The starving artist and the mildly peckish entrepreneur

When you have a great idea, a great knowledge, a great passion, that you want to use to earn money, you are unlikely to start making big bucks straight away.

Like being told at school that if you want to be an artist, dancer, musician, sportsperson or similar, you need something to fall back on, many of us entrepreneurs also have 'proper jobs'.

Right now I am managing four book projects in my role as a freelance editor, plus I teach two dance fitness classes a week, which I make new choreography for every six weeks or so.

Combine this with releasing a new podcast episode each fortnight (originally weekly but there's no way I can fit that in now), updating this website when new Creativity Found Collective members join up, and scheduling and attending our monthly online meetups, I don't have as much time to do all the other things I really want to to promote Creativity Found, such as attending other people's networking events, approaching the press, and keeping up with social media posts, as I'd like – although I do my best.

Then there's 'real' life, which for me right now means collecting my daughter and all her belongings from uni (two trips!), encouraging my son through his GCSEs and getting all of my worky ducks in a row, plus prepping and packing, so I can take some time off for a holiday – although I'll do some audio editing on the plane and choreo on the beach (in my head, I won't be jiving on the sand).

For those with younger children, July means buying presents for teachers and planning childcare for the six-week long break (UK state schools, probably longer for those at private schools).

We may give the impression from the outside that our small businesses are fully sustaining our financial lives and we have our personal lives sewn up too, but don't be fooled.

Believe me, you are not the only one who loves your small business but still works elsewhere to supplement whatever money that may make. Your customers may think you spend all your time on them, but I know you have so many other things to do on a day-to-day basis, and it's not easy to keep spinning those plates. 

So ultimately, this blog is my chance to cheer you on and congratulate you for doing whatcha doin!

If my word isn't good enough, and you need to hear from other people in the same boat, then I've got'ya.

• Sally Ward, episodes 59 and 60 of the Creativity Found podcast, was a finalist on Sky's Portrait Artist of the Year, has been chosen to exhibit at many prestigious events and galleries, been awarded plenty of impressive arts accolades, and continues to work part time in the civil service. 
• Rich Chambers, episode 76, has 114 thousand followers on Facebook, and Spotify downloads on individual tracks of over 150,000, and works full time in education.
• Jaclyn Sanders, episode 79, works in digital marketing 'from home', by which I mean from her community art studio where she can paint and create around her 'day job'.

If you need a little help managing everything you've got going on, then there are Creativity Found Collective members who can help, without costing the earth.

When I have a marketing or admin task that I want to do but don't have the time, I call on my marketing VA for an hour a month, or on an ad-hoc basis. Sometimes I don't ask her for help from one month to the next and she doesn't berate me, or get uppity when I do ask her to work for me, months later.

Some examples of how you can find practical help with Creativity Found, as of November 2024 (there will be the same or similar every month of the year) include:

• Logo and branding from The Pink Octopus
• Writing coaching and publishing service from Camilla Fellas Arnold
• SEO help from Kelly Drewett
• Energy and time management help from Ela Wassell
• Business coaching from Sheena Whyatt
• . . . and more on the Business Help page at creativityfound.co.uk

And finally, if you want reassurance that you're doing a great job, that others are having similar experiences, or just to have a good chinwag, members of the Creativity Found Collective can join a monthly online meetup.

 I look forward to meeting you and telling you you're amazebobs.

And if you're not sure if membership is right for you, pop on a call with me by booking a Coffee Chat here.

Creativity Found Collective

The Creativity Found Collective is a membership for artists and crafters who share their creative skills with grown-ups through workshops, online courses, products or subscriptions. It is also a membership for business-support enterprises who use their expertise to help those artists and crafters to grow their businesses.

We promote their offerings on the website and connect them with a network of like-minded business owners. 

All of this is backed up by the Creativity Found podcast, in which I chat with grown-ups who have found or re-found their creativity later in life.

You can find out more about the Creativity Found Collective membership here.

And don't forget, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.