Can You Be Creative In Business?

It's no surprise that the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think outside the box - otherwise known as creatively. Yet if you're a primarily creative person you might have doubts about opening and running your own business. Creative endeavors and degrees are often viewed as being less applicable to the 'real world'. We rarely talk about how they actually help better prepare us to run a business. 

As a creative, you already know the importance of eliminating your ego so you can further your art and reach your goals. 

Your art is also much more analytical than you probably think. Take creative writing for example. When I'm writing a story, brainstorming my next idea is the only part of the process that's truly creative. Everything that follows consists of technique and analyzing content. Each story has to be tested on a macro and micro level to make sure that all the pieces are working well together. Within any creative process is a highly technical set of systems and processes. 

So what does this mean for your business idea? 

Whether you're starting a new endeavor or revamping an existing brand, utilize your natural creative abilities to your advantage. Rather than focusing on how you think you're supposed to operate, allow yourself to view your brand and strategies through your unique lens. 

What does that mean? 

If you have an 'out of the box' idea for a new reel that showcases your business or product, post it! Don't worry about what others might think. 

Does the way you're currently positioning your brand feel wrong? Trust your intuition! You know your brand better than anyone else. 

Utilize your creative voice to make your brand stand out, especially when doing the most important tasks like market testing. 

Don't Shy Away From Market Testing

One weakness of being a creative is that we tend to protect our work, feeling defensive when it's not received well because we've poured so much time and effort and soul into it. 

You need to let that go. 

Speaking from experience, the sooner you're able to distinguish the line between when you need to defend your work and when you need to listen is crucial. As a writer it will help you understand when an editor is making a suggestion that will actually help your work in the long run and when their suggestion is wrong for your piece. 

As a business owner, it will allow you to connect with your audience. 

Market testing is not there to make you feel poorly. It's a tool to assess how your target audience and community prefers to communicate. If you're not receiving a high level of positive response, use your creative lens to see how you might shift your messaging. Analyze your marketing to see if it's truly on brand for you or if you're following someone else's guidelines. 

If your messaging is on point, analyze your product or service. Before you get too deep into running your business you must know the gap that you're trying to fill. For all the visual learners out there, imagine your product or service is a glass cube. Hold it up to the light and see how many different angles you can view it from - a.k.a. ways that you can shift, evolve, or redesign your offerings. How does the light reflect onto it and through it? 

Being Creative Will Help Grow Your Business

There is no limit to how you can manipulate all that you've learned from your art and transform it into a successful business plan - but this isn't a skill you're going to learn in the classroom. It's a practice you must tend to daily. Challenge yourself to really look at your creative process. How does it work? Where can it be improved? Where does it align with the technical aspects of being a business owner? 

The answers to these questions will not only help your business grow but yourself and your art as well.