How to Start a Creative Company: 5 Decisions That Determined the Success of Our Firm
Business Thoughts April 15th. 2007, 7:12pm“Women and men business owners have different management styles. Women emphasize relationship-building as well as fact-gathering and are more likely to consult with experts, employees, and fellow business owners.”
From the Center for Women’s Business Research: http://www.cfwbr.org/facts/index.php
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When we started our company six years ago, I truly had little experience with or knowledge of how to start or run a company. I had no way to measure the level of difficulty or ease this endeavor would take, but I knew I wanted to LEARN to run a company and I knew I would feel unfulfilled for the rest of my life if I didn’t take the risk and start the company.
During our first year, we made some mistakes (i.e. small firms like mine should not waste precious time debating contract terms with large corporations; if you don’t like their terms, too bad – either suck it up or don’t work with them.) But we also did some things right, and in fact, if we hadn’t made some key decisions, we may not have lasted more than a year or two in business. Here are the five recommendations I would make to those of you trying to start a creative company now:
1. Learn from Everyone: Colleagues, friends, enemies, partners, competitors, experts, books, blogs, your audience – Ask a lot of questions, listen intently to answers, then determine what is right for your situation.
2.Divide and Conquer: My business partner and I realized early on that we had to divide the labor and each take responsibility for key tasks. We each wore a lot of hats (at one point I handled design, marketing, sales, project management, and contracts/legal negotiations), but we also knew what we had to do and didn’t step on each other’s toes or question who was going to do what.
3. Plant “Relationship Seeds”: During our first two years in business, I attended 5-7 networking events per week. At those events, I met lots of people, asked them about themselves, their jobs, and how I might be able to help them. I went to coffee, breakfast, lunch, happy hour, and dinner with people from all over the community, and with many of those folks, I formed ongoing relationships and even friendships. While my initial contacts rarely resulted in sales, the long term relationships have created a booming referral source for us.
4. Volunteer and Donate: From the beginning and still today, I am involved on many committees and boards of local nonprofits. By volunteering your time with a nonprofit, it’s a great way to meet passionate people in the community, demonstrate your integrity, and help a worthy cause. With some of those organizations, we developed their brands and built their websites (we often did it pro bono, but they were good additions to our portfolio).
5. Embrace Change: Initially, our target market was start-ups and tech companies. But we realized that those companies often lack cash to spend on branding, marketing, and the web. Our target market expanded and evolved to organizations that had a budget for us (educational institutions, nonprofits, arts & cultural organizations, and health care & research companies). We adjusted accordingly, and we’re damn happy we did. When you write your initial business plan, think of it as a living document where you can capture, plan, and ultimately manifest your goals. Remember to update your plan as you go along – keep tweaking, revising, and making improvements to keep up with the needs, pains, and desires of your customers. If you don’t evolve with your market, your competitors will find ways to out-think and out-sell you.
