How To Start A Successful Business As A Creative
TL;DR
A business consultant (Kier) advises creative entrepreneurs on the financial and behavioral blind spots that stall business growth. The core argument: talent and hard work get you started, but willingness to change, financial literacy, and disciplined client communication determine whether you scale. ---
Key Concepts
P&L (Profit & Loss statement)
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Basic financial tracking tool — many creatives earning millions don't know what it is
Job actualization
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Tracking actual spend against revenue per project to know real profit, not just gross revenue
Gross vs. net
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Gross sale (total billed) is vanity; net profit is what actually matters
System 1 thinking
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Automatic, low-effort decision-making (from Kahneman) — most people default to it, making change extremely difficult
"Stay out of the results"
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Focus on controlling your presentation/effort, not the outcome — borrowed from 12-step philosophy
The "maybe" trap
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A non-committal answer wastes the most time; "no" is more valuable because it lets you move on
Notes
§The Growth Ceiling Problem
- Creatives leave art school with talent but little business knowledge
- Sheer willpower and hard work build the business to a point
- The same traits that got them there — stubbornness, overwork — then work against further growth
- The first barrier to getting help: unwillingness to change
- Clients often spend 6 months in coaching telling the consultant why every suggestion won't work
§Financial Literacy Basics
- First question Kier asks new clients: "Do you have a P&L?" — many with multi-million dollar businesses don't know the term
- Second question: "Do you actualize jobs?" — do you track what you spent to deliver each project?
- Common mistake: confusing gross revenue with profit
- A $50K job can yield a higher profit percentage than a $500K job — you can't know without tracking
§The "Promise of Future Work" Trap
- Clients sometimes offer reduced pay now in exchange for the promise of more work later
- This never happens — underline it, it never happens
- You cannot train a client to value your work by discounting it first
- Often the creative tells themselves the lie — projecting a "relationship" the client never implied
§Reading Clients Early
- Every client interaction is data — listen for what they're actually telling you, not what you want to hear
- Red flags: evasiveness, vague timelines, "I'll get back to you"
- Key qualifying question: "Are you the decision maker?" — most contacts aren't
- Pain and suffering are predictable; if you sense it, price accordingly (Kier doubles his fee)
§Sales Calls and Meeting Goals
- Every meeting needs a defined goal — a specific "ask" you're working toward
- Don't ask questions or discuss topics unrelated to that goal
- Respect that the person across from you is busy and not your friend — this is business
- The worst answer on a sales call is "maybe" — it wastes time without moving anything forward
- "No" is better: it frees you to move on
§Demonstrating Expertise Without Claiming It
- Every creative's website says the same things: creative, storyteller, honest, easy to work with — meaningless
- You demonstrate professionalism through how you ask questions, not by declaring yourself an expert
- The questions you ask signal your depth of knowledge more than any bio or tagline
§Controlling What You Can Control
- You have zero control over whether you get the job
- You have full control over how well you present yourself and your company
- Walk out of every meeting asking: "Did I do the best I could?" — that's the only metric that matters
- Reference: My Date with Drew — the outcome you imagine while waiting is almost never the real reason
Actionable Takeaways
- Get a P&L set up immediately if you don't have one
- Start actualizing every job — track spend per project to know real profit margins
- Stop quoting gross revenue; always think and speak in terms of net
- Qualify every prospect: ask directly if they are the decision maker
- Set a clear goal before every client meeting; cut anything from the conversation that doesn't serve that goal
- If you sense a difficult client, price the pain into the proposal — at minimum double your rate
- Never discount work in exchange for a promise of future work
- After every pitch, evaluate only your preparation and presentation — not the outcome
Quotes Worth Keeping
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The things that got them there — the willfulness, the determination, the working lots of hours — are now working against them.
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It's the bait that traps you — the promise of work tomorrow for bills that need to be paid today.
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It never happens. Underline that. It never happens.
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Every encounter with a client is information, but people are listening for what they want to hear.
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Maybe is the worst — it wastes your time. If you have a no, you move on.
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How you talk to people and what you say about yourself — this is what demonstrates that you're a pro.
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What you owe yourself in a meeting is to walk out saying you presented yourself and your company in the best way. You have no control over the outcome. None.