Creative Entrepreneurship – Can We Do It?
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After interviewing Maria Brophy for Part 1, I thought over how I would write a follow up to that article. I will admit that there were more rejected drafts than salient points that I wanted to cover. I didn’t want to sound preachy, or do a “oh you guys just HAVE to do this or else you’ll FAIL” article, hence the metaphorical drafts scrunched up and thrown in the wastepaper basket.

It can’t be denied that local creative people have garnered a reputation of not being good at managing businesses or capitalizing on their creative talents to grow their business. I’m sure that there are many of us who understand how that came about. However, we shouldn’t be allowed to shrug our shoulders and say, “oh, well, that’s just the way creative people are” and nothing changes. Our industry and community can only grow by those who show the way, that you CAN be creative and entrepreneurial without screwing anyone over. After all, what’s entrepreneurship without creative flair?

Being a creative entrepreneur doesn’t mean that you have to have a swanky office and a group of bright- faced cheerful employees. It means that you run your own business, using what resources, skills and talents that you have. As a creative person, you tend to have to be that more resourceful in order to forge ahead. I call it being “#resourcesmart”. So what does that mean?

1.     Identify your resources:

What can you afford? What can you do without for now? Bootstrap (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping) your business where you can.

If you are setting up an office, you don’t necessarily need new furniture and other items. Pre-loved items, refurbished items, sourcing for what’s required and what you can do without can be fun!

Look out for co-working spaces and the packages they offer, this definitely can help you with costs and still maintain a professional space.

2.     Identify your expertise and accept your limits:

You can’t do everything, tempting as it may be. Accept what you can do and then do it well.

3.     Scheduling and professionalism:

Keep to deadlines, even when you propose to clients, add a buffer timeframe in case of any eventuality. We have to be realistic, life can get in the way of work at times and as creative entrepreneurs, we need to find that balance. Keep to what we agreed on to the client and make sure that we give them the quality expected, no matter how we feel about the project personally.

4.     Communicate:

It is important to keep the lines of communication open, more so with your clients. Give them progressive reports, especially in the beginning so as to ensure that you are on the right track. Also, communicate with the people you work with so people don’t feel that you are keeping them in the dark.

5.     Paperwork:

This is a necessary evil. Much as we prefer to work with the “my word is my bond,a handshake will do” casual style, we need to ensure that we are protected and things are spelled out clearly from project briefs, quotations, invoices and so on. This is especially useful when the dreaded Taxation comes into play, whether you are a sole proprietor, partnership or a Sdn. Bhd. (limited company). It’s a minefield out there but once you get processes going, it does get easier. Arm yourself with information and requirements and have someone advise you on accounts and taxation. Forewarned is forearmed as they say. This is definitely a point that many of us struggle with!

This is also a way to protect your work, ensure that you maintain copyright of any work that you’ve done, especially creatively, no matter how attractive the deal, you should hold onto your copyright. This is something sadly missing from the thought processes of our creative industry.

6.     Community and collectives:

Referring to the ‘Know your limits’ point above, this is especially important. Even if you can’t do it yourself, you may know someone who can. This is where being a part of the community or a creative collective reaps its benefits. Reach out, be involved with your community, if we don’t support each other, how would our industry grow?

Making connections and knowing what each other’s expertise are will help you gain more projects. You may not be able to do the project yourself but depending on what you agree with your colleague, you can pass the project onto them, either for a small fee or you manage the project for them, making sure all is on deadline, again for a small fee. One thing to remember though, ensure that they are also reliable and professional about the work. It’s one thing to help out a friend, but when it comes to work, professionalism has to take precedence. After all, it’s your company’s reputation that will suffer accordingly. Lay it out clearly and things will go smoothly (we hope!).

7.     Updated portfolio/website:

Yes, we are all guilty of that (I admit that we are also struggling to keep up with this), but keeping it updated is a great way to showcase your active projects. Using social/new media to keep things updated (without having to change your site umpteen times) is a great time saver and another way to interact with people and potential clients.

8.     Pimp it out:

This is something that creative entrepreneurs (whatever your scale) need to do. Using transmedia smartly is an effective way to get your work and messages across, and to interact with your community and potential (and existing clients). If you don’t promote your skills and your creative work, who will?

These are just some of the basic points that both Maria and many others have advised small businesses, especially creative ones. We try to keep to as many points as possible within the range of manageability. So returning to the question: Can we do this in Malaysia successfully? I think the answer is yes. Being a creative entrepreneur takes drive, determination, creative flair and attention to detail. Our industry, in order to grow and mature, needs to drop the diva attitude. Work has to be constant, not just one big project and that’s all. Grow by all means but steadily and consistently. Gaining funding is a useful thing yes but it is meant to be a stepping stone. There are far too many who rely on funding to sustain their business but wait for the “next step” to be told to them, rather than having planned that out and GOING for it. It’s about working smartly. Maintain that professionalism and keeping to deadlines etc- this goes a long while in improving the reputation of the creative industry.

There will be good days and there will be crazy days where you feel as if you are on a hamster wheel, running and yet seemingly going nowhere. Slot in time for family time and “me” time amidst all that craziness as we all need recharging from time to time. Be aware that sometimes you just need to walk away from a problem, breathe and come back to it. A great example of how someone has scheduled both work, personal projects and family time is the creator of the Wormworld Saga (www.wormworldsaga.com). Follow his blog and see how he manages to do things, it’s truly inspirational and slightly scary too!

This article isn’t meant as a lecture and a “how-to” article. It is just some things that many of us in the creative field need to think seriously about and continue to struggle with. I would like to see the day where we can stand up with pride and point to the many successes out there, where we see the quality of their work first, not just for clients but their own creative content. I would like to see a stronger story tellers movement where story is king, not just pretty pictures. I would like to see a time where we get awed by what we are watching or reading and then only it hits us, oh wow, it’s made by Malaysians, rather than getting beat on the head about Malaysia and Malaysiana. We have an amazing amount of creative talent in our country and we need to showcase that, think global, not just local. We can be bigger than that. Why not work together to make that happen, rather than as a fragmented community? After all, why fight for a smaller section of the pond, when you could instead make the pond grow bigger and bigger and be the envy of other ponds elsewhere? Before I end, here is the quote that hopefully will also inspire you:

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” – Christopher Reeve, actor, From speech at Democratic National Convention, August 1996

So go out there, live your dreams and keep on creating!

Support the Malaysian Games and Comics Convention, Dec 2011, Where all your heroes are. www.mgccon.org

ABOUT THE COLUMNIST

A lover of words and storytelling, Angelia co-runs a creative consultancy that also works with a collective of creative talents. She is also involved with Pekomik and believes that comics aren’t just for kids and good storytelling transcends all mediums and languages. She believes in the motto “Fortune Aids the Brave” and that passion in whatever you do will get you far. You can reach Angelia via Twitter or Facebook.

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