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How To Deal With Challenging Times When You’re Running A Creative Business


Raise your hand if you've had challenges in your business?


Yup, I got my hand raised too.


Let’s face it, running your own business, especially if you’re selling something you’ve created is challenging and scary. 


You might be thinking …


  • What if no one buys from me?
  • What if a customer is unhappy?
  • What if I get a bad review?
  • What if an order gets lost in the mail?
  • What if my work isn’t good enough?

The list goes on.

Running your own business isn’t easy, especially if you’re doing it on your own. For many, it’s a “learn as you go” type of deal and that can be really difficult to deal with because there’s so many moving parts to a business.


Plus, if that isn’t hard enough, you may have people around you who don’t support your decision to sell your work. Or maybe they say you’re wasting your time.


Or on the flip side, maybe a great opportunity has been presented for you and your business and you start to wonder if you should accept it? What if you fail or aren't able to meet your end of the deal?


Sometimes these experiences can bring up past experiences where things didn't go well. Maybe someone close to you didn't support you. Or maybe you were made fun of. Or maybe some art teacher said work wasn’t good enough.


Things that have happened in the past can sometimes hold you back in the present. But you need to remember that you are not that person. You have to remind yourself that you’ve grown and changed and just because something didn’t work out in the past or someone said something mean, it doesn’t mean it’s true.  It doesn't mean history is going to repeat itself. 


Don’t let those thoughts, people and experiences hold you back from showing up for business. Especially for your customers. 


It means you need to start listening to the voice inside you that says you can do it. It means you need to remember why you started your business in the first place. It means it's time to go and read those positive customer reviews to refresh your memory about the positive impact your work has on others.


It means you need to lean on your community to support you. It means maybe it's time for you to write down all the things you've accomplished to see how far you've come. It means it's time to show up even when it feels scary and hard because you're not going to let setbacks or negative comments or experiences stop you from building your business.


Don't let past experiences keep you from showing up. The world needs your work. 

About the author

Imelda Jimenez-LaMar is a product photography coach and former Etsy seller, who said goodbye to her corporate job to create a business teaching photography. She is on a mission to demystify product photography for makers who want to create product photos that sell their handmade products online and grow their handmade business.

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