One of the worst things I hear almost daily from creative business owners is: I want to take my creative business to the next level. Usually it means they want bigger, more expensive projects. Wait, you say, sounds like the exact thing every creative business owner should hope for – do bigger, bigger, better[?].
And sometimes, sure, the grand stage is where you, your art and creative business belong. Most often, though, it just is not true. Toyota makes no aspirations to be Bentley for a very very good reason – it is not what they do. Even more important, Bentley makes no aspirations to be Toyota – it is not what they do. Can there be couture and ready-to-wear? Of course, just not ready-to-wear pretending to be couture or vice-versa.
If you are an interior designer and your work comes in at $50-$75 per square foot, own it, be the best in the world at it and be able to prove it. Prove it being the key phrase here.
Can you prove why you are the best in the world at what you do? “Prove” “Best” “World”.
World – this is your universe, for you to define and encapsulate for your clients. If you are a local wedding planner, do not tell me you are available for destination work. If you design ultra-luxury spaces, the 300 s.f. studio is not in the cards. Your world is who you serve and why. If you cannot state it without apology, start over until you can.
Best – Again, your work is to educate your clients on what best means. Do not tell me it is about doing beautiful work. Of course it is, therefore it is not. And this is the rub – your clients have their own metrics for success – how they want to feel if it is not a specific corporate or non-profit goal, maybe money if it is. Either way, you have to work to educate your clients on what your metrics for success are. If you are a designer and the client wants jaw-drop moment, ok. However, if you want the space to feel like it has always been there, your work has to be to explain the difference between a wedding and a marriage. And if you are all about the jaw-drop moment and the client wants a lifetime memory, explain what that means. Best only matters if you can surpass not only your client’s vision of success but your own as well. You can assume that your and your client’s determination of success are the same at your own peril. Do the work of showing what the mountaintop looks like and, then, when you soar past it you will reap the rewards.
Prove – Words only matter if they connect to substance. If you like to work only ten times a year but charge as if you need to work fifty, you do not pass the smell test. We all have to make what we need to make to feel proud of the work and to keep going. If you know your world and what your best is, make sure it makes sense when you go out to prove what those words mean. There cannot be any disconnects. Clients will see how thin your words are if there is no substance – if you cannot connect the dots. How special can a client be when you need to work on a hundred projects to make enough? Or are you making money a client does not know about? That is a very dark place you do not want to touch.
If you cannot prove why you are the best in the world (or will be) at the next level (whatever that might be), then you are right where you need to be until you can.
