5 TOUGH REALITIES OF BEING A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR
Many people assume that the life of a creative entrepreneur is pretty luxurious because we get to be our own bosses, work wherever we please, and do what we love. While this may be partly true, the reality is that running your own business involves a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears and it’s not always a walk in the park. If you’re toying with the idea of quitting the rat race and starting your own creative business, these are some realities of being an entrepreneur that you should be aware of.
5 TOUGH REALITIES OF BEING A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR
BEING A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR MEANS YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO BE A JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES
If you’re like most first-time business owners, you’re probably not going to have a huge budget to work with right off the bat, which means you’re going to have to do pretty much everything on your own. This includes creating a business plan, finding cash, managing the finances, marketing, finding potential clients, and eventually—if you’re lucky—hiring and managing staff. This can take definitely take its toll on you. Not only is it exhausting to juggle all these positions at one time, but if something goes wrong the blame falls solely on your head, which can be incredibly stressful.
IT TAKES A LONG TIME AND A TON OF HARD WORK TO SEE RESULTS
One of the main reasons creative entrepreneurs give up and abandon their projects and dreams is because they vastly underestimate how long it takes to get something up off the ground and how much work they’ll need to put in to start turning a profit. It takes most entrepreneurs at least a year of planning, setting foundations and working out the kinks in their businesses before they even see a single cent of profit. It helps to have some money saved up to tide you over in the beginning, and you should be prepared to sacrifice a huge amount of time and money to turn your dream into a reality.
YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY PROBABLY WON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DO
At first, it might be difficult for your friends and family to understand why you would want to quit a dependable 9-to-5 job to make handcrafted pottery, paint massive canvases or bake beautiful cakes. You’ll probably get all kinds of questions ranging from “When are you going to get a real job?” to “So what do you DO all day?”. Moreover, they probably won’t share your excitement about things like cracking your first 500 followers on Instagram or finally selling one of your original paintings. At times entrepreneurship can be incredibly lonely, but rest assured there are plenty of makers out there just like you forging their own path.
YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL EVERYTHING
No matter how in-depth your business plan is or how well prepared you think you are, things are not always going to go your way. Partners may back out, your suppliers might royally mess up your orders, and clients may refuse to pay you. To be a successful business owner, you’ve got to be able to roll with the punches, seek out new solutions, make tough decisions and adapt to change. It also helps to remember that there are always going to be new challenges coming your way, but many of these are actually opportunities in disguise.
THERE IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY THAT YOU MIGHT FAIL
As harsh as this sounds, the biggest reality of taking a risk like starting your own business is that it might not pan out. However, failing is not necessarily a bad thing. Many wildly successful entrepreneurs fell short on their first few ventures and needed a few tries before they finally figured out what worked. In the process, they learned from their mistakes and gained valuable experience that helped them get to where they are today. Be aware that failure is a possibility, but don’t let the fear of failure hold you back, but drive you forward. Good luck!
