Despite the illusion of creativity being all fun and games, planning and delivering on a creative business endeavour takes a lot of hard work and the process can often be very messy. Inspired work is not easily done as it usually needs to operate separately from traditional business planning efforts. Idea making is tough but most companies don’t lack ideas, they suffer from poor execution and the chaos inflicted by creative stakeholders is often assumed as a necessary by-product of creative work.

A major challenge in organizing a project is the task of working with creative resources. Managers often fail to move a creative project forward because they don’t know how to work with creative people. Creative workers, and their seemingly unstructured workflow, appear chaotic and inefficient to their business-minded counterparts. When put in charge of a new project, managers either shoe-horn the creative process into a dry, static business planning structure or they let the “fun” people run wild and hope for the best. Both options are dangerous.

A successful creative project requires skilled and passionate people working towards achievable goals – it’s okay if the process gets a little messy just as long as everyone knows where they’re going.

The reality is that creative work can, and should be, a little chaotic at times but there’s nothing wrong with organizing the ideas, tasks, notes, discussions, budget items and assignments in central place.

It’s no secret, creative people do not play nice when shown a Gantt chart or a sophisticated matrix. A standard checklist is for grocery shopping not for creative work. And an elaborate spreadsheet with pivot tables is sure to make a creative person lose their mind.

What creative people need is a simple a place to check-in and have project details available to them when they need them. And, when directed to the particulars they need to be able to engage with the information without having to take a deep breath, or sigh.

This is why Smartsheet works so well, it’s a tool that doesn’t scare creative people away. There are lots of online collaborative tools – I use many of them, but I manage all my projects using Smartsheet because it’s the best of both worlds: business and creative.

Creative people need to work outside the box, they need to colour outside the lines, in order to work in their wheelhouse. Initiating a creative project on Smartsheet helps me corral key information and key people together in a format that I can easily manage and it’s not over the top with respect to structure. It’s my chaos-controller.

One of the practical ways Smartsheet helps me make creative work happen is its email functionality. Now, truth be told, email is the root of all evil (a sermon for another day); however, when working with creative people it’s a no brainer for me… I setup automatic daily email updates in our Smartsheet workspace and stuff gets done. Creative people are often involved in multiple projects, just like you, so this simple feature is great way to keep project items on top of their pile.

One of the ways I allow for some controlled chaos is that I don’t re-organize or moderate the discussions. The conversations that happen in the workspace are left for all to see and they are full of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and are full of erroneous notes or out-of-date items are left. I need a little dose of chaos too.

For me, the trick to working with creative people is to organize a project in such a way that the important details are there when they need them in and are displayed in a way they can engage with them.

Three cheers for Smartsheet!

Action Items: Read Todd Henry’s new book The Accidental Creative (http://www.accidentalcreative.com/book) – seriously – you need to read this book.

Post also found on Smartsheet.com/blog.

Corwin Hiebert is a management and marketing consultant to creative entrepreneurs (like world-renowned photographer and author David duChemin). He’s the co-publisher of Clamorate, and is the co-producer of CREATIVEMIX (Vancouver’s Ideation Conference). As an educator, speaker, and author, Corwin is an avid supporter of creative risk-takers. Corwin is passionate about helping creative people take action towards their goals and their dreams. You can learn more about working with Corwin on his blog or you can follow him on Twitter. He lives in Vancouver, Canada and drinks very unhealthy amounts of expensive coffee.

In a predictable show of political posturing, a deal was reached in the 11th hour, and crisis averted for the time being. It is, by all means, a small part of what is sure to be a long-term strategy, but the fact that this house of cards holds global financial ramifications is something we must all concern ourselves with. So what should the self-employed entrepreneurial minds take away from all of this?

Today’s latest developments are theoretically a step in the right direction, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will work. Really, there’s no point in speculating either way for the sake of sensationalizing what is clearly nothing more than a potential at this point. Either way, the results are going to have an impact on small business people, and really, only time will tell what the future holds for the economy. However, if we take a moment to examine an oversimplification of what’s been going on, we can gain some insights into the long-term health of our small businesses.

Bad Practice #1: Frivolous spending.
It’s easy to spend when it’s not your money. Whether that money comes in the form of taxes, loans, or credit, investing in the growth of any business (especially in the early stages) requires painful discretion. Yes, your business many need supplies; tools, a computer, a vehicle… But part of growing a successful business is recognizing the needs of your business and containing your zeal. Don’t slip into the delusion that your small or home-based business needs the same high-end tools that are required to meet the extreme productivity levels of big business.

When your profits can cover your expenses, then you can buy that shiny new BMW.

Bad Practice #2: Increasing credit limits
Clearly, a business requires funding of some sort to get started, and maybe even to sustain its growth until it becomes self-sufficient. It’s a harsh reality that many in government are just now coming to realize, but many working people already know – repeatedly increasing your debt limits simply leads to more debt.

Unless a shift in innovation accompanies the incredible burden of taking on increased debt, throwing more money at a sinking ship is only going to make the problem get bigger. We all make mistakes, and if our initial startup capital was either not calculated to be enough, or it was blown through by frivolous spending, it may be ok to hit the reset button and require more funding. If it doesn’t work the second time, that’s when it’s time to re-evaluate the business model.

So if the ship begins to sink, how do we save her?

The only way for our businesses to survive (and thrive) is to remain true to the foundations of what it means to be an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs are known for two fundamental traits – innovation and flexibility.

Innovation
Innovation comes in many forms, but for entrepreneurs it is a concept that must be applied across the board. Is your business idea innovative? Is your product or service innovative? Does it solve a problem? Most importantly – Is your vision innovative?

Running a successful small business means wearing a variety of hats, and as every entrepreneur knows, you need more than “something to sell.” Good leadership, foresight, management, marketing, and sound implementation are all part of being an innovative small business – and that’s your biggest key to success.

Flexibility
Entrepreneurs’ ability to be flexible mainly stems from being in the position of having no other choice. We are not in the position to simply throw money around in attempt to solve problems (again, a reason why the debt crisis is far from over), so we must find creative ways to deal with our challenges. There are many outside forces acting upon any business, large or small; but as entrepreneurs we are faced with bearing the burden of dealing with them ourselves. Factors such as changes in tax laws, interest rates, competition, or even personal matters (ie. Having to spring for a new household appliance, getting the car serviced, mowing the lawn…) are all influences that force us to be adaptable in our time management and budgets.

The good thing is, being flexible is a commodity that big businesses cannot afford. There’s too much red tape and regulations, internal policies, and voices in a large company for them to be as flexible as an entrepreneur. This is one power entrepreneurs can leverage, and is your biggest advantage in outpacing your competition.

Looking back to the band-aid fix of raising the debt ceiling and the accompanying spending cuts to follow… Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain – Few entrepreneurs would be able to claw their way out of that kind of hole without the abilities of innovation and adaptability.

Sole-proprietors and small business owners have the ability to steer our moving ship as we choose. So moving forward, think carefully about how your small business can continue to innovate and adapt over the long term. Having a clearly defined vision and the ability to recognize the triggers that caused events such as the debt crisis will put smart entrepreneurs in the best position to come out of this economic climate on top.

Dave Seeram is the Editor in Chief and Publisher of the PhotographyBB Magazine and the new clamorate! Magazine. He started PhotographyBB back in 2006 as an online environment for digital photography and image processing enthusiasts. Dave is also the owner/founder of PhotographyBB’s parent organization, PowerButton Media. Prior to that, Dave came from an extensive working background in retail management, and educational studies in applied mathematics at Simon Fraser University followed by graphic design at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). Dave’s passion for entrepreneurship coupled with design, drives him to assist other creative individuals who seek out the life of the self-employed.

What if I told you that your business could come to a grinding halt tomorrow? It can (and does) happen to many entrepreneurs, through no fault of their own, but there are ways you can minimize the possibility of it happening to your business. I’d like to share with you, my story of how this happened to me. My hope is that it will inspire you to look thoughtfully at your business plan and take the necessary precautionary measures which could wind up saving you time, stress, and of course – money.

Five years ago, I started PhotographyBB, an online community for photographers with forums, tutorials, articles, and digital products (image manipulation software) for purchase and download. At the time, the website was small and creating my own ecommerce site was not nearly as simple and cheap as it is nowadays, so I elected to sell my digital products through the online auction giant, eBay. It was great – they had more traffic than I could ever dream of, the system was easy to use from a seller’s perspective, and collecting payment was a snap. A dream come true – or so I thought…

One morning, I woke to an email stating that eBay would no longer be allowing digital items for sale on their site. They cited a number of excuses (ehem… reasons) why they made this move, but just like that, they put me and tens-of-thousands of digital product sellers out of business. It was my main source of revenue for my own products, and in the blink of an eye it was over. Through events which were completely out of my control, I was forced to rethink my business model and come up with new plans – quickly!

Really, the reason I’m sharing this with you is to illustrate a point. As entrepreneurs (especially sole-proprietors), we are naturally going to need to utilize the services of other companies, but it’s true what they say about not putting all of your eggs in one basket. I was relying solely on another company as the foundation of my business model and there was no backup plan in place. The lesson I learned that day literally shaped the future of my business endeavors forever.

Always have a backup plan, and better yet, have more than one – several “baskets” for your eggs. If your business is currently reliant on one product supplier or service provider, now is a good time to ask yourself, “What would happen to my business if that relationship was suddenly severed tomorrow?”

There will always be “outside” companies we must rely on in order to run our own business. A solid plan should look at the most essential services that you require along with a contingency plan should you need it. You don’t have to deviate from your original business idea; rather, look for alternative ways to diversify your revenue streams so that if one goes down, it doesn’t take the entire ship with it. There will be factors beyond your control, so focus on that which you can control – A plan for growth and a plan for protecting your revenue streams.

How much does your business rely on the services of another? Do you have “multiple baskets,” and if so, are they a backup or do you use them simultaneously? Feel free to leave a comment and share your experiences, thoughts, or even ask a question if you’re stumped on how your business could look at alternative income generation.

Dave Seeram is the Editor in Chief and Publisher of the PhotographyBB Magazine and the new clamorate! Magazine. He started PhotographyBB back in 2006 as an online environment for digital photography and image processing enthusiasts. Dave is also the owner/founder of PhotographyBB’s parent organization, PowerButton Media. Prior to that, Dave came from an extensive working background in retail management, and educational studies in applied mathematics at Simon Fraser University followed by graphic design at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). Dave’s passion for entrepreneurship coupled with design, drives him to assist other creative individuals who seek out the life of the self-employed.