Today I thought I’d share a video post with you all. In it, I discuss what ‘success’ and happiness in my work means for me – and ask the question of you – when will you know you have achieved ‘success’ in your creative business endeavours? What level of success will make you truly happy?
Crafty Biz: What does ‘success’ mean for you? from Jessica Van Den on Vimeo.
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. Please excuse the slightly scratchy audio, not quite sure what happened there!
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Wow, this is really a tough one for me. Probably because it’s been a tough year, and it’s not entirely clear to me what’s *possible*. Maybe the problem is in that previous sentence – maybe it’s all a matter of faith – but I’ve had a lot of health issues interfere with my life to such a degree over the past year that I know that there’s a lot more to it than just faith – and sometimes hard work isn’t enough. I’m feeling really good right now. But.
That said, I’m much more able to do my crafting work when my health is iffy than I am able to do my (better paying) teaching work. So my crafting work is more sustainable under duress! But let me get back to the point here.
A big sign of success, for me, would be for my business to be doing well enough that I could gradually start charging what my work is actually worth. Right now I’m not doing that. Selling luxury goods in this economy is rough. But it’s also true that people value things more when you, the maker of them, insist on their value. So that’s something I’m struggling with. And my business would be a lot more viable if I raised my prices on the more labor intensive items in my shop. I just don’t know that I really *can*. People are always telling me, “Wow, you could charge a ton of money for that!” — but the trick is connecting with the people who can afford to pay for luxury goods! I don’t care about making a ton of money. But I would really like to cut back on teaching and spend more time making & selling the things I love to make, and less time worrying about my health getting worse and not being able to work. That would be less of a worry if I was working from home in the first place. If my business were doing well enough that I could afford to cut back on teaching even a little – that would be a big step towards success for me.
My apologies if this comment is too long! Guess I have some thinking to do. As always, your blog is very thought-provoking – thanks for that. 🙂
Hi Jess, I have very mixed thoughts on what success means to me!
Some months ( I tend to measure my success in months, ) I earn more than my husband, other months If I was financially responsible for myself, then I wouldn’t make ends meet! I know that realistically I will probably never be able to support our lifestyle with my craft, but it beats the hell out of being told what to do every day and making money for someone else.
I actually dont think about the word ( success ) at all. I’m having fun, learning heaps and being creative at my own pace. I have to thank my lucky stars that I have a husband supporting my every endevour too and the financial part is a big part of that.
If it was only about financial success, there’d be alot of us who would give up tomorrow and go get a real job !
It gets you thinking though doesn’t it?
Good thought provoking video. I see a lot of you in me Jess, in the sense that we are both thinking bigger than just our little business.
For me, I don’t know what it is, but I would love to create a community (my ideal online world/tribe). But even though I want that, sometimes I feel the “stars above” don’t want me to do that 😉
Before I found what I really love doing, I thought it was all about just having money, but now I realise after being able to find what I really love doing, and enjoying my time, that I would be happy with a decent wage. I don’t want to be scraping by though, I’ve had that all my life, and well that’s no longer what I want.
I always have grand visions, of something “big” but wether I ever get there, is another thing. I don’t spend heaps of money on myself, I don’t buy fancy clothes, or material possessions and I don’t think that would ever change even I had lots of money. What more money would do, is allow me to grow and follow my passion even more. Where people get kicks out of buying fancy designer clothes, cars etc. I get my kicks out of investing money developing creative projects.
Ps- I found it quite hard to hear you in this video, I had to turn up my volume to full and it still was muffled.
Brilliant, thoughtful comments ladies, thank you!
I discussed this over on the Etsy forums, too… http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6580150… lots of great thoughts over there, too.
Success obviously means very different things to different people – though there is definitely a common thread of doing what we love=success in our community.
(P.S. thanks Simone! The sound was really not good in that vid, but I didn’t realise until I’d finished it, and didn’t think I could be as authentic 2nd time round!)
Oh no probs. Sorry if I sounded blunt….but since I am here no pointing out things…the link to etsy gets an error 😉
Sorry…I know…I know…I’m being a pain 😛
Grr, silly shortener thing!
Thanks Simone 🙂
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6580150