Set your creative business up for success
Bowling illustration by Amanda Weedmark
Setting goals, exploring, & experimenting are keys to setting your creative business up for success.
In business, you’ll need to set lots of goals, explore, experiment, and expand as time passes. To do this successfully, we must be thoughtful and intentional along the way.
If we were to compare this with bowling, standing there and thinking about knocking the pins down, won’t knock them down. We must take action.
With action, we must be mindful of our movements so the ball doesn’t end up in the gutter. We must have some kind of strategy or play in mind.
In order to take action with intention and thoughtfulness, we must set some goals to know what we need to aim for and what things we need to avoid. Think of these as your “bumpers”. 😊
Setting goals
This chart shows SOME of the goals and tasks associated with my big goal when I was first starting.
Setting goals will help you see if you're progressing, if something is or isn’t working, and be able to see the steps ahead in order to reach for those goals.
My business goals haven't changed much over the years;
Connect with my community,
invest in new projects,
grow as a business & as a creative, and
make a comfortable living doing what I love
Each one is equally as important as the next and can be prioritized based on immediate need. I can achieve these in a number of different ways too!
The chart shown, features SOME of the goals and tasks associated with my big goal when I was first starting. It also shows some of the ideas I tried out.
In order to reach my BIG goal, I needed to achieve smaller goals & tasks.
YOUR TASK
List goals you want to achieve with your creative business using the downloadable blank goal setting chart.
Download your free goal setting chart
The chart will help you reverse engineer your goals so you can see what smaller tasks will need to be achieved before the bigger one can be. Breaking it down to this level, will keep your tasks and goals manageable and achievable.
Explore
To achieve those goals, you’ll have to explore & experiment with different things.
Just because your peers are finding success with something, doesn’t mean you will. And visa versa!
When you’re starting, go with the low-hanging fruit
What are the easiest things on your task list you could start with? What do you know well? What are you aware of? What’s free or costs very little to get started?
Going with that will provide you with some direction right out of the gate.
In 2016, it started selling my illustrations on third-party platforms like Redbubble and Society6. This was a great start.
These platforms are free to use and allow you to make royalties from sales. All you’re in charge of is creating work, getting the word out, and building a following.
This worked for me for a time but I realized it wasn’t a great fit for the goals I wanted to achieve.
Be consistent with that for a minimum of 1 year. This will provide you with enough information to make decisions about where you go next. It will also give you enough data to see if your efforts are paying off.
Are t-shirts selling well?
Is home decor selling well?
Are specific designs selling better than others?
What themes/styles of yours are people drawn to the most?
With that information, you can start experimenting with new things.
YOUR TASK
Start tackling a main task from your goal setting chart - and all of the mini-tasks associated with it. Exploring these will help you build up to one of your main goals.
Not sure what you’re aiming for or what to do? Explore things that bring you joy and something you can’t ignore, even if you tried.
Experiment
After the low-hanging fruit has been picked, it’s time to reach and experiment with new things.
After a year or more of consistent effort, you’ll start to work out some wrinkles in your processes, understand what’s working well, and what you can probably let go of. You may even see that nothing is really working at all! But don’t worry. This simply means it’s time to experiment with new things!
A year after opening a couple of print-on-demand shops, I saw that some of my designs were really doing well. However, these platforms weren’t really helping me build my community or my brand within that community - which was important to me.
That could mean I was just not good at it or the vehicle didn’t suit what I was trying to achieve. So I experimented with selling on my own website and on Etsy using those popular designs as a jumping off point.
This allowed me a more direct connection with my consumers to help me build that community and offered a bit more control over product selection, quality, and customer experience.
I still kept my print-on-demand shops open. It just became a back-burner project and less of a focus.
Setting up your own website will allow your business to be independent and more stable. This stability is important because you do not own or have control over any platform.
If a platform you’re on makes changes (which happens frequently on Etsy) or shuts down (like Etsy Wholesale did), you have a stable backup plan to direct traffic to and not skip a beat.
When starting to sell more independently, you’ll also need to consider these things.
What type of inventory will be brought in?
Who would manufacture this inventory and how much would they charge?
What would the pricing be set at?
What business policies should be set in place?
For me, this process took time; 6 months to be exact. I had to make those considerations but also digitally build out my website & Etsy catalogue.
Additionally, I had to take great photos, figure out how I would write my descriptions, make sure I understood SEO, continue to make improvements; All the while managing inventory, orders, and continuing to create new designs.
Phewf!
If you think being on a platform like Etsy automatically makes it easy…you’d be wrong.
You need to put a lot of work in upfront so that your listings can be found and your shop / items build a “reputation” with Etsy’s algorithm. Once you get into a groove, it will give you access to a brand new audience which is a huge benefit when you’re starting out.
YOUR TASK
Research something new that you could reasonably try out. Where are others doing business, sharing their work, or connecting with their community. Pick one or two, set a new goal, create new tasks to meet that goal, and give it a try!
Expand & diversify
Reach higher
You’re whirring along with a couple of different platforms consistently now. You feel you have a great handle on things and it’s going well. But you still might not have enough to pay yourself a healthy sum.
“I worked as a full-time in-house graphic designer for 15+ years prior to making my side-hustle full-time. My side-hustle consisted of evenings & weekends for 3+ years before it became full-time.
Doing it this way, gave me assurance that I was able to make my side-hustle work and help me build an income that was consistent before taking the plunge.”
Get used to this because the first few years of business is going to be about making mistakes, ironing out wrinkles, and reinvesting your money back into your business so you can continue to grow month-over-month, year-over-year.
Take all that you’ve learned from the last year or two of business and ask yourself what would be the best place to diversify?
Should you bring in another product line / offer a new service?
Is there yet another platform that you could trying selling on?
Is wholesale something you want to / can do?
Do you want to license your work to companies?
Do you want to hire an agent?
All answers come with their own sets of goals, tasks, and learning curves so be ready for it!
YOUR TASK
Choose an area of your business you want to expand. Maybe it’s a new product offering? Maybe it’s a new service? Maybe it’s hiring someone? Maybe it’s landing a deal? Set another new goal, create new tasks, and get to work!
Be ready to fail; Often
“Use failure as motivation to keep going! Get curious about what WILL work. Try things. Get playful. Get creative! You were born for this.”
Well that’s a bummer to hear but I’m sorry to say, it’s part of the process. You will fail. But you’ll also succeed!
I couldn’t tell you how many times I get pumped about an idea, think it’s going to be mega successful, only to find out it doesn’t lead me anywhere.
That will happen. But it’s the only way to learn what WILL work.
Nothing you try and fail at is EVER a wasted opportunity. You will learn something. You will inch your way closer to those goals, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Think of it like a bowling ball bouncing off those bumpers. Even though you’re bouncing back and forth, you’re still moving forward.
Trust me on this! Don’t let failure make you stop. Use it as motivation to keep going! Get curious about what WILL work. Try things. Get playful. Get creative! You were born for this.
YOUR TASK
Make a note of your failures and outline why they are good. Pull out areas where you could improve or where you could do something different. Try again with what you’ve learned.
Wash, rinse, repeat
A lot of what business is, is exploring, experimenting, taking what works, and repeating the process. Over and over again until you’re really dialed in. There’s no easy pathway because this process is completely organic and unique to you!
Isn’t that the best?!
My latest experiment
In an effort to reach my own goals and to continue to diversify my income, I’m now on Patreon and am excited to see where it goes.
This space will offer me the unique opportunity to build a more exclusive community of people that love what I have to offer - without relying on an algorithm to be found. It will also keep me on track to creating new things every month and allow me to offer exclusive patron-only stuff which is going to be fun.
Already, the experience of being there feels more authentic - so I’m hoping this sticks!
Come join me on Patreon to keep this conversation going, a more one-on-one, exclusive experience, and monthly goodies.
Or, read about my first year in business where I share even more tips, tricks, and insights.
