Business advice creatives swear by: lessons from creative business owners
Creative businesses are often given advice that wasn’t designed for them. Advice built around scale, optimizing, and predictable growth rather than creativity and sustainability.
It’s something I’ve been exploring recently. Looking at why so much traditional business advice doesn’t quite fit creative minds, and sharing some of the approaches that both my clients and I myself have found helpful.
But I was curious about something else too. What advice has actually stuck with other creatives?
So I asked a group of creative business owners one simple question: what’s the best business advice you’ve been given?
The advice they shared paints an interesting picture of what actually helps when you’re building a creative business.
Trust yourself and your value
One pattern that came up again and again in the advice people shared was about confidence. Not in the loud, bravado sense, but in trusting your instincts, recognising the value you bring, and not letting outside opinions steer your business in directions that don’t fit.
“Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.”
Lots of people have lots of opinions about how we ‘should’ be doing business. But if that person hasn’t built a business themselves, and hasn’t achieved the things you want to achieve, then it’s worth taking that advice with a pinch of salt.
Gina Buckle, Hoot Copy
“It’s not your responsibility to be within a potential client’s budget.”
It’s important to value yourself and price correctly. This was advice I heard from Chris Do at Atomicon.
Sophie Greenwood, Three Beams Thinking
“Treat everyone how you would like to be treated and never take anything personally.”
Something I try to practise and carry forward.
“Shy bairns get nowt.”
If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Lucy Critchley, Untold Creative
“Don’t take advice from people who haven’t done what you’re trying to do.”
When I first started thinking about this question, I realised that most of the advice I’d been given about creative work hadn’t actually been that helpful. In many cases it came from people who didn’t really understand the kind of path I was trying to build. Not everyone is qualified to give advice on the direction you’re trying to go in, so being selective about whose guidance you take on board makes a big difference.
When I was younger I made quite a few decisions based on other people’s opinions that, in hindsight, had no real basis. For example, I dropped Art at A level even though I absolutely loved it because I was told I should choose something more “sensible”. The question was always the same: what would you actually do with Art? Looking back, I sometimes wonder where I might have ended up if I’d been encouraged to follow the things I naturally loved rather than being steered toward what seemed more practical.
The same applies in business. A lot of advice comes from a good place, but it’s often shaped by other people’s fears or limitations rather than real experience. Over time I’ve realised how important it is to listen to people who have actually walked the path you’re trying to take.
Emma Cattell, Bobbin and Bumble
“The productivity triangle: time/ money/ quality. You must have at least two.”
Brilliant for decision making!
“Stay true to yourself.”
Creatives are very self critical and we’re often perfectionists who get stuck in our own heads a lot. But if we stick to our ideas and keep going, our work is all the better for it because it is unequivocally ours.
Eve Sturdy, Sturdy Socials and Design
Take action and learn as you go
Another strong theme was momentum. Creative businesses rarely follow a neat or predictable path, so much of our progress comes from trying things, learning from what happens, and adjusting as we go rather than waiting for the perfect moment.
“Jump and the net will catch you.”
In other words, be brave and make the leap. It was good advice when I started, and it still applies now. Every day I make decisions that push me outside my comfort zone, and that’s how I grow.
What I love most about this advice is how real that net turned out to be. It’s the freelancers, SMEs and agency collaborators who’ve become my support network and, in many cases, friends.
Vicky Zaremba, Northwords
“You’ll always wish you did it sooner.”
It was true for me when I decided to go self employed and it’s been true for most of the ideas within my business too. Usually the best thing we can do is take action and the next step will become clear after that. If we spend too long waiting we’ll never really feel ready.
Hannah Isted, HI Communications
“Take messy action. Don’t wait for perfection.”
As a chronic over thinker and perfectionist, realising these beliefs were holding me back was quite eye opening. I started forcing myself not to wait until I had everything figured out, until the sales page was perfect, or until the whole framework was nailed. Instead I started looking at it as experimenting. As someone with a background in research, this has been really helpful. I can make progress and adjust at the same time.
That’s the beauty of being a small business. You’re flexible, so you can adjust as you figure things out. Now I don’t wait to have all the details. I go ahead with what I have and learn so much more in the process.
Ana Gil, We are Indie
“Actions lead to results and lessons. But nothing changes if you don’t pick up the lessons.”
This advice is from Alice Benham. If you take action and don’t get the results you want and don’t learn from it, you’re in a loop. Recognising what doesn’t work helps you improve, fix things and keep moving forward.
Faye Hedges, Faye Hedges Photography
“Take your time to figure it out because it won’t happen overnight.”
You won’t set up a business and suddenly be inundated with work. It’s long, there are lots of plates to spin, and you have to trust you’re on the right path. It’s okay to try things and change things. But don’t give up. Keep your values close and keep going.
Francesca Loasses, 155 Interior Design
“Make it exist first. You can make it good later.”
This is something I picked up from Andy J Pizza. As creatives, we worry too much about what people think. Just put it out there. Otherwise it lives in a notebook forever.
Brett Kellett, Studio Brett
Protect your creativity and your energy
Several people mentioned the importance of protecting the thing that makes creative businesses work in the first place. Your creativity needs time, space and mental energy. Without that, it’s very easy to end up running on empty.
“Get a hobby that isn’t related to work.”
So you don’t spend your entire life thinking about your business, stay creative and give yourself some brain space.
Laura Norman, Chroma Marketing
“Schedule buffer days.”
Every two weeks I have a day that’s just for me. It’s my time to do something like visit an art gallery or workshop, have a big movie day, explore a new nature walk, go to the cinema, or delve into my personal work. I love the freedom of them and they’re always energising.
“Give your brain space to think and don’t overload yourself.”
For me, working on my business can feel like a full time job on top of client work. There’s always a to-do list of blogs to write, content to create, website updates to make and new systems to bring in. Now I try to focus on three or four key tasks each week so I can give them proper time and attention. It has really helped with my decision making, enabled me to come up with better ideas and helped me make more effective progress.
Leanne Mallinshaw, Leannes Co
“Work out your billable days per month.”
It’s boring but it stops you overbooking yourself, which I used to be horrendous at. I keep an average number in mind and also do a monthly check in where I look ahead at booked work and personal commitments, like school holidays, to see whether I actually have capacity for anything extra. It’s amazing how often I think I’ve got a fairly open month but, once everything’s written down, it turns out to be pretty busy.
Penny Brazier, The Mighty Pen
Find your people
Running a business can be surprisingly lonely, especially for creatives. A number of people talked about the difference it makes when you find the right people around you, whether that’s peers, collaborators, mentors or communities who understand what you’re building.
“Hire a good accountant.”
It was the only thing stopping me before I started because I hate doing that side of things but thought I had to.
Sian Owen, Just Sian Design
“People buy people.”
Having worked in hospitality nearly all my working life before becoming self employed, I was always taught that people make the experience. I was a wedding coordinator for more than six years and couples often said I was one of the biggest reasons they chose to book their wedding at the venue I worked at. It’s true in the small business world too.
“Find your people.”
Running a business is lonely until you find the people in the same boat as you.
Sian Owen, Just Sian Design
When I started my business and became fully self employed in 2021, I struggled with not having anyone to bounce ideas off and spent a lot of time in my own head. Eventually I found some amazing communities of creatives and likeminded thinkers. Without them I would really struggle.
Eve Sturdy, Sturdy Socials and Design
Create the conditions for great work with others
Great creative work rarely happens in isolation. It comes from good collaboration, clear communication, and taking the time to understand what people actually need rather than assuming we already know.
A couple of pieces of advice people shared touched on exactly that.
“Never assume.”
Never assume customers understand what you mean: check and communicate clearly.
Never assume customers remember what happens when they have busy lives and different brains: nudge them and remind them, especially if there’s any pre-work involved.
Never assume how much money people have: we prioritise things differently.
If you assume, you end up making a decision for someone else and preventing them from getting the help you can give them.
Morin Glimmer, Rosy Futures
“Be a facilitator for people to do the best work they’ve ever done.”
It came from Matt at KISS Branding. Most business guidance for creatives focuses on protecting yourself. Things like getting everything in writing, managing difficult clients or setting boundaries. But this advice flips that dynamic. It positions you as an enabler rather than just a service provider. Instead of simply delivering what’s asked for, you’re creating the conditions for excellent work, whether that’s with your team, your clients or collaborators.
In practice it means asking better questions, removing obstacles and sometimes getting out of the way. It’s about orchestrating the right environment for brilliant work to emerge, and the commercial side will always follow if you set those high standards for yourself. It makes for a more sustainable new business engine, and you end up with happier creatives, who make better work.
One thing I love about asking questions like this is seeing what people carry with them. Advice gets thrown around constantly when you run a business. But the advice that tends to stick is usually much simpler than new strategies, new frameworks, or new ways of doing things.
It’s the advice that changes how you see your work. Or gives you permission to trust your instincts. Or reminds you that you’re allowed to build your business in a way that fits you.
And sometimes hearing it from someone who’s been through it themselves is what makes you sit up and actually listen.