According to Forbes, the creator economy is estimated to be at almost one billion dollars in 2021. With the massive growth brought by work from home flexibility, the creator economy has seen an influx of aspiring creators. Many of them fantasize about pursuing their passion and doing something they love while finding financial security. This growing creator economy is estimated to be 50 million strong. It’s an industry built by influencers, bloggers, videographers, and anyone who uses social media to activate and monetize their community. Many, who have started their own businesses, have seen $800 million in venture capital invested since October 2020.
But as creators navigate the creator economy gold rush, many don’t come to light. Many creative entrepreneurs ideate or conceptualize their brands but then fall into a holding pattern. This prevents them from launching or executing. Rates of perfectionism among Millennials and Gen Z are at the highest, studies reported by EAB show. The perfectionism epidemic is the cause of the rise of behaviors such as intrinsic drives to reach a perfectionistic goal. It also tries to meet high expectations of others, and hold others to impossibly high standards. This obsession towards perfection leads to a rut — intervening in a brand launch, new product, or service ever coming to fruition.
As a co-founder of Faculty, a cosmetics brand for the new wave of masculinity, Fenton Jagdeo understands the highs and lows of launching a business and following through with yourself, your partners, and your community. With the launch of our newest course alongside FIT featuring Beauty Inc, Yellowbrick sits down with Fenton on tips on how a creative entrepreneur can follow through.
Practice Mindfulness
“The first thing is recognizing that you are in a blocked situation or in a rut,” says Beauty Business Essentials contributor Fenton Jagdeo. Sometimes it’s about understanding your limitations or areas of improvement. That mindfulness — a self dose of self-awareness, allows you to begin to address the problem. “It’s emotionally and mentally removing yourself from it and saying, ‘I am unable to launch,'” Fenton says. In addition, practicing mindfulness helps with creative problem solving as it can help improve your mental flexibility in approaching issues from every angle, rather than a simple linear, logical approach.
Tip: Sit down and list out three tactics you’re not able to complete (X, Y, Z) and list the reasons why you’re unable to achieve them. Practicing mindfulness helps counter perfectionism because you’re addressing situations head-on.
Generate Solutions
A part of being an entrepreneur is also being a creative problem solver. Creativity and problem-solving skills are more critical now than they’ve ever been before. After identifying what’s prohibiting you, address ways on how to solve your blockers. Brainstorming on how to generate solutions will have you consider different approaches, practicing a growth mindset. Thinking creatively here or with partners/teammates can help you come up with something you may not have considered. “It’s truly diagnosing your problem and the solutions to that and which one is the easiest for me to go and try,” Fenton shares. Which one is the most effective and most efficient solution to the issue? If option one doesn’t work, then try the next option.
Example:
The Problem: You don’t have enough money to buy inventory
Different Solutions: Raise capital, get a loan, or crowdfund
Look at the problem from a logical perspective. Obsessing over perfectionism is an emotional response from internal or external pressure. But if you can pinpoint your problem and not have an emotional response to it, it can go a long way in solving your block.
Final Thoughts
Opportunities for creative entrepreneurs and creative businesses have exploded, becoming the fastest-growing type of small business. Still, growing pains from the effects of the perfectionist epidemic and burnout have begun to set in as a result. Although the space can be fast-paced through the medium of social media, creative entrepreneurs can help push through blocks or burnout through practicing mindfulness and embedding creativity in their problem-solving skills.
Have you identified that you need to raise capital for your new creative start-up? Then, check out our guide on the steps to secure funding.
