Moving To The Doing Stage…
This has taken me longer than I care to admit. After starting this venture again in 2024, I would often let fear get the better of me and not plan my time properly around my full time day job which meant progress was slow. I spent a lot of time in the learning stage and the ‘sharing my artwork on Instagram’ stage. Both of which are wonderful parts of the process and very much needed, however, they don’t necessarily move your business forward.
The ‘Doing’ Stage for me is the stage that comes after sharing some artwork. It is the stage that really moves the needle forward and enables you to start growing an actual business that earns you an income. This means, in my case, finding UK based manufacturers that align with my brand values of being sustainable, British made and with high quality materials. It means creating with intent; illustrations and patterns for specific products, graphics and content for my journal, instead of just purely for sharing. It means buying product samples and amending them until they are how you would like. This is where the fun and fear sets in all at the same time as you advance to this next stage, the fun of creating a product and getting to hold it in your hands and display it in your home and the fear of thinking will this fail.
Don’t let fear stop you from trying
I held a lot of fear before starting this stage. Mainly because, like most creatives, I want it work and I am passionate about it. I am not ready to stop. But then I thought, that’s it, I am not ready to stop. I want to try and I don’t want to regret not giving it a go and moving into the ‘Doing’ stage. So, here were are now, with a website well under way and weekly journal posts with a shop coming in February. I am actively contacting shops to see if they would like to become stockists and I am thrilled to say I am receiving the word YES as I contact them so you will soon see my products in shops in the UK and Isle of Mull (my family home).
I don’t want to regret not giving it a go
My family will often tell me, well these creative are doing it, so why not you. They tell me this when we visit shops and I see an artist I recognise in a place I would love to be. They will say, well you won’t be stocked in here if you don’t speak to them and share your pieces with them too. I know they are right and that I need to simply get out there and give the 'Doing’ stage a proper go of it to see where it can take me and business.
If you don’t contact that shop, you won’t be in it. If you don’t pitch your work, you won’t get that licensing deal. You need to be the one that does the ‘doing’ so you can grow and make your creative venture a business. Let’s do this together and enjoy our creative journeys as we head to reach our biggest goals in 2026!