Self-Employed With No Strategic Plan? - Are You Mad? Pt 1 by Cat Watson
Where do you see yourself in five years time? In ten years time? Shooting ad campaigns for Gucci? Fashion editor of Vogue? Head make up artist for Vivienne Westwood at fashion week? Or perhaps a more modest dream of steadily making a living doing what you love, shooting regularly, having a book and website you are proud of, a list of regular clients and bringing in a steady income? Ok, to make it a bit easier where do you see yourself in one years time?
No idea? Just going with the flow? Or you have a bit of an idea in your head, you have an idea of a shoot that is going to blast you into mega stardom and all your worries will be over? Or just planning on networking crazy and at some point you’ll get a break?
Right! So basically, no idea of how you are going to get to where you want to be? Being self-employed is essentially running a business, your skill set is the product you are selling and yet you have no strategic planning? Even scatty designers have a business plan, yet self-employed creatives generally don’t have anything remotely plan like, and we wonder why our bank managers hate us so much. It generally goes against everything we are, we spend our time thinking of the next shoot, networking or just plain wondering how we are going to pay our rent this month yet the thought of sitting down and righting a strategic plan doesn’t even enter your mind. But it should. Every single one of us should have some description of a business plan and it should be updated every single year.
If you really think becoming fashion editor of Vogue is where you want to be in 10 years time then you have to have some idea of how you achieve that goal. These things don’t just happen overnight, there is a certain path you need to set yourself on. Have you even thought how you are going to pay your rent in the interim?
Just plodding along is not enough. You will go round and round in circles and eventually realise you are only just scraping by and are at some point going to have to get a, dare I say it, a “proper’ job. The thought makes your blood run cold I am sure, as it certainly does mine! To make it a little clearer, how many fellow creatives do you know who have financial worries, or have already quit the industry because they can’t make a living? The fashion industry is one that will chew you up and spit you out and leave you forever scarred that you had a job you loved yet were unable to make a successful career from it. As a typical creative you will more than likely have jumped into this industry with both feet under the delusion that you will make money instantly, but in reality actually making money in this industry takes a good few years and is incredibly difficult. This is reality. This is a competitive industry. There are literally thousands of people in the same position as you, trying to find a way into the industry, undercutting you or plain working for free.
No need to panic. I am here to put you on a path to success or a least to being a bit more organized. However, you do need to develop a head for business and stop looking at yourself as a creative and look at yourself as a business. Writing a strategic plan isn’t actually as horrific as it sounds. It is a bit like doing your tax return, you put it off and off and then when you actually sit down to do it, it only takes a couple of days to do spurred on by a few cups of coffee but as a creative it may seem a chore, but as I have said above you are no longer just a creative, you are a business and this is what business people do.
Hopefully this will have given you a little bit of a shake up. You don’t want to get a “proper job” do you? You want to make some money and you want to be able to do this job for as long as you choose. So, over the next few months I will give some nice easy creative friendly steps to follow on writing a basic but essential plan and putting you on the road to being financially and career secure.
To start off you need to have an idea of what you want and where you are now. So have a think about what you want. Do you really want to be fashion editor of Vogue- I mean seriously think about it, of course there are elements to that job that would be awesome but in reality I am sure there are some downsides; you can never go to work looking like shite, you can never just throw on your old comfy jeans and troll around. Do you really want to be travelling all over the world shooting when you have 3 young children at home and a wife who would rather you be at home supporting the family? There are up and downs to every perfect job so sit down and have a think about your dreams, are they just dreams or do you seriously want to pursue them. You also need to look at where you are now. Do you know how much money you have in the bank at this very moment? A ball-park figure? What do you owe? You need to know this and to the exact amount, as hard as it is to face your financial reality you need to sit down and have a hard look at your finances. You also need to work out your overheads, know exactly what is going out each month so you can know exactly what you need to earn to be comfortable. So sit down and write down for the next 12 months, on a monthly basis what is being spent. That includes food, holidays, petrol, everything. You also need to have a look into how much money you have made in the last year. Is your incoming greater than your current outgoing? Again write it down.
The other thing you need to do is assess where you currently are in your career. Have a look at your CV and portfolio, and give yourself an honest critique. The truth is hard to hear but hearing it will allow you to move forwards. Is your work at the standard of a Gucci ad? Are the models up to scratch, is your work consistent or are there some shots that let you down. Is your book directed at where you want it to be? Does your physical book look professional? You need to be absolutely honest with yourself. Have a look at the work of your dream client, are you doing anything remotely comparable? If you find it hard to review your own work then you might want to seek a professional opinion and take on board what you are told. If you are not where you want to be there is a reason, so take it on the chin and look at how you can go about improving your book so you can then get the jobs you want
Now the even harder part, you need to have a long hard look at yourself. Are you easy to work with, are you professional, do you look the part, do you leave a strong first impression, are you actually taking positive action to find work or are you just expecting it to fall in your lap. Are you likeable?
If you start to feel a little depressed doing these don’t be. This is taking your career in your hands and enabling you to move forwards so don’t feel like slitting your wrists just yet, at the moment you are just collating information and you will use this to move your career in the direction you want to go in, see this as a positive step no matter how hard it is to do. From here we will look at how we can move everything in a positive direction and help you to take control of your career.
