Starting, managing and growing any type of business can be challenging for anyone, especially when your leadership team is best described as ‘me, myself and I’.
This can be a daunting situation for many. Quite simply no human being can be ‘good at everything’ and so there will naturally be some elements of running the business that you find easier than others.
Your background, education and previous life experiences will likely influence this as ‘sticking to what you know’ provides a safety blanket against failure. This also encourages you to learn more about the familiar, rather than something new about the unknown.
When speaking with BIPC Northamptonshire clients, I am always interested to find out their motivations for starting a business. If you think about your own experience, you may not be surprised to know that many say they have ‘just fallen into business’, from something which started as a personal passion or hobby. This is especially common in creative sectors.
Those from the creative sector often explain that their problem is ‘the obvious one’.
A quick google search will bring up plenty of “left brain vs right brain” theory which suggests that right-brained people are “creative, disorganized, and artistic”. The conflicting, left brain characteristics are more commonly associated with business owners - those who are “logical, analytical, and methodical”.
In order to run a successful creative business on your own, you are likely going to need both of these sides of your brain.
This is where the BIPC support is able to step in and help. When faced with this ‘problem’ I usually spin the question back onto the client. “Do you think it would be easier for you to teach me how to have your creative flair and artistic ability, or for me to show you some simple tried and tested methods that other business owners use, along with steps you need to take to follow them?".
Again, the answer is usually the ‘obvious’ one.
Creativity is about individuality and the inability of someone else to exactly replicate the output. It is incredibly difficult to ‘teach’ something where there is little to no tangible ruleset that can be followed.
If you are struggling to find the balance, please Contact us to arrange a one-to-one meeting and find out how we can support you.
At the Business & IP Centre Northamptonshire, we support entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses from that first spark of inspiration to successfully launching and developing a business. Find out about our range of services here.