Be creative, be resourceful! Being small is a blessing. It inspire you to take more risks. And when you fail, no one cares! Except your mom, maybe?
What is this UPGRADE series?
My UPGRADE series is here to help you start or grow your project, your future business… It’s easy to recognize which articles are part of this UPGRADE Series, as most of them have Smurfs in them! Just follow the UPGRADE tag if you want to know more.
UPGRADE isn’t a “how to blog” section. It’s more than that, although it might not look like it yet.
Being ‘business’ creative isn’t the same as just being creative although it probably uses the same brain muscle. We’re not going to be discussing how to come up with your next work of art. Instead we’ll focus on how to have a more creative way to handle your business when it is small. How to be more resourceful.
The online usual stuff you read that pulls you down
Despite what you may read out there, days are only 24 hours long and trying to have a business on the side of your 9 to 5, is super hard. You’re not alone if you are tired and unmotivated by the gigantic maze of responsibilities that is involved. A maze of responsibilities and a maze of ways to f*ck up!
You’ll read that you just need to hire a virtual assistant and all will be well. Hummm…. You don’t have money to pay the bills, how could you hire an assistant? Save, prioritize and stop eating avocado toasts and you’ll be fine. Hint on how that will go: No you won’t be fine and your virtual assistant will give you headaches!
You’ll also read things that say that if you are motivated and get organized, then you’ll manage what needs to be done. Such articles imply that if you fail, then it means you weren’t motivated enough. Or maybe not cut out for it?! Thank you very much!
Oh and obviously, you’ll read the usual ‘5-7-10 things successful people do’ which are always out of context but still manage to make you feel like you’ll never be as good. No matter at what time you get up!
So, the only valid conclusion I came up with, after reading thousand of those, is to stop reading such articles written by bots or wannabes and focus on the work! You probably should try!
Being small is a blessing
Let’s first acknowledge that having a small business is a blessing. It does require you to be more creative and more resourceful, but it is a blessing for at the very least 3 reasons (+1 bonus):
First because, while your business is still small, you get to do it all and learn so much. You wear all the hats. You are the creative, the tech, the accountant, the head of legal, the social media manager and you get your own sandwich… This can be painful but is an invaluable phase. If you decide to grow your business and hire help at one point, you’ll know exactly what you need and won’t get bullshitted around.
Second, because not everyone wants to create an empire. No everyone wants to have thousand of employees. Your life and the way you handle your days will never be the same if you grow your business and it becomes huge. At some point, like many before you, it may feel out of hand. Like if it isn’t yours anymore, like it has lost its soul. And like many before you, you’ll miss the good old days, probably sell and start other.
But you’re not there yet! So do make the most of your baby business while it is still your baby.
Third and almost last (although I could probably find another 100 more reasons!), having a small business is a blessing because a business can stay small and still be highly profitable.
And the bonus reason? As mentioned at the beginning, when you have a baby business, you can take risks that do not have the same consequences than when your business is big. If you make a mistake, pretty much no one cares! Except your mum?!
Being creative and resourceful
Now, to do it all while you have a small business, takes creativity and resourcefulness!
We’ll play a game of ‘Instead of doing this… do this’. Let ‘s go:
| Instead of… | Do this… |
| Reading articles like ’10 things successful people do before breakfast’ | Read articles about the 10 latest trend in your field and other industries |
| Getting your info from a single source | Get your info from 2-3 opposite sources |
| Buying a 5$ course on social media management | Buy a 10$ book on branding (like this one) |
| Following ‘fake it till you make it’ Instagrammers | Follow experts |
| Following experts blindly | Follow your intuition & test your own ideas |
| Always starting from scratch | Recycle your ideas and existing work |
| Waiting for opportunities | Create opportunities |
| Giving up on an idea | Put it on hold until you have the means to bring it to life |
| Always being busy | Give yourself time to think and come-up with solutions and ideas |
So yeah, it’s all about growing a resourceful mindset. And to grow a resourceful mindset, you need to be willing to constantly learn new things and basically improve yourself. Inspiration can come from a museum you visited, a stroll in the park, a song you listened to… It can come from a conference you attended which was completely unrelated to your field, or one that was specifically oriented for people with business like yours… Resourcefulness comes from open mindedness so stay open minded!
OK, but how will this help me deal with it all?
Good question! Let me tell you about how I handle things so you can decide for yourself. I do think of myself as being pretty resourceful and creative. Things might not always come out the way I wanted them to, but I do tend to create my own solutions to the problems I face.
It would probably be best, if I took an example of something I have achieved. Maybe I should tell you about my 1930’s bike and how I managed to transform it into an electric bike. Or maybe how I reupholstered antique chairs to fit around a table which didn’t have a usual height standard. Maybe these are too weird examples so I should probably talk about some of the challenges I faced with this website, my mini guides or something like that?
No. Too easy!
So here is my silly example of how my resourcefulness helped me deal with a very specific project
Instead of a very ‘business project’, I’m going to take as an example my latest project, which you might have seen around and is the renovation of my dad’s Indian scout motorcycle!
When I decided to rebuild it, at first I thought I would just send it off to someone who would do it all and that was that. But I realized it would cost me an arm, and do no good to my dad. So I decided we would do the renovation ourselves.
OK! Why not? The major issue here is that I started with no mechanical background, no knowledge what so ever about engine and stuff. I didn’t even know how to turn the engine on! Don’t laugh, it is tricky. My dad’s bike dates from 1941 and it takes practice just to get the engine started.
So, zero knowledge to start with but a ‘can do’ attitude and a lot of motivation.
What did I do? A lot of research. And eventually, I did find a lot of ressources online. Some broad ressources about mechanics, some specific tutorials about bikes and some even more specific ones about Indians.
I also found some dedicated groups where I can find help when needed plus a few passionate guys who are willing to share their knowledge with a desperate gal!
I’m still looking for local help. My dad knows his bike but there are some things he doesn’t want to touch (yet!).
This is an ongoing project but it’s going well, slowly but steady. And it shows you that with motivation and resourcefulness, everything is possible!
You can follow such adventure and progress on the Indian Scout pages. You will see that it does take a lot of resourcefulness to deal with such a project.
In conclusion…
So let me tel you: If I manage this one, nothing can scare me anymore! Except spiders, they freak me out, but that’s a different issue 😉 And if I can do mechanic stuff, you can do anything as well with some resourcefulness!
Because you see, there is something great about resourcefulness: the more you use such ability, the more you have!!
****
Keep being inspired and keep taking actions toward your goals!
This article is part of my UPGRADE Series. Click below to learn more:
Eventually I will get to the point where I explain why Brainy and Papa Smurf are here… I’m working on it but you’ll have to be extremely patient!!
