3 Things I wish I knew before venturing out as a Creative Entrepreneur

When I was starting out as a Creative Entrepreneur, I thought I was the shit.

I made a ton of mistakes along the way, I lost great clients, I left money on the table, I didn’t get paid.

All because No one told me the real deal in a creative entrepreneur’s life.

I hope these bits of knowledge will be able to help you out:

1. Hear the client out — The client is not always right. But the client is always first. Your client is paying you for a service, and part of that service is to listen to your client’s requirements and sometimes (complaints)
2. First meetings are for finding problems not solving them — The first meeting’s purpose is for you to listen to what issues they’re facing. You’re professional opinion will come in after the proposal has been sent. But initially, your job during that first meeting is to ask questions and listen.
3. You’re in the people business — Client work is less about the job and more about the people. I’ve noticed that even if you deliver excellent work but if you were a pain to work with, clients don’t return. People remember how you made them feel.

Bonus: Get Paid before doing any work — No matter how much you ‘trust’ your client, getting paid upfront shows that they value you and your work. No matter how exciting or tempting the job is, never do work without getting paid. It’ll only make things harder in the end.

I wish someone told me that this industry is more about the people less about the creativity.

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