Until recently, I never considered myself a business person or an entrepreneur. I never had any desire to be one either.
I never really had any intention of going into business. The whole idea was distasteful to me. Life experiences, though, have led me down this path of becoming a professional freelance artist. And that means I have to be a business person if I want to succeed.
Last week, in thinking about this, I was almost bleak–desperate.
I was contemplating my weaknesses more than my strengths, and I was reckoning with the realities of my capacities versus my incapacities when it came to business oriented tasks.
I wasn’t throwing in towels by any stretch. I was just getting real about my needs and asking for help.
And help I got.
I posted a blogpost about needing direction as an entrepreneur in several online locations, and I received moral support, concrete suggestions, resources and enthusiastic direction.
I have connected with people all over the country who are interested in helping me succeed. I have some interesting business ventures to consider and lots of new opportunities. I have contacted some resources in my own community that are designed to help people just like me, and I am realizing that I am not as lost as I may have thought I was.
I am being deliberately vague here, as it would not be prudent to discuss some of these opportunities publicly. I do, however, want to share my hopefulness about this process of developing myself as an Artist Entrepreneur.
My situation is far from fixed. I am still a hopelessly right-brained person needing a left brain.
I have discovered, though, that I have an ability to attract people of integrity to help me with certain needs. I am now feeling that I can do this, which I am not sure I could say last week.
Some things that I have learned about business this week that have been a pleasant surprise to me:
- There are people out there who genuinely want to help you succeed. Especially among women entrepreneurs, I have experienced a real “Pay-it-Forward” approach of women reaching out to other women to help them get going in business.
- Women-owned businesses are projected to be a game-changing force in transforming the future of the workforce.
- The fact that our economy is so bad right now means that there is a lot of support for new small businesses. There is also a lot of forgiveness and less pressure to succeed instantly in the business world, because, quite frankly, everyone is struggling.
- Social media has turned traditional marketing on its head. Authenticity is back in style.
- Being a creative artist with limitations in certain skill sets does not necessarily mean I am destined to fail at business.
- I am actually, sorta kinda, enjoying this process of learning and developing new skills!
Stay tuned to see where this adventure leads…
Life is an Adventure!
BZTAT