If you feel like you have something to say, you’re
devoted to your ideas and would like to do things your way, then the best
option is to launch your own business. Every business, especially a creative
one, is heavily influenced and shaped by their surroundings. Society,
economy, culture, technology, music, and fashion are all going to have an effect
on you and your business.
Here are some pointers to help you with the first steps
of starting a successful creative agency that can adapt to a diverse
environment.
Independence reaps great rewards
When you work in a creative industry, being independent can
come as a big advantage. You have more control over your work, you can choose
the clients that you want to work with, and the projects that you want to work
on. It also gives you more freedom to express yourself creatively, but
independence also has its shortcomings.
You are solely responsible for every decision you make,
there is no safety net, and there will not be another company around to bail
you out. If you want to have a successful independent business, you’ll have to
work hard and put your best work out there.
Actively seek new opportunities
There is no right or wrong way to get work, you should explore your
options and do what it takes to gain clients and investors. Pitching to
investors in order to get valuable resources is crucial to a business,
especially in its early days. Pitching will not undermine your design ideas but
will make them known to the right people in the design community and the
business world.
It is always a good idea to get patents pending in advance of sharing
your ideas publicly, thus protecting them from the competition.
Pitching is a way to prove yourselves and to state that you mean
business. Don’t be discouraged if the big fish aren’t biting straight away,
learn as you go, re-evaluate your pitch, and improve upon it.
Choose a qualified leader
Jobs have evolved to require a much higher level of skills
and education which is especially true of a leadership role that will require
you to understand
and manage many different areas of a startup, from the product or service
itself, to human resources, IT, accounts, marketing, customer service, and law.
With this in mind, getting serious, globally oriented
education is crucial. ‘One of the main goals of RM’s innovative
visual design master,’ explains the Director of this faculty Pasquale
Volpe, ‘is to inspire international talents to expand their educational
horizons with a progressive curriculum in the cosmopolitan city of Milan and
properly prepare them for becoming future leaders in this dynamic
field.’
Embrace the prospect of change
We live in a rapidly changing world and your business
will have to adapt to that. If you want your business to grow, you will have to
adopt
new technologies, reorganize, re-invent, and be able to adjust to new
things constantly. This will also mean taking on new employees with certain
expertise and experience to help you stay ahead of the game.
If you refuse to accept change, your business will
stagnate and won’t be able to progress. Some of these changes may seem
unnecessary, expensive, laborious, time-consuming, or just awkward, but in
order to move forward and grow, you’ll have to be open to changes and to
everything that is required of you.
Fortune favors the bold
Risk taking is a crucial part of every business. The best
thing you can do is try to be
comfortable with it because however hard you try you won’t be able to avoid
it. Taking big risks in the beginning is
much easier; at that time when you don’t have much to lose.
After your business develops, the stakes will be much
higher, you’ll have more people depending on you and every decision you make
will affect their lives, this goes for employees as well as clients and
business partners; as you grow, the structure of your company will become more
complex and intertwined with many different entities. Take risks seriously, and
try to navigate them smartly.
By being hard-working, focused, independent, and flexible, you can
learn to depend on yourselves and can take on any challenge, therefore ensuring
long term strength, survivability, and profitability. Some successful company
founders have even gone so far as to promote very hard working and skilled
employees above them to the position of CEO, recognizing their extreme talents,
and leadership capabilities as great benefits to their company’s trajectory.
