Yes you read the title right. This is all about how being creative can hurt you in biz.
We all know being creative is definitely an asset when you’re an entrepreneur. But…
Your greatest strengths are also your greatest weaknesses. And being TOO creative can actually keep you from building the biz of your dreams. So let’s dig into how creativity can actually hurt you in biz.
1. You love starting new things — but finishing? Not so much. There’s nothing like the rush of a new idea or a new brainstorm, is there? It’s soooo much fun to live on the Island of Possibilities and Dreams.
Which is why the Land of What Your Biz Is In Real Life feels so, well, blah.
Ideas that live on the Island Of Dreams are fun. Coaxing those ideas off of their fun island (where they’re hanging out at the beach during the day and partying every night) and talking them into becoming permanent citizens of the Land of Reality where they are now earning their keep and making money for you can be not-so-fun.
Those ideas aren’t necessarily all that thrilled about leaving their carefree lifestyle. So it takes time. And work. And sometimes that work is difficult and unpleasant.
(And that doesn’t even cover the “what if the idea isn’t all that hot once it’s real” fear that can also take over as you get close to finishing a new project.)
So being super creative can also mean lots of unfinished projects that are still half on the Island of Dreams, which means they’re hanging out having a blast rather than making any money for you.
2. You want to love the projects you’re working on. Yes we all want to love what we’re working on, but the truth of the matter is no matter how much you love an idea, there will be times where you just want to ship the smelly thing back to the Island of Dreams to stay.
If you’re too creative, you may decide it’s easier to just fall in love with a different idea on the Island of Dreams and, well, that means another unfinished project on your to-do list that isn’t making you any money.
But if you want to be a successful entrepreneur you must resist that urge. Only ideas that are firmly in the Land of Reality will have any hope of making you any money so even if you aren’t feeling the love, work through it.
3. Ideas aren’t the only thing you fall in and out of love with — your biz brand is also a constant moving target. This is the one that’s really tough to overcome. If you find yourself changing your brand every year, then it’s going to be really difficult to build traction in the marketplace.
Now while I am a big believer in just getting something out and letting the marketplace give you feedback (and yes I have gone through a few brands myself over the years) if you are constantly just not happy with your biz brand, then you are definitely letting your creativity rule your biz.
There is a time and place to rebrand — but it’s NOT because you’re tired or bored with your brand (especially if it wasn’t that long ago you rebranded because you were…well tired and bored with your brand). If you rebrand too much you’re just asking for your ideal clients to be confused, and that’s very often the first step to biz failure.
So, you’ve probably sensed a theme here. And that theme is — if you know you’re creative, and you find yourself making decisions on your biz, your brand, your products, your programs, your marketing, etc. based on if something is fun or gives you that rush, and you find yourself NOT working on something because it’s starting to feel like work (and you’d rather go back to the rush) then you’re probably allowing your creativity to dictate your biz rather than enhance your biz. And that’s a recipe for a not-so-successful biz.
