5 Business Tips for Creative-Types

Of the people on this year's Sunday Times Rich List, I wonder how many started a business out of pure passion, and how many just wanted to get rich. In my experience, entrepreneurs are most successful when they pursue a passion. If you're passionate about your business, you'll have a vision for your business - and if you have a vision, you have a pathway.

Michael Jacobson (@1jacobsenm) is an author, creative and entertainment entrepreneur. Michael's holding a masterclass on the 'Business of Creativity' at the British Library in London on September 26th. Enterprise Nation readers can come along for just £15 when they use the promo code ENBUSINESSCLASS: www.businessofcreativity.eventbrite.co.uk Entrepreneurs are by nature creative. They see something where there is nothing. Visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Simon Cowell are great examples, as are Oprah Winfrey, Arianna Huffington and JK Rowling. They've taken huge risks, started from nothing and literally visualised their businesses. All are in the creative space. However, some creative-types develop a 'struggling artist' mentality, which is a real psychological barrier to success. Money isn't a dirty word! It is possible to pursue a passion for creativity and to succeed financially at the same time. Here are some tips to help turn your creative vision into a financially-viable business.

1. Don't obsess over the business model. Focus on what you love doing and work hard on getting it into the hands of people who need it.

2. Have a vision - and work with others who believe in your vision and fulfill your weaker areas. Even without funding, you can 'outsource' to family and friends. Maybe your aunty is an accountant or your cousin a bookkeeper, etc. Find a way!

3. Study successful people. Some call this 'modeling', but it's a physiological fact - looking at successful people in your industry, being inspired by them and studying how they 'made it' will help you make it too.

4. Know your market. This goes hand-in-hand with the first point about fulfilling a need: If you know who you're selling to, it's a lot easier to break your marketing activity into manageable chunks and find those people. Marketing, after all, is just selling to your market!

5. Structure yourself as a business. You don't want a creative job. You want to make a scalable business. Read books, study others and educate yourself in business. You don't have to become a business expert, but you'll be empowered by understanding business. This will allow you to impose your vision onto a structure - a structure that includes company formation, pricing, a route to market, etc.

f

Fill out my online form.

// <![CDATA[ var w7w1m3;(function(d, t) { var s = d.createElement(t), options = { 'userName':'sansharma', 'formHash':'w7w1m3', 'autoResize':true, 'height':'577', 'async':true, 'header':'show', 'ssl':true}; s.src = ('https:' == d.location.protocol ? 'https://' : 'http://') + 'wufoo.com/scripts/embed/form.js'; s.onload = s.onreadystatechange = function() { var rs = this.readyState; if (rs) if (rs != 'complete') if (rs != 'loaded') return; try { w7w1m3 = new WufooForm();w7w1m3.initialize(options);w7w1m3.display(); } catch (e) {}}; var scr = d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0], par = scr.parentNode; par.insertBefore(s, scr); })(document, 'script'); // ]]>