The United States’ Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen (beyond brilliant), earlier this weeks said that she might see the need for interest rates to rise (which only the Federal Reserve can do) to keep the economy from overheating. Our economy is indeed surging back now that it looks like we might, might be nearing the end of the COVID pandemic. Oh and the value of design has never been higher. Just have a look at theexpert.com. Up to $2,500 for an hour of Zoom time with an interior designer. A waiting list of over 600 designers and an investment of three million from a group that includes Gwyneth Paltrow. This for a business that literally has no barrier to entry. The scheduling and paywall functionality is something a site like Calendly can do instantly for any designer who wants to set it up. The salad days are here. All I can say is to take a breath and do better work for clients that care the most.
A revisit of my last post of 2020 is in order. My advice remains: Chase revenue at your own peril. Pyrite will always be fools gold. Best is a verb not a noun. Now is the time to upend everything and to not just enjoy the rising tide. I, of course, am thrilled to see so many so busy but am utterly dismayed at seeing the profound resistance to evolution and the desire to step forward as other. Better is a choice we all need to make. So here goes a look back at my post from December 16, 2020:
Fundamentally, we will get through the pandemic and I agree with Paul Krugman that the rebound will be robust and profound (clearly, he was and is right). If the government does its job and provides relief (and I so hope it does and it did), when the artificial barriers to the economy are removed, demand will be there (yes indeed). This is not 2008 as much as it is 1981 (when the Fed lowered interest rates). As will all things though, the future is unwritten.
Race to the top. While many many people have suffered in 2020, your clients have not (definitely did not). They kept their jobs, their portfolios soared and they could not spend their money on so many things — vacations, dining, entertainment, etc. Couple that with the desire to express themselves through your art and your creative business and you have a recipe for quite a boom once the vaccine and the psychological effects of its protection take hold (yes, it will be safe to hug a stranger again)(got this one right).
The instinct will be to gulp water now that if flows again; to put your feet close to the roaring fire to warm your frostbite. Doing these things actually makes the problem worse. Same is true for your creative business. Chase the money and you will drown in a sea of yesterday. Instead, do three things. First, assess what it is you actually need. What does life look like when you are able to live as you choose? Forget about expenses, what do you need once life returns to your creative business? Next, how much do you want to work? Making up for 2020 beyond what is already the rescheduled books is a fools errand. Start over. I have seen more and more creative business owners simply ignore this advice in May 2021. And so I worry deeply about the pain and exhaustion coming.
If you had to move all of your work to 2021 and that results in a full calendar then taking on more is an exponentially diminishing return. Simple, if you have 2,000 hours to give and you do ten events at 200 hours each, you are good. If you play the “I have to make up for 2020 game”, and say take on four more events, now you only have 143 hours to give to every event. How exactly will you keep your promise to those who paid for 200 hours of your attention? You lose every which way. Work more than 2,000 hours. Now you are exhausted and ask any young doctor how they feel at the beginning of a 36 hour shift and how they feel at the end and you will know why there are laws prohibiting such work. Hire more staff? With what money? And even if you can hire new staff (thank you PPP), will they be able to meet your standards your clients expect or will you have to micro-manage until you are confident in their ability to serve your clients? See point above about over-work.
Race to the top. Do the work that matters for those that care the most. Redefine value to highlight (ahem) the most valuable piece of what it is you do. Get paid for it as you have never have before. Learn the lesson of theexpert.com and know that design matters. A LOT. Be fearless and intrepid because that is what your art demands, your creative business and most of all your clients. Which brings me to the third point, change your cash flow.
If you earn your value, get paid for it when you have earned it. The idea of getting paid a few weeks before completion is based on a convention that holds no water anymore. Yes, you must retain your cost of production plus a buffer to avoid robbing from Peter to pay Paul, but that is but a fraction of value earned. Creative businesses as a whole have backloaded their cash flow to ensure delivery. You are all better than that and you are either responsible or you are not.
Let me land this plane. If you a project coming on in April 2022, you will likely finish designing it in November of 2021 and probably start producing it in in December. For me, this means you will have all of the money associated with this project in 2021. All of it. You will reserve what it will take to produce it plus a buffer, but the rest is yours to do as you see fit. So while others will be starving in January, February and March, you will be investing in those aspects of your creative business that yield the most value. Seasonality can be removed from all creative businesses if you choose to make it so. This is your chance and you will likely not get another one for a very long time. Or you can chase the money. And, no, I am not seeing this happening much, if at all here in May 2021. WHY?
To be clear, you cannot change your cash flow unless you change the value you earn when you earn it. And to change that value you have to invest in that value so that it grows. If that value is design, what will you do to be better at providing your ideas to clients? If it is the process of production, how will you demonstrate how your are getting better there? Racing to the top means you start with your single greatest strength and go all in to be ever stronger there. Shoring a weakness is important but you will never be paid the big bucks to be better than average. Big bucks are there for those at the edge, who own the edge and demand value.
Greed has no place in creative business. However, idiosyncratic desire is not greed, it is self-respect for the gift given to you. Getting paid what you need to create is a self-fulfilling prophecy to do it again and again and again.
To wit, my ultimate advice for 2021: radical, unapologetic, idiosyncrasy is the key to a profound journey into a future of boundless opportunity. Promise yourself that you will be radically better tomorrow. A prettier caterpillar is useless. The world needs butterflies. As with all things, the choice to be the best version of your art and your creative business is yours. The courage comes in convincing yourself that best is a verb, not a noun.
