The Business of Being Creative

Who What When Where Why-- Forget About How

You and your staff have to be able to answer the 5 W's for just about every aspect of your business -- whether to each other or to your customer.  "How" is almost always irrelevant and only matters if your role in the business is to maximize efficiency and/or meet a production target, financial or otherwise.

Your customers will assume you know how to do what you do.  It's why they hired you in the first place.  However, customers can almost never assume the 5 W's as they are the DNA of your business process as opposed to your end product.  That's why great customer service is all about constantly communicating the 5 W's of your work for your clients.  All the value (i.e., money) is in the 5 W's.  

To run your business effectively, your primary (if not biggest) concern has to be that things are getting done.  If your staff can answer the 5 W's for their area of responsibility, you will know the answer and be able to act if things aren't happening the way you want them to.  How doesn't answer the question.  So long as you are comfortable that your staff are good actors with integrity, not knowing the ins and outs of how they are doing what they are doing is okay.  And, if they are not good actors, why are they part of your staff?

How your art comes to be, how it feels to you and your client, how you seek to define what you have done, etc. is key to your creative process.  Leave "how" there and let answering the 5 W's rule your business.

Let Me Think About It

Cate, Mira, Liev and I got the chance to spend Sunday with the incredible Laura Novak and her husband, John.  Laura is responsible for the crazy good cover image on Cate's Blog,Tribeca Yummy Mummy (a must read for any parent with young kids).  We had lunch at Terrain At Home, Anthropologie's beta store for home garden and accessories (too cool), spent some time at Winterthur, the beautiful old Dupont estate, and then got a sneak peek at Laura's new studio (the grand opening is this weekend).

I am a HUGE fan of Laura's -- she is an enormously talented photographer, a super smart businesswoman and genuinely humble in her process of developing both.  What sets Laura apart though is that she first listens, then she questions, then she listens some more, then she thinks -- about the concept, whether it "fits" her current business model and how it would work in her current structure.  She leaves the decision as to whether to adopt the concept or strategy until after she has thought it all through.  And even after she has said "yes" she is not married to exactly what that "yes" is.

My gift is that I can see a future bigger than most creative business owners can see for themselves.  I love to question everything that the business does and why it is doing it.  I try to be "gentle" in my approach, but am not always successful.  It takes work to listen to me because my job is to make you uncomfortable.  I am just one person though and some of my ideas are good for you and your business, others not.

There are an infinite number of books, DVDs and instructors out there to educate you about Business 101.  You need them to develop your business plan and learn the abc's of how to run your business.  If you are a photographer, you should have Laura's DVD.  What you also need though is a me.  Someone that is going to push you to think about your business in a radically different way.  Who will challenge all that you are doing to make you better at stating what it is you are all about.  Whether you pay this person is irrelevant.  You need to trust him/her, believe they have something to offer and be willing to consider their insight.  You then need to do what Laura does, listen, think, think some more, and then decide.

"Stretching" makes your art better, it'll make your business better too.

How Are You Going To Change The World?

In the beginning, all you wanted to do was practice your art.  You probably started in your bedroom, garage, tiny studio, etc.  You earned enough to go on to the next project and then to the next.  Somewhere along the way you became a business -- with employees, office space, and maybe even a 401(k) plan.  The bigger you got, the more and more the business subsumed (as opposed to consumed) the art, so much so that each became largely unrecognizable without the other.

So you are there.  You have a real business with real clients that is self-sustaining.  Now how are you going to change the world?

When I ask the question, most often the response is a blank stare or an indignant -- I just want to plan weddings, be a florist, photograph life events, etc.  Almost no one answers the question.

My answer is that the world is how you define it and the people you want to reach in that definition.  An over-simplification of all creative businesses is that they are megaphones for your art and you as an artist.  The business gives you the platform to reach many more people than any single piece of art you might produce.  If your intention as an artist is to move your audience, then why should your business be any different?

I am a firm believer that intangibles like passion, emotion, connection and relatedness can be structured into the fabric of your business.  The best organizations are those that become living organisms in their own right.  Think about Zappos', Apple, and even Microsoft.  And don't forget about David Rockwell, Frank Gehry or Alberto Alessi.  If you think "going corporate" will kill your creativity and what your business is all about, then you're just scared of what could be or, more likely, unable to think of your business as alive.  Either way, what a disservice to you, your art, and all those people who will never get to experience what you have to give.

Art IS what changes the world.  Your business should just make your world bigger every day.

One Hand Supports The Other

As a centrist I believe that every creative business should have a core value proposition (CVP) from which all aspects of the business emanate.  If you are a hand-drawn stationer, all of your offerings should relate in some way to the custom, hand-drawn aspect of your work.  With the CVP front and center, you can pretty much go anywhere where your CVP will take you.  The stationer could sell larger art pieces based on the invitation line.  Next, each part of your business needs to reinforce the value of the other.  No Edsels please.

The desire to offer all that your competitors do for fear you might lose a client if you don't is compelling.  However, if the offering is not right for your business, you will wind up cannibalizing yourself if you don't think it through.  

Consider "middle-tier" service -- a senior staff photographer as opposed to the name photographer or less senior photographer, month-of planning versus day-of planning or full-service for planners, semi-custom cakes as opposed to pre-designed or fully-custom cakes from a baker.  If you offer the middle-tier, your business has to be based on volume (i.e., your lowest priced offering) with the middle-tier as an upsell and the top tier only there for window dressing.  But if your business is structured to provide higher ticket, more customized products/services, then a middle-tier offering will likely do the opposite of what you want it to.  

You will probably invest nearly as much time, energy and resources in your middle-tier as your top and at a substantial discount. To justify the middle-tier, the low-end will have to be REALLY low end.  Of course, your middle tier clients will feel like they got a great value, but your top clients and even your bottom clients?  Probably not.  No doubt you will eventually resent the middle tier clients because you will have given them more than you should.  In the end, for high-end creative businesses, the middle-tier will betray your CVP and ultimately devalue your brand.

Everything your business offers has to be in-line with your CVP and the success of each part of the business should drive the success of the other parts. If this isn't true for you, then time to make a change.

Wear Your Own Hat

On Tuesday Seth Godin talked about conveying to the market that your success is imminent.  For creative businesses, I would go a step further -- dare yourself not to be in the box the market wants to put you in.  Your art can carry the day, but how you sell it is what sets you apart.

If you allow yourself to be categorized solely for that which you are most recognized, you foreclose the opportunities that can come from being seen as something else.  In fact, some of you would go so far as to ignore what is most valuable in what you do.  How many planners are far better designers than planners?  Florists much better designers?  Interior designers much better stylists?  Graphic designers much better brand managers?  Photographers better interior designers?  The list goes on (and on).  

I am fairly certain that fear drives conformity as it creates the illusion of certainty.  If you can't describe yourself in a way everyone can immediately recognize, then you risk people not getting you at all.  Problem is that the market has assumptions about each box and places its own value on the offerings of the box.  If you can not prove to the market that you are NOT limited to what they think you are, you will be stuck with their valuations.  Yuck.

Be brave, call yourself by another name.  Draw attention to your art and do not apologize for it not fitting in a slot.  One of my favorite people in the whole world, Marcy Blum, has on her business card, simply, "Eventiste".  Enough said.

How Far Do You Want To Go?

There are tons of books out there about how to grow your business.  Most talk about how you have to transition your business from start-up to small-business to growth to maturity.  Almost all say that you should take your business as far along the evolutionary chain as it can go.  In general, it is a good idea.  However, for creative businesses, the decision should not necessarily be automatic.

How you as an artist relate to you as a business owner is the key question.  If you are fueled by having your finger on the pulse of everything that is happening and being in "control" of it all, then you might find it very difficult to diversify and expand beyond your core business.  If, on the other hand, you are very happy to be the "right" brain of the enterprise, you might find it surprisingly easy to cede responsibility and authority to others, leaving yourself the final say.  The key is to be honest with yourself as to which one you are.  You can work hard to adopt the qualities of the other that are not your strong suit, but, at the end of the day, you will still be you.

Entrepreneurships can be very large and successful businesses and provide well for you and your employees.  To move beyond it requires a corporate structure that might require too radical of a change for you.  I would so much rather see a business do what it does well than risk itself on becoming something other.  This is not to say that there will not be growth -- there will -- it will just likely be limited to expansion of the core business and existing client base.  No shame in that if you are happy with the art you get to create.

Blackberry Shmackberry

The Internet and all the wonders of the digital age have made staying in constant communication a no-brainer.  You stay in touch with your friends, clients, employees, vendors, etc. with just a few thumb strokes.  So often though, creative business owners use technology as their primary tool for management. They use their PDAs to solve every problem, answer any question and generally be incredibly responsive to the issues that arise in their business.

The problem for me is that managing this way without firmly establishing good old face-to-face communication techniques and protocols paves the way for fragmentation and disfunction.  If you have set up your structure properly, you will have natural tension existing between departments.  This is a good thing as it will breed the best result.  For instance, sales wants to close the deal, production wants to make sure it can produce what is sold.  Technology can depersonalize the process as to actually prevent problem-solving.  Just too easy to hit the send button without being present to the response.

I loathe organizational meetings for meetings sake as they tend to go nowhere.  But, given a specific agenda, parameter (every manager has an equal voice) and time limit (no more than 30 minutes), they can set the stage for a well-oiled machine.  From there, technology can help implement all that was set in motion at the organizational meeting.

Apart from having to look each other in the eye and respond to each other, organizational meetings also force managers to think.  Think about what is happening in their world -- what can be done better and what is working well.  Reflection creates action as opposed to reaction and, if not action, then at least a reasoned response.

Know When To Say No

As Spring blooms and high season approaches for many of you, the temptation will be huge to take on all the business that might come your way.  I mean, how can you not in this economy?

If I had a dollar for the number of times I have heard, read or watched this sentiment get played out of late, well, let's just say I could be writing this post from my beach house in Tahiti.

The problem with the "I will take all that comes" approach is that, too often, it is just an excuse to compromise your core.  It belies the premise and promise that got you to where you are -- knowing who you are and what your art is all about -- and, instead, focuses on the sense of desperation that is so pervasive today.

The analysis you (hopefully) afforded yourself when times were good, should be no different when times are not so good.  Is the client a right fit for your business -- i.e., do they value your art and its production and are they willing to pay a proper price for that value?  Do you and your business have the time to devote to the client to provide them the best possible product/service as opposed to the best your business can do under the circumstances?  Will the product/service you provide be a proper representation of your business?  

If you can honestly answer yes to ALL of these questions, even if it will be difficult to pull off or involve a major shift in your current way of doing business, fantastic -- go for it.  But if you can't answer yes or, worse yet, refuse to consider the questions, I only ask that you consider the risk associated with taking on this new business:  You are gambling the reputation of your business and your ability to perform with the deck stacked against you.  Reputation lost is not easily regained.

At the end of the day, all you and your business have is your reputation and the integrity of the product/service you provide.  Potentially jeopardizing either of these for incremental revenue today is foolsplay.  You can build a better tomorrow for your business by staying true to your core today.

Respecting The Creative Process

Even after almost six years of working with creative businesses, it is still incredibly difficult for me to relate to an artist's individual creative process.  Ever in my head, I try to put a rational timetable to something that is anything but rational.  Something like saying you will be done with this portion of your design by this date, this portion by that date, etc. so you will be done with the whole thing by so and so date.  Never works.  More than not, the design happens in fits and spurts and really according to the process of the individual artist.

What I see so often is that, as the business grows, the creative process gets compressed, pressured and standardized.  Almost as if the artist gives way to the business, which, of course, he/she has to in some respect.  However, when it goes too far (as it almost always does), the essence of the art is lost -- the work becomes safer, repetitive and even boring.  

Corporate types like me will always push for a defined process that we can sell and deliver to the market.  To be able to tell a client exactly what they can expect and when.  Almost as if the business was creating a widget.  A deadline for delivery is valuable and necessary, but an intermediate set of deadlines not so much.  The key is to understand your creative process and build around it.  The time it takes for you to design is the time it takes for you to design and should be sacrosanct.  Of course, it needs to be respectful of the larger business and the operations that follow the creative process -- i.e., actually producing the invitation, lighting, cake, centerpiece, dance floor, furniture plot, etc. -- but never subject to it.

It might mean that you do less or have to do it earlier, but that is okay if it is what you need.  At the end of the day, the market values the creative genius behind the art -- even above the actual production of the art.  If your team understands and values the process behind the art and makes it part of the entire operation of the business, your business and your clients will be the constant source of support they ought to be.  Mostly though, they will never ask you to compromise the artist that you are.