Owning a creative business often looks glamorous from the outside. However, those in the trenches know the less glamorous realities all too well: being responsible for every aspect of the business, from making key decisions and finding manufacturers to filing taxes, grappling with financial instability, and facing loneliness and misunderstandings from friends and family. Beyond these well-known challenges, here are seven more unglamorous aspects that creative business owners frequently encounter.
1. You Are Your Business’s Face
In today’s digital age, showing your face has become a proof of authenticity. Customers want to connect with the person behind the brand. This means you must invest in your appearance, sometimes opting for specific treatments like microneedling Topical Sculptra treatments for clear skin.
People will judge your face on social media, and this judgment can impact your business significantly.
2. Everything Can Be Documented
For social media, every aspect of your daily routine can be content. Unpacking supplies? Make a video. Brewing your morning coffee? Snap a picture. Replying to emails? Share a quick clip. This constant need to document can feel silly and intrusive at times, turning mundane activities into performative tasks.
3. Storage Rooms Get Expensive
Running a creative business often involves significant inventory and supplies, which need to be stored somewhere. Renting storage space can become a costly necessity. The price of maintaining a space to house your products and materials adds up quickly and can become a substantial part of your operating costs.
4. Guilt When Taking Time Off
Taking time off should be a chance to relax and recharge, but for many creative business owners, it’s often accompanied by guilt. The constant feeling that you should be working on your business never really goes away. This guilt can prevent you from enjoying your personal time and can lead to burnout. Balancing work and personal life is crucial, yet incredibly challenging when you’re the driving force behind your business.
5. Being Sick is a Bummer
In a traditional job, being sick often means taking a day off to recover. For creative business owners, sick days are a luxury they can’t afford. The business doesn’t stop just because you’re not feeling well. You have to push through and keep working, regardless of how you feel. This can lead to prolonged illnesses and a constant state of exhaustion, impacting both your health and productivity.
6. One Bad Review Can Ruin Your Business
In the digital marketplace, a single bad review can have devastating effects. Unfortunately, there are people willing to leave negative reviews, sometimes even invented ones. This can damage your reputation and deter potential customers.
Dealing with bad reviews requires tact and patience, and the fear of a negative review always lingers, adding stress to every customer interaction.
7. Dealing with Difficult Customers
Not every customer is pleasant to deal with. Some are demanding, rude, or unreasonable, and handling these interactions can cost you significant time and energy. Learning to manage difficult customers effectively is crucial, but it’s one of the most draining aspects of running a creative business.
Being a creative business owner is a rewarding yet challenging journey. While the freedom to create and run your own business is appealing, it comes with many unglamorous realities. Does it mean becoming a creative business owner is not worth your effort? On the contrary, putting your work where your passion lies can be rewarding, but do it with your eyes fully opened so you can tackle the challenges ahead!
