8. Are you willing to take risks, even if it means you might experience rejection? If you’re like me, and most other creative women, you probably get nervous when there’s a chance of rejection. But if this holds you back from doing things like expanding your services and applying for juried craft shows, think again before going full-time. Gain confidence in yourself and your products before launching into a new career.
9. Do you have multiple revenue streams? It’s not smart to risk all the money coming into your household on one income stream. If something happens {you’re not invincible}, then you’re screwed. Check out, 8 Ways Artists Can Generate Additional Income Streams, for ideas on how to expand your services and products.
10. Are you well-connected in your niche? This doesn’t have to be a deal-breaker, but it can be extremely helpful in raising your income level. If you sell baby clothes, it’d be really smart to get to know some mommy bloggers, other women who sell baby clothes, and women who sew other products. You can help each other out. For instance, you could help a mommy blogger launch her new ebook by promoting it on your blog, and she could help you out by promoting your new product line.
If you’re serious about making a full-time income from your creative passions, make sure you know where you stand by answering the above questions. If you don’t have all the “right” answers, take steps today to improve upon your weakest areas.
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These are excellent points. A lot of folks don’t consider the day to day practical issues of making this a full time endeavor. I would also add that you have to be very good at immediate correspondence via email. A solid understanding of the technical/SEO side of things is also a must. Otherwise it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.
Hi Faith
I definitely agree, that it’s important to keep up with your email, especially if your customers contact you via email–and a basic understanding of SEO is a must!
Thanks for adding those tips.
What a wonderful blog post. I’ve been full-time for a while now, but hubby just came on board as well. In this economy, seems like the only business we can count on is our own. We’re very blessed to have this!
I’m bookmarking this blogpost to go over again and again. Many thanks!!
Hi Sally!
Thanks for the compliment.
I would love to work with my husband full-time, but he’s definitely not into my products…..too girly 🙂 He does help me with setting up my craft show booth, crunching the numbers, and shipping.
I’m so happy for you that you both can follow your creative dreams!!!
Hi there I like your post
Another super interesting post. Always a pleasure to come here and find contents like this.
These 10 questions are great points to consider before thinking to turn your business in something serious.
Sometimes, parallel to the considerations of all these things, we can feel overwhelmed by a sense of insecurity/low self esteem and this can cause blockages and fears that don’t help.
This could be another interesting point to develop next to these theme. What do you think?
Completely true Irene. Sometimes we let that inner critic run things and we don’t realize all the potential that we have. Sometimes you just have to move forward and take the plunge.
It’s good to be prepared for something such as taking your business full-time, but “over-preparing” can completely hold you back. If you wait until everything is perfect, you’ll never go for it.
Well said April!