Embarking on the journey of starting your own business is thrilling, daunting, and liberating all at once. 

As you step into the world of creative entrepreneurship, the infinite possibilities can sometimes seem… overwhelming. Yet, the prospect of bringing your unique vision to life is undeniably empowering. 

Whether you’re a budding designer, artist, or any type of creative visionary, the road to launching your own business is paved with valuable lessons, surprising discoveries, and endless opportunities for growth.

If you’re reading this, chances are, you have a burning passion and a vibrant creative spirit waiting to be channeled into a small business of your own. 

Perhaps you’re looking to share your brand design skills with the world, or maybe you’ve developed a unique product that you can’t wait to introduce to the market. 

Whatever your creative calling, you’re about to embark on a journey that’s uniquely yours and the prospect is nothing short of exciting.

I’m here to share my own roadmap, the steps I took, the victories I celebrated, and the challenges I navigated in the hope of making your journey a little less daunting and a lot more inspiring.

01/ Embrace Continuous Learning

Learn as much as you can within the niche you plan on specializing in.

I bought 1 course to learn hand lettering and expanded from there buying 4 more courses to learn different lettering styles. 

I also purchased an Instagram course since the platform was foreign to me.

02/ Create Social Media Accounts

Establish a footprint across multiple social media platforms. Not only will this provide a backup if one account faces issues like hacking or changing algorithms, but it also broadens your audience reach. When I started, I had Instagram, and soon I expanded to Pinterest, then Threads.

Don’t stress about content creation, you can reuse the content you’ve already made and post those pieces on different days.

Even though I didn’t have any products to sell yet, I still posted on a regular schedule (only to Instagram at this point), engaged, commented, liked, and shared posts. 

Meeting so many passionate creatives that shared my same interests was the start of how my business got to where it is now. Building strong connections became the foundation of my flourishing Blanc Salváge brand. 

Remember, in this creative small business world, we are here to empower and uplift each other.

03/ Started My Etsy Shop

Initiating your business can be daunting, but there’s magic in starting, even small. Don’t wait to start! Just go for it and start somewhere. I promise you, months down the road you’ll wonder why you haven’t started sooner. 

I opened my Etsy shop with one product. After I uploaded my one product, there’s a little note that states ‘5 products is a good place to start’. 

Was I doubtful? Yes. Was I afraid people would come to my shop and leave seeing no other products? Yes. BUT I knew I had to put those fears aside and keep pushing through. More products would come eventually. 

By the way, it takes me about a month to have one complete font with everything else in life happening, kids, etc. Still…it was going to be okay.

Starting your business might seem scary, but the key is to keep pushing, keep creating, and, most importantly, start!

04/ Get Legally Official

There’s plenty to do at this stage. Funds might be a challenge, but remember, this is your brand we’re talking about—you want to make a splash from the get-go. 

Branding can be an expense, but why not start out with a bang!? This is your business we are talking about and you don’t want to penny-pinch on the face of your brand. 

Hire a brand designer as you continue to build your business. 

Get your EIN

Go to https://irs-federal-ein-number.com/ if you are located in the US to apply for your EIN number, you’ll need this before registering for your LLC and opening a business bank account. 

Once you have your EIN, apply for your LLC with the Secretary of State and head on over to the bank to open your business account! You are now official!

05/ Expand Your Product or Service Offerings

Think about other products or services you can offer. Once you have found your niche, it’s a bit easier to expand on it. 

Diversify your offerings once you’ve found your niche, but remember—don’t try to wear all the hats.  If certain things can be delegated, hand them off.

As my business grew, I added more fonts to my shop and started including mock-ups. Staying consistent on Instagram while keeping other socials active sporadically was crucial for my growth.

06/ Craft a Stellar Website

Having a professional-looking website is vital for any business. Hire a web designer/developer if needed and give yourself ample time to prepare all the materials and copy. 

From my experience, it can take a few months to get all of your content together.  And a copywriter could take off some pressure as you gather the parts you’re really good at. But remember, getting your content ready takes time, so start in advance to avoid rushing and delays.

You don’t want your web designer waiting on your content. That is VERY frustrating for the designer, and they won’t be able to do their job until all of your materials are turned in. 

If you are in search of a web designer, reach out to https://penguindesigning.com/ and set up a call with Ingrid, she’ll rock your new site while taking a ton of stress off your plate!

Now that I’m the one needing a website, I never realized how much time it actually takes to gather all the pieces. 

Thankfully, I started months in advance already knowing I did not want the designer waiting on me. I never wanted to be ‘that client,’ because it throws everyone’s workflow off. We are always trying to find ways to have a faster workflow, aren’t we?!

07/ Leverage Email Marketing

So now you’ve got the developer working on your website, you’ll need to know about email marketing. You can take another course or hire an email marketer to create your funnels. I personally recommend Sara from https://betweenthelinescopy.com/. She is a genius!

Let’s take a look at the statistics:

29% of marketers rate email marketing as the most effective marketing channel (25% for social media, 22% for SEO, and 25% for content marketing).

31% of marketers use email newsletters as a top channel to nurture leads.

08/ Plan Ahead

At this point you’re pretty well set, but need to think about what you could do to further your business plans. 

What skills do you need to improve? 

Is there anything else you’d like to learn? 

Should you hire someone to take some responsibilities off your plate? 

Remember, the key to running a successful creative business is to keep evolving, keep learning, and most importantly, to keep creating. The path to becoming a successful designer or a creative entrepreneur is paved with continuous learning and growth.