Why I wanted to quit my creative business and what I did instead.
It's New Years Eve, today we're saying goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017. To most people, we see the new year as a clean slate, a fresh start, a brighter tomorrow! We have endless hopes and dreams and we've put plans in place to make this next year "the best ever!" Somewhere around march though everything tends to fall apart and we're back into our old habits again. I desperately want to avoid that again this year and I'm sure you do too!
To plan where you're going, you have to see where you have been. I started looking back on 2016; Right off the bat I remembered that 2016 was the year I unpublished my very popular facebook business page. I took a break, but in reality I really just wanted to quit.
Around March I was drowning, I was behind on orders, drowning in paper work, stressed about receipts, inventory, supplies, my family, you name it. I was trying to figure out social media, bookkeeping, hiring help, taxes (Ohhhh the taxes!). It was bringing me to tears every.single.day. I believe I was experiencing tried and true burn out. You see as women AND creatives, we give give give until we can't anymore and we feel positively drained.
March wasn't the first time I've wanted to truly quit my business. I have been doing this since 2012. I think if I went to search my personal facebook I'd have no kidding 50 posts about being frustrated and ready to quit. Each time though I had tons of friends flood me with messages of encouragement, what an inspiration I was (which is still totally weird to believe), and how much they admired my work, and loved what I made and didn't want me to quit! My creative friends all replied with "girl me too!!!! While I loved the comments from friends, those comments from my fellow creative business owners are the ones that meant the most to me. They are the ones that truly GOT IT.
That's when I realized this community is SO much more powerful than anything else. Around April/May I joined a business coaching group because I knew SOMETHING had to change. I'll tell you it was a scary expense up front, I wasn't sure I could afford it. Now I'll tell you I can't afford NOT to have it.
I firmly believe you cannot run your creative business alone. You just can't. You need support, you need like minded people, you need other creatives to tell you to "cry for an hour, then get your booty back to work!". You need cheerleaders, counselors, friends and mentors. You need the advice of those who have gone before you and will hold your hand through the scary stuff.
Since joining my business group I have started a real website, a blog, wrote an ebook, started making my own videos, learned about passive income, social media and so much more. I've been so encouraged by this that I want to help others. This February, I'm launching my own creative circle for creative entrepreneurs (BTW if you're a crafter....use the word entrepreneur, it changes your mindset, you have to stop thinking small!!!
I'm working out all the details but if you're someone who is spinning your wheels on your business, stressed to the max and unsure what you should be doing every month to grow your business then this will be the place for you!!
I can't wait to get it started and get to know you all better and help you achieve the dreams you didn't know you had!!!
Dream BIG!!!
Sarah
