Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing.
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๐ 10 Minute Read
TL;DR
If youโre thinking of changing your business (pricing, strategy, tactics, etc.) because you feel restless, consider finding a new hobby instead โ donโt make your business suffer because youโre personally in need of fulfillment.
Creative people suffer from whatโs humorously called โShiny Object Syndromeโ โ the tendency to chase after new ideas, trends, or goals, instead of simply continuing to do whatโs already working.
It often goes like this: Youโve been honing your craft for years, putting in tireless hours to create a business that youโre proud ofโฆ then it hits you.
That sinking feeling of โthis isnโt working anymoreโ that makes you start to question everything from your pricing, to your core competence, to the way you spell your business name.
Itโs inevitable for creatives. Weโre practically born to be inspired by new things, curious about ideas that weโve yet to try our hand at.
But, hear me say this loud and clear: Itโs a trap.
Creative Person
As a creative person, you are free to explore wherever your whimsy takes you, uncovering new, unique expressions of creativity that fulfills and captivates you. In fact, everyone benefits when creatives are at their best โ the world needs you to be creative!
Creative Business
But as a business, itโs your job to be a professionalโฆ and what do professionals do? They deliver consistently masterful solutions for a specific problem, without distraction, confusion, or ambiguity. In other words, your services need to be predictable and clear if you have any shot at success in a creative business.
So where does this leave us? Being an unpredictably curious creative running a stagnant, boring business? Far from it, if youโre doing it right.
Diagnosing and treating your Shiny Object Syndrome is often a cumbersome path, which is why there are so many โMulti-Disciplinaryโ creatives in the world that run themselves into the ground with possibility.
So, letโs talk โtreatmentโ.
1. Admit you have a problem.
Youโre likely in one of two situations: You offer an ever-expanding list of services, or youโve never even listed our your services because of how many things you do.
Both are not fun spots to be in. So, here are two diagnostic questions that can reveal an insane amount of clarity about your services, and if youโre experiencing a flare-up of Shiny Object Syndrome:
โIf you had to do twenty more projects identical to the last one you worked on, would you be happy?โ
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โA client comes along and pays for ALL of your services: which ones do you worry about offering?โ
2. Make the โDifficult Business Decisionโ
In his book, โThe Win Without Pitching Manifestoโ, Blair Enns directs readers to make the โDifficult Business Decisionโ of picking a specialty and sticking with it.
If youโre struggling to pick a business specialty because youโve got too many interests, itโs okay โ Itโs literally the way youโre made to function, and the sooner youโre able to come to terms with your โflightyโ intrigue, the healthier a creative you will be.
But regarding your business, hereโs the cold hard truth: You canโt do everything, and you need to pick one core competency if you want a shot at running a profitable business.
Ideally, youโre narrowing your focus down much further than simply โweb designโ or โvideo productionโ, digging into particular industries and unique problems to solve, butโฆ for the sake of getting out of Shiny Object paralysis, the core industry is enough.
At the risk of oversimplifying this very complex topic, just pick what youโre the very best at, and contrast it with what skill you know is already in demand โ not whatโs most intriguing, trendy, or nice-sounding for an email signature.
3. Make small bets.
The way I see it, there are really only two reasons why someone would fall prey to Shiny Object Syndrome: theyโre simply bored, or their business isnโt working.
If youโve been in business for at least a few years, offering a highly-specialized service that yields helpful, profitable results, and youโre still itching for something newโฆ donโt change anything, consider finding a new hobby to scratch the itch instead.
Back to what we know about creative people versus business โ itโs in your nature to seek new avenues for exploration, and itโs in your best interest to feed that intuition, not suppress it.
Find something that interests you, and give it a shot! But, with a few boundaries: Youโre not allowed to charge for it, it cannot become a major expense, and it canโt occupy too much of your attention.
Now, the other situation โ if your business is struggling to find footing or doesnโt seem to be very profitable โ then thereโs merit to exploring some changes, but only in small, measurably quantities.
Think of this as making small bets: If they fail, it wonโt sink the whole ship. But if they succeed, youโll have a new angle to approach business from, and potentially find the
Small bets to consider:
Adjusting your pricing model
Adding a new service offering
Serving a different kind of client
Removing unnecessary expenses
Starting a blog
Parting Thought
I would argue that the overwhelming reason why people get burnt out on their business is due to the imbalance of personal and business practices โ they deprive themselves of personal fulfillment, and drive their business into the ground through frivolous behavior.
Finding a healthy balance is not only possible, but necessary for the modern creative professional to thrive in a business-driven world.
