So Why Is Business Still So Hard?
You’re a talented creative. Your clients say they love your work. But you’re constantly stressed, not earning consistently and wondering what you’re missing. If you’ve ever felt this disconnect… being genuinely good at what you do but struggling to turn that into a sustainable business, I hope this episode will help.
The Question Underneath
“I’m good at what I do. My clients love my work. So why is business still so hard?”
There’s often this quiet feeling underneath it, this sense of “if I’m talented, shouldn’t this be easier? What am I missing?”
So many talented creative entrepreneurs are working incredibly hard, genuinely skilled at what they do, but feeling stuck. Stuck at a certain revenue level. Stuck in this pattern of constant stress. Stuck wondering if they’re just not cut out for the business side of things.
But actually, I think something completely different is happening.
What I’ve Been Noticing
I’ve been having a lot of conversations recently with creative business owners who’ve been running their businesses for several years. They have portfolios they’re proud of. Clients who genuinely love their work. Proven skills and solid experience.
But they’re hitting this wall. And when we start talking, what becomes really clear is this: they think the creative skills and the business skills are two completely separate things. That they’re brilliant at the work, but they need to learn a whole different set of abilities to make the business side function.
And I’ve been thinking… what if that’s not actually true? What if the very skills that make you brilliant at your creative work are exactly the same skills that make business work?
The Way You Already Think
Because when I look at how creatives approach their work, here’s what I see.
You’re brilliant at understanding what really matters. When you’re working on a project, you can see through all the surface details to what’s actually important. You understand what the client is really asking for, even when they can’t quite articulate it themselves.
You’re exceptional at seeing where things align. You can look at a brief, a space, a brand, whatever it is you work with, and you can see immediately where there’s genuine fit and where there isn’t.
You know how to present ideas in ways that resonate. You don’t just create the work… you help people understand why it matters, why it’s the right solution, how it connects to what they care about.
Yes, these are brilliant creative skills, but they are also very solid business skills. They fall under clear strategic thinking, understanding what people need and what makes something valuable, and communicating naturally and effectively.
The very same abilities you use to create brilliant work translate directly into building a viable business. But it’s very easy not to see the connection.
Where Things Get Stuck
But here’s where I think things go sideways for a lot of us.
Maybe we believe or we’re told that business requires this whole other personality. That you need to be pushy, aggressive, “salesy.” That marketing is about broadcasting and metrics and growth hacking. That success means working 80-hour weeks and hustling constantly.
And if that doesn’t feel right to you (if that feels exhausting just thinking about it) you start to think maybe you’re not cut out for the business side. Maybe you’re just meant to focus on the creative work and struggle with everything else.
But what if the problem is that you’ve been trying to build your business using approaches that were never designed for how you actually work?
What This Looks Like in Practice
Let me give you a really practical example.
Let’s say you’re a brand designer. When a client comes to you with a project, you don’t just start designing immediately, do you? You ask questions. You understand their business, their audience, what they’re trying to achieve. You research their competitors. You see where there’s opportunity for something distinctive. You present concepts that connect to what they actually need, not just what looks good.
That’s brilliant strategic thinking.
Now, when you’re thinking about growing your business, you need exactly those same abilities. Understanding what potential clients or collaborators actually need. Researching to see where there’s genuine alignment. Reaching out with ideas that connect to what matters to them. Presenting your value in ways that resonate.
It’s the same thinking. You’re just applying it in a different context.
Or if you’re a photographer… you’re already exceptional at seeing what makes someone or something distinctive. You understand composition, you understand how to create connection, you understand how to communicate through what you create.
Those abilities? They translate directly into positioning yourself distinctly in your market. Into creating marketing that actually connects. Into building relationships with the right clients and collaborators.
The skills are already there.
The Change I Keep Seeing
And this is what I keep noticing when creative entrepreneurs start to see this connection.
Once they realise they’re not learning completely new skills, they’re just applying abilities they already have in a different way… everything begins to change. Business stops feeling quite so foreign. Quite so overwhelming.
Strategic outreach doesn’t feel pushy anymore. Because you’re using the same thoughtful approach you use in your creative work. Understanding what matters. Seeing genuine alignment. Communicating value effectively.
If you’re struggling to position yourself distinctly… you already understand what makes something distinctive. You do this in your creative work constantly.
Perhaps you’re struggling to price confidently, but you already understand value creation. You know what transforms a project from ordinary to exceptional. You’re just learning to articulate that and price accordingly.
And perhaps where we struggle as much as when it comes to building sustainable systems, these can feel both restrictive and difficult to put in place. But you already know how to create processes that work. Every project you complete well has structure behind it, even if you haven’t formalised it yet. It works and it ensures you complete the projects you’re so good at doing already for your clients, whether those are huge bespoke commissions or smaller offerings.
What Makes the Difference
So when I think about what creates that change from talented but struggling to talented and viable, it’s not about learning a whole new set of skills.
It’s about recognising that the abilities you already have (the strategic thinking, the ability to see what matters, the skill of creating genuine connection) those translate directly into business.
And then it’s about having the right methods to apply those abilities. Not someone else’s framework that feels forced. But an approach that actually aligns with how you think, how you work, how you create value.
That’s what I’ve been building in the six-month programme. Not teaching creative entrepreneurs to become different people. But showing them how the skills they already have translate into viable business. How to structure things in a way that actually works for creative minds.
The Difference This Makes
And when all of this clicks…
Business stops feeling like this separate, overwhelming thing you’re not good at. It starts feeling more integrated with how you already think and work.
Decisions become clearer. You’re not constantly second-guessing yourself, because you’re using the same strategic thinking you trust in your creative work.
Growth happens more naturally, because you’re applying your natural abilities towards business development, not solely because you’re working harder.
And perhaps most importantly, you stop feeling like there’s something wrong with you. Like you’re somehow not cut out for the business side. Because you realise you’ve had these abilities all along.
Your Next Step
So if you’ve been asking yourself “I’m good at what I do, so why is business still so hard?”… maybe it’s time to look at it completely differently.
The abilities that make you brilliant at your creative work are the same abilities that make business work.
Strategic thinking. Understanding what matters. Seeing where there’s genuine alignment. Communicating value. Creating connection.
You already have these in abundance. You use them every day in your creative work.
The change is simply recognising how they translate into business. And then having the right methods to apply them.
That’s what actually makes the difference. Not becoming someone you’re not. But simply recognising what you already are.
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