Keep the Hope Alive
Being an artist and trying to build a creative small business is not for the faint of heart, and some might say it might not be good for one’s mental health. Why is that? For me painting is extremely therapeutic, but the business side can be so stressful. There are things I can control and things completely out of my control. But the challenge is that those things out of my control are what drive the success of my business. I have to keep pushing and creating and hoping… So our next watercolor wisdom - lessons I’ve learned through watercolor that can be applied to life – is…
Keep the hope alive…
As a small business owner and creative, I can control a lot of things… what I choose to paint, ordering supplies, creating various products using my art, printing & packaging, taking and editing the photos of my work, developing the marketing plan, creating the social media posts, applying for in-person events, the setup of my in-person layout, etc. Whew! That’s a lot! But what I can’t control is whether someone chooses to purchase any of my work. And if no one purchases my work, the business can’t survive.
And that’s where the mind games come into play. I’m learning from and following artists who have built such a following that when they launch something, it sells out… quickly. The problem is, I’m not where they are; I don’t have the audience size that they have. But when I launch something, if orders don’t come in within the first few days, the brain can begin to question. Am I not good enough? Do people not like my work? Why did I just spend 3 months preparing for this launch only to have no one buy anything? It can be so frustrating to be the recipient of my brain’s thoughts sometimes. Can you relate?
When the brain games begin, I can fall into the depths pretty quickly. But luckily, I’ve surrounded myself with people who are incredibly supportive… artist friends, my daughter, and my husband… who don’t allow me to sabotage myself. And through their support and encouragement, I’m able to tell my brain to be patient, to wait, to keep the hope alive.
But how do you remain hopeful? (1) Surround yourself with people who build you up, give good advice, and support you on this creative business journey. (2) Believe in yourself; look at your work and realize it’s beautiful. (3) Refuse to listen to the negative brain thoughts. This definitely takes a lot of work to accomplish! (4) And realize that building a small business takes time, consistency, determination, and effort… lots of effort! But the effort is worth it when those orders begin flowing.
Until then, we have to hold onto hope that one day an order will appear…. that all the hard work will be rewarded… that our creative efforts will be just what someone needs to brighten their day. It really is a mental game we have to play each day to keep ourselves positive. We need to be patient, to wait, and to keep the hope alive.