Suzie Mckig (Twig & Fig): “Ask yourself if you would truly love running a
business—even if it had nothing to do with the passion you would like to pursue. The creative person often has a beautiful and romantic vision of what it would be like to do ‘only what you want to do’ as your business … But once you open the metaphorical doors to your business, the majority of your time will be in running your business. Administration stuff like accounting for your money, filling orders, shipping deadlines, creating forms and methods of efficient production, keeping atop trends, finding reps, hiring staff, pr/marketing, networking, etc. If all of that seems exciting and wonderful then go for it. If not, you’ll probably find more satisfaction in protecting your passion in a pure and sacred bubble where you can do just what you want – also known as a hobby.”

Brandon Mise, whose letterpress card line Blue Barnhouse is known for “highbrow quality for the lowbrow of mind,” said that ignoring censoring powers and being true to his vision were the best things he did for his business. At the recent National Stationery Show one buyer was laughing so hard she was weeping, a lot, and complained that she would have to go redo her makeup.

I have a Blue Barnhouse card above my bar that says “Good Lord, there’s no alcohol in this at all”.

Joan Schnee (green Paper Company): “as soon as you can afford to: hire someone to work with you. The added value is immeasurable on so many levels and can free up your time to focus on growing your company in ways that best suite your talent. And theirs.”

Carole Carden (SoLo) says she likes to “buy a line deep” to make a statement. She also advises designers to keep their prices realistic. One of the things that keeps people coming back to SoLo is Carole’s amazing collection of high quality design, architecture and lifestyle books. True to her mission of “buying deep,” about 95 percent of all books in the store fall under the design category.

Mel (JOY by Mel Lim) says “Try to understand the differences between owning and running a business versus a hobby. Decisions should be driven by goals, strategies and logistics, not just your passion for beautiful designs. A successful design business is a ‘business.’”

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