I have heard too many stories recently that just make me sad. Some creative business owners are overwhelmed, underpaid and now broke even though business is booming. Others have unsupportive, dysfunctional staff and feel like they have to do everything themselves. More than are a few are watching their businesses shrink with no thought on where to turn.
Yet, when I dig deeper, the underlying theme is a lack of structure to the business. There is no plan to get from Point A to B, let alone from Point A to the finish line of a project. And without that plan, the creative business has no chance.
Do you have to write a full blown business plan? Would be nice, but no. Create an intricate operating manual? Eventually, but so not a good place to start. Hire a consultant to create the plan for you? Definitely not. Developing your business’ road map is entirely your job. My suggestion: just tell your story using the 5Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why) to define each step you want your creative business to take (and to move to the next step) until a project is finished.
A potential customer calls or emails: Who answers? When do they answer? What do they say? Where does it happen (i.e., in the office or on a cell phone)? And why are they answering (as opposed to someone else)? Then when the customer comes in: Who sees them? What gets said? When does it happen? Where does it happen (your office or theirs)? Why are you meeting with them (i.e., what are you selling them in person that can’t be sold by email or over the phone)? If the customer goes with you, 5Ws for the next step and so on until the project is finished. This is the story of your business and you are the narrator. Tell it to everyone.
Once you have completed the exercise, you will know your process – i.e., getting from Point A to the finish line – and you will have a foundation from which you can build your organization. You can communicate it to customers to establish boundaries. For those of you with control issues (guilty as charged), you can use the process to glean information about where you are with each potential and existing project at a glance. And you can assign appropriate tasks to each of your employees to keep the process moving.
The essence of creativity is to tell a story – to take the audience some place else. I am sure it is the goal of your creative business in the creation of its art. No reason why the story can’t be woven into the fabric of the business itself. Knowing and communicating the story to clients, employees and mostly to yourself won’t solve all of your problems, but it will take you a long way there.
{ 6 comments }
Thanks for breaking it down and getting it back to the basics. I find that taking my staff on a strategic retreat every quarter helps us realign and make sure we’re all on target and all on the same page with goals, procedures and where we’re headed. Thanks for the 5 Ws, I’ll definitely use this at next week’s team meeting.
Mary Baird-Wilcock
The Simplifiers Event Planning
Austin, Texas USA
http://www.thesimplifiers.com
So true! It’s been really helpful for us to outline all of our processes in detail in order to train new team members. An exercise like this also helps you identify things you do that could be done differently or more efficiently, or things you’re doing that don’t make sense at all. Sometimes taking a look at the entire system can show you places you can eliminate entire steps in the process, making you a leaner and smarter organization.
Thanks for another great post!
This is so true! If you know “what” you offer, to “whom” you offer it, and “why” you are offering it, you know exactly what you are doing… Creative Business Owners like you and I, have to constantly know the inside scoop and mechanism of our business, because if we do not pay attention then we run the risk to fail… Thank you Sean for your all your great posts!
In the hustle of the year, it’s easy to lose track of yourself and GIVE, GIVE, GIVE. These are great ways for me to self-assess moments when I’m blurring my own boundaries. Thanks for simple guidelines to be sure that we are “self-editors” of our business story.
This post is extremely helpful for me but also for everyone on staff. I an trying my best to help them learn how to organize their tasks and manage their time effectively. Your blog is required media for everyone on staff! Thanks again! Ugh, I am so mad I was unable to attend your seminar when you were here in DC!
As a new business owner, these are the questions that I have failed to articulate and put on paper. Yea, I have the vision in my head, and I know where I want to go, but sometimes, just writing it on paper doesn’t seem enough; as if it’s missing the “oomph”.
I struggle with just sitting still for a moment and focus on the 5 SW’s that you so eloquently and simply explained here. So thank you for reminding us about “getting back to basics”.
Often times, I think some people may over complicate things (I am one of the them – I can’t help it; I think way too much about things) and a friend of mine said “Hey, use the KISS method – Keep It Simple Stupid”. 🙂