I have started many creative businesses in the past. Some of them were super successful, some not so much. Above all, I am very proud of each and every journey, as I have faced many challenges in running a creative business that have led to my growth and an improved sense of problem-solving.

Running a creative business is very different from being an artist. As a teen, I thought that having an art business would offer me more time to spend creating and making art. However, that ended up being so far from the truth.

During my first creative incubation, I heard the saying, “An artist would probably fail as a businessman.” And I know it is shocking and wrong to say that to an artist. But let me share with you my take on the challenges of running a creative business and why artists often fail to run their art businesses.

What is a creative business?

It is two words: “creative” and “business”. When you hear the word business, the first thing that comes to mind is money. The business world cares about financial success, and that is what the industry is about. Creativity, on the other hand, is about creating. It means giving the creative individual enough time to fully immerse themselves in their creative calling, experiment, fail, fail again, succeed, and then fail once more.

So with a little more analysis, you realize that a creative business needs to be about finding a middle ground between creativity and business, which are pretty opposed concepts. Selling out while keeping creative integrity seems to not get along that well.

Source

We have witnessed, through the years, great creative people creating commercial pieces of art (movies, songs, paintings, content, etc.) that weren’t as good as the work they created as indie artists. Simply because money-making industries cannot allow an artist the time they fully need to create art. Therefore, few to no real artists survive the challenges that come hand in hand-with running a creative business.

Does that mean every creative business is going to fail?

A creative business will succeed when it’s run as a business instead of as art.

Here’s a thing: this blog is a creative business, and although I am an artist, I will never treat my creative practice the same way I treat my blog.

The strategy I follow is built on consistency. I will type and schedule my posts to post twice a week, no matter what happens. I plan my affiliate posts, my instructional posts, and personal topics I feel the need to share or speak about according to what is relevant to the internet, what my audience is asking questions about, great products I tried and loved, and so on. When it comes to my art, or painting, to be exact, I will only paint when I feel like it. I would take longer breaks and wait until an idea was exciting enough to make it onto the canvas.

It is true that my creative business is related to my art, but I make sure they are separate enough for my business to be successful and my art to keep its integrity and moral value.

The main challenges of running a creative business, especially for visual artists

1- The art niche is not as money-making as other niches

For years, I have worked in the art niche, and what I have noticed is that, at least online, art isn’t as money-generating as other niches (technology, lifestyle, beauty, health and fitness, etc.). When looking for affiliate programs in the art niche, you find about 4 total, but when you are looking at technology, the market is huge and super competitive, and that makes the creative market itself very challenging for creative people.

The same goes for brand deals and influencer marketing. Little to no brands are using these channels as marketing funnels to give their brands exposure, and that is something I genuinely think needs to change.

2- The audience you’re targeting will keep changing

As a creative, you will face the big challenge of having to target a specific audience, or at least segment your target audience. People around the world treat art differently. I type my articles with youth and aspiring artists of all ages in the back of my head, an English-speaking audience (although I am Moroccan and English isn’t my first language), an audience with a sense of experimentation, and who love exploring different mediums and forms of art.

However, because I know the importance of creative practice for all ages, I sometimes write blog posts that would interest caregivers and parents more than a younger audience.

3- You will have to devote less time to making art and more time to learning about business

Your finances need to be managed; you will have to learn more about email marketing; and if you have a service or a product generating active income, you will need to learn more about e-commerce and how to reach a wider audience. That, in the long run, is going to mean that you’re spending 8 hours a day learning and managing your creative business and probably only two or three hours creating art.

Experimenting with your creative business is as necessary as it is to experiment with your art. You will need to try different things in order to pick what works and what doesn’t, and that will require a lot of time.

4- Just because you’re a talented artist, doesn’t mean your business will be successful overnight

Businesses don’t grow overnight. You will have to be patient and keep working. Success takes time to happen. If you are planning on starting a creative business and giving up after the first year because it wasn’t as successful as you expected it to be, you better not bother at all. You may be an amazingly talented artist, but you are a beginner in business, which means you will need to give yourself the time you need to learn, experiment, fail, and keep trying.

5- Creative businesses often generate passive income

Creative businesses (especially visual art-related businesses) would generate more passive than active income. You will make a lot more money from creating a course and selling it over and over than you would from being hired to commission a painting. So you might as well research ways to create products that would help you generate passive income.

Some passive income examples:

  • Blog posts with affiliate links and product recommendations (written and published once, generating income whenever someone clicks the link and purchases the product you recommend)
  • A course that you sell on a digital platform or your own website (created and uploaded once, generating income whenever people click to purchase it)
  • Prints of your artwork (photography, paintings, illustrations, etc.)
  • POD products
  • Ebooks, PDFs, Downloadables, etc.

Conclusion

Have you ever started a creative business before? If yes, share with us the challenges you faced in the comment section below and enjoy creating <3