Having a side hustle with no plans to take it full time
Hey Friend. I wanna talk about the pressure every cretive feels about having to go “full time” with your creative passions and pursuits. Like are you really even an artist if your not making thousands of dollars with you art? Today I’m proudly and bold declaring YES! So here’s my hot take.
Background: My Business Beginnings
Let's enter our handy time travel machine and explore my start with Studio 1097
So first off my business name was originally Digital Design by Erika. It was long it was a mouth full it was actually a web design company. I was just coming off of one of my worst years in my life. I had an undiagnosed health issue, I had a crazy 1 hour commute, I was burned out of high school teaching, my health was at an all time low.
As an option my husband and I discussed what was next and I had the idea of doing web design professionally. I had the skills and the design background I just didn’t have the time. So we sat down, laid out the time and the plan and I went to work.
Over time the web Design also evolved to include project management and course building for people. All this time my business was lacking in something. I had no clear direction, my heart wasn’t in it and everyday I went to bed feeling defeated. I was lonely and creatively unfulfilled too. Not to mention the lack of stable income was wrecking my mind. (never mind that we were perfectly financially stable, I couldn’t handle not having my “own” money though).
So a year later I decided to try going back to education to pursue middle school teaching, my business had evolved once again now into the art studio it is today. I decided being a full time business owner wasn’t really my dream.
Here’s why.
5 Reasons Why I Don't stress over being a full time business Anymore
Reason #1. Being a part time artist gives me the freedom to make the art I really want to make
Let’s get honest for a few seconds, does making artwork consantly for trends and market demands sound fun to you? Maybe yes, you love trying new things, having new challenges an dreaching bigger audiences. For me that answer was well maybe? I really want to make the artwork that speaks to me and my ideal vision of my business. I wanted to create artwork with lively colors, cute charcters, preppy quotes and bursting florals. Problem is those things aren’t often the most trendy.
So I had to dig in and define what was most important to me. Creating art that would be consistently on trend and more likely to make sales or creating art that made me happy and inspired me to keep creating.
Reason #2. Having full time employment promises a salary, healthcare and a retirement on a routine schedule.
I’m going to be really honest for a second, I want to be cool, on point and free flowing in my life but I’m not. I like having stability. My husband and I are planning on buying a house, starting a family and building the next phase of our lives, having a stable career brings us closer to that dream. I like being able to plan ahead for trips, buying books, and being able to cover unexpected car expenses, #totalrebuild.
Having good healthcare and retirement is also very important to me. While these things can be set up and handled by a small business it’s more difficult.
I like being able to decide what money I can put right back into my business. I can upgrade systems, products and services to make my customer/client experience that much better.
Reason #3. Teaching helps me fulfill my mental needs
I’m a social person. I love teaching, talking to young adults, laughing and having a group of peers to engage with. Being a small business owner can be extremely lonely at times. For a little while my depression and anxiety came back in full swing just because I was so isolated. It’s important to take in account how working from home will affect you everyday.
For me the add bonus of being social as well as giving back to my community out weighed the dream of working only for myself.
Reason #4: I don’t have to stress about constant growth
The biggest hurdle in business is that you have to be growing, selling, serving and evolving constantly. If you’re not out there you probably not going to grow. No growth = No dollars. I didn’t want that kind of pressure in my life everyday.
Now I can have slow quarters when teaching becomes extra, I have push myself harder during the summer months. My business serves me and my desire to share my creativity and art with the world not the hamster wheel of content, social media and sales.
Reason #5: Passive income, focused products and clearly defined goals just work better
Okay, here's why we're all here.
My new business, my part time creative art business is focused on giving me freedom. I didn’t have that trying to go full time. Please keep that in mind when your comparing yourself to other bigger more experienced businesses. They’ve passed the messy middle and sometimes they’re in a very messy middle but they’re better at hiding it. So here’s how I built the business of my dreams one step at a time.
Passive Income Options and Systems That Work
My focus became “how can I run a business while time giving my all to teaching 85% of the year?” The obvious answer became passive income needs to be the heart of the business as well as serious systems to serve people while I’m busy. And no I’m not talking about the sketchy ads you see all over Social Media right now.
I’m talking licensing, POD shop links, courses, templates and downloads. All of these thing can be created in my downtime and then once I spend the time they will keep serving for months maybe years to come. I don’t carry inventory currently, any physical products are shipped from a printing partner and drop shipped. Template and downloads are loaded and taken care of once. Are the profts lower? Yes. But I can continue to serve my clients and customers anytime, anywhere.
My systems are set up to handle much of my customer service needs. I have routines in place, templates to follow and automations everywhere. I only dedicate 5-10 hours a week to my business during the school year. All the time I invest up front saves me so much down the road it isn’t funny. Invest in systems no matter your business goals.
Focused Products
I got clear on what I wanted my business to be about. When I was going full time I have so many ideas to keep the business fresh and new it became much too overwhelming. Now I have set products, categories and goals. I want my small business to be known for mostly paper goods, learning and community. That’s it.
Clearly Defined Goals
Similar to what I’ve said before having a full time business put so many moving targets in front of me I couldn’t hit any of them. There was always something to be after because if I wasn’t serving a client I wasn’t making money, but if I wasn’t building my business it would collapse but I also had to be finding new audience members all the time.
Being part time means I didn’t have to be serving, selling, building and creating every day. My goals became clear once I could slide most of those goals aside. I could focus on building a business that served me first then creating products, offers and services that my audience would actually want.
What I Do Instead of Stressing that I constantly need to take my business full time.
I focus on what my business provides me just the way it is. As part of my professional gig as a teacher I have summers off and I get bored quickly. My business offers the challenge and stimulation needed.
My business offers me a way to share my art but also share my love of learning to create. I can do that in a low pressure way from anywhere in the world.
My part time business can ebb and flow means every quarter doesn’t have to beat the last if I have no desire to create for a few months that’s okay. I don’t need to force myself to do something or create something I don’t want to.
My part time business provide a touch of financial fun for my husband and I. If we want something a little extra my business income can help support that. It’s not ground breaking but it make us happy. We don’t need to rely on it so it’s like getting a holiday bonus.
That’s a wrap!
In conclusion, remember your art and your creativity are yours. No one can tell you what the right way to use them are. If you don’t ever want to sell a piece of your art you don’t have too. Want to grow into a creative empire that’s your dream. Mine is to be happy, to create out of love, excitement and community. My part time business gives me all of that while my full time profession gives me the other things I crave like stability, emotional & mental health support and consistency.
Seems like a no-brainer, right?
What a little extra?
When I first started Studio 1097, I had nobody to take me by the hand and tell me this is how your business should look feel and run.
Allow me to share with you what I know now. Your creative business can look and grow in a 100 different ways. As long as it feels right to you and you’re not hurting your wellbeing to get it there it is 100% aokay.
Want a no pressure community to share, grow and learn from? I can offer you that.
Want insider knowledge to grow your business in a passive and relaxed way? I’ll share that too.
Join the free Creative Corner Membership below to start your creative journey. No matter what that looks like.
