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:

1. 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.
2. Women-owned businesses are projected to be a game-changing force in transforming the future of the workforce.
3. 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.
4. Social media has turned traditional marketing on its head. Authenticity is back in style.
5. Being a creative artist with limitations in certain skill sets does not necessarily mean I am destined to fail at business.
6. 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