Since it is the 5^th Anniversary of the Womenandbiz.com website (Congratulations Elisa on your great success!), I decided to offer 5 tips on lessons I’ve learned in my business http://www.artnsoulinc.com/.  I hope you find them helpful.  Here’s to many more years for you in business, Elisa, and to you, the reader. Thank you for reading!

Squelch Your Impulsivity

I’m impulsive by nature.  I sometimes speak before I think and I leap before I know the net will appear.  Sometimes, I end up with my foot in my mouth but I have to say that the net usually appears.  Here is when I could have benefited from slowing down a bit.  I registered as an S-Corp immediately upon starting my business.  Unlike an LLC, where you have to advertise for 6 weeks in a publication, the S-Corp did not require this.  I also initially liked that the S-Corp taxes were kept separate from my personal taxes.  In hindsight, I would have initially registered as a sole proprietorship.  Why?  It took me a couple years to get my business off the ground.  A sole proprietorship doesn’t offer personal protection and I wanted my home and personal assets protected.  In the first couple of years, sales were low and there really wasn’t much liability at all.  However, I still had to pay fees to continue having an S-Corp, etc.  You can always switch from a sole proprietorship to an S-Corp but it is much more difficult to move backwards from an S-Corp to a sole proprietorship.  I’m ok now but I would have taken the process a little slower if I had to do it again.

Put Your Agreements in Writing

I’m a trusting person by nature.  I consider myself trustworthy and I so when I first started out in business I made an assumption that all other people were honest, too.  Most of my contracts were word of mouth.  I still believe that people are inherently good. However, a few bad apples do ruin the whole darn bunch and so now I put contracts into place when I work.  Here’s why.  I conduct workshops on various topics related to my business like “The Business of Art” or “Getting Around Being Stuck” or “Creative Ways to Work Less & Play More”.  Sometimes, I hire outside contractors to teach my classes if they have an area of expertise I think might benefit my clients.  Basically, the deal was that I would obtain the clients, set up the space, buy the food, etc. and then after costs, the other instructor and I would split the fee from any profits made.  One day, I obtained a corporate account with a sizeable group of people.  I wanted to lock in a fee with the corporate client.  The client would provide the space and the food, so my costs were minimal other than the instructor’s fee.  So, I asked the instructor what she would charge for the workshop and she said $500.  Then, the instructor discovered it was a corporate client and not a group of various clients.  Her fee jumped from $500 to $5,000.  This left me scrambling to find another instructor at the last minute.  Needless to say, it was a lesson learned, and I always have an upfront contract now.  This goes for talent releases when I’m filming or taping or taking pictures.  It also goes for hold harmless agreements I put in place when my artists are showing in galleries or corporate offices.  I put everything in writing.  This also provides for a nice record of the event.

Focus on You Not the Competition

I used to worry that people would steal my ideas and take the money and run.  Not anymore.  I now know that the partnerships and alliances we form are much stronger than worrying about the competition.

I form partnerships with other artists.  I help them get gigs in venues I’ve already appeared in.  I work collaboratively with other artists on projects and learn something each and every time that enhances my work.  I teach collaboratively with other artists.  It really is a win win situation.

Let me give you another example.  I started out working four days a week at our local Chamber of Commerce teaching entrepreneurs about how to start a business through the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program. I like being on the fringes.  If you are an entrepreneurial type, I highly recommend reading the book “Orbiting the Giant Hairball”.  It’s one of my favorite books about people who are necessary to an organization but not necessarily the rule followers.  Recently, our Chamber adopted that model and decided to go to a four-day workweek, mainly to ‘go green’ and save energy on Fridays and Mondays.  We’re still staffed because half the team works Mondays and the other half works Fridays.  However, we all have three-day weekends now.  Instead of being bitter that everyone was now on a four-day workweek, I embraced the deal.  I’m now working on a three-day work week!

Take Care of Yourself Physically, Spiritually, Mentally, Emotionally and Financially

In his book, Harmonic Wealth, author James Arthur Ray talks about the five pillars of attracting the life you want.  I truly believe in this model for success in all areas of your life.  They don’t necessarily need to be in balance all at once.  However, you must pay attention to each one.  When I’m paying attention to my health by eating right, exercising, scheduling a shiatsu session, taking time to meditate or go to a yoga class, feeling my emotions and expressing them through my art, money ends up showing up in my mailbox just like that.  When one of these areas is out of whack, just the opposite happens.

Be Grateful

I wake up every day grateful for the lessons I’ve learned and the mistakes I’ve made.  They make me who I am today.  I also got to bed at night grateful for whatever experiences the day brought.  This one exercise has changed my life.  If I sell a piece of artwork or take on a new client, I am extra grateful.  If someone flips a finger at me in a road rage incident, I am grateful for that because it reminds me that I don’t want to be like that and how grateful I am when I let go of stress and a bad attitude.  I believe that if more people were grateful, we could change the world.  It would give us a deeper appreciation for all of life and each other.  My business has grown exponentially by being grateful each day for the opportunities given to me.  I’m writing more, creating more art and meeting some extraordinary people along the way.  So, thank you for being a part of my journey by reading my article.  I am truly grateful to Elisa and to you.