Business Lessons Learned from ABC’s Shark Tank

Shark Tank has become my binge show. When I need to unplug from daily tasks, I flip on Hulu TV and have all 10 seasons available. For those that aren’t familiar, Shark Tank is a reality show set in what feels like a high-class conference room. Promising entrepreneurial-types come to present their business or product ideas to a group of 5 to 6 investors, hoping to exchange equity for funding. The investors, the Sharks of the shark tank, include multi-millionaire and billionaire tycoons such as Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O’Leary. It’s a subject that is able to be successfully dramatized as people’s lives change because they came up with a real business idea, or they’re sliced and diced in front of millions of viewers, crushing their dreams. I love it. It’s generally a humbling experience for some as they present their big idea along with their valuation of the company. This is what it’s worth based on its accrued revenue. Again, another area where the business owners hopefully have this right, or the investors who live, sleep and breathe business building will sniff out the falsity to their claims, and bring them quickly back to reality.

Besides the general entertainment of why this reality show was created and after watching several hours of these episodes of these presentations, I have found that there are valuable business lessons hidden behind all the cameras and overacting. Other than knowing your business and numbers, and to make one hell of a presentation towards the investors, here are four business lessons for anyone on the road to entrepreneurship.

1. Failure is necessary for success.

As the all-too familiar advice goes, you need to learn to fail to be able to succeed. There is actually nothing more truer in the business world, and in life, than this. Think back in your life to break ups. As heart wrenching as they were, it helped you see what to look for in a partner. Hard pill to swallow at the time, but necessary for personal growth. On Shark Tank, the presenters share stories of the journey taken to create their business. From quitting or losing jobs, moving back in with parents, having cars and houses repossessed, losing marriages or significant others, it’s fascinating to see what these people are willing to go through to make their dreams of being a successful entrepreneur a reality. Respectable in all regards, but not for everyone. Now, this isn’t to say that the show doesn’t pepper in trust-find kids looking for a way out of ever holding down a real job. But I guess there needs to be variety to appreciate the real hustlers.

Personally, seeing what people give up normal comfortable lives for something that may never work, or change everything for them is majority of the reason I watch. It’s inspiring. Need to feel a kick of motivation to get make the most of your day? Watch an episode or two. I have always been impressed by those that have built successful businesses, knowing that they had to go against the grain many times to achieve it. Having a vision in your head that no one else in the world may ever understand or believe, and make it real is what entrepreneurialism is all about. Those that successfully do it have fallen on their face more than they probably care to share, but also know that those hurdles are what builds their success, and makes them appreciate it that much more. You know what they say, if it was easy everyone would do it. Successful businesses usually have a tale of the journey taken leading to what they‘ve accomplished. And it is all well deserved.

2. Brands with stories are more interesting.

More and more companies are surfacing today that have a cause for existence. We’ve seen brands like Toms, who donate a pair of shoes for every pair sold, Patagonia, who gave 100% of Black Friday sales to environmental groups, and Airbnb, who rather than telling their story, use the stories from their customer’s travel as the brand’s foundation. From how the products are made to where revenue proceeds go, there is something interesting and aspirational happening to the transactional experience. You are now confronted often with brands that aren’t just about a purchase, but making you apart of them. In Simon Sinek’s Start With Why, there are real-life stories of organizations & businesses who’s framework caused movements. A very good read if this is a topic you want to dive into further. The same can be seen on Shark Tank. Businesses being created that are centered around how their passions became the basis for the company. Shark Tank has had several examples of companies founded on this particular premise, and it always seems to connect stronger with the sharks. People are sharing businesses that are more than just making money, but to ultimately changing the world. Businesses still needs to fall in line with being profitable and being able to scale. However, when the two come together successfully, it’s fascinating and refreshing to see.

In our world now it also seems that larger corporations are going back to their roots to define these foundations, and pivot their brand story. It adds more value to them as a company, and to the consumer purchasing their products. As Shark Tank deals with smaller entities as far as revenue and scale, the parallels are being seen between big and small business, and ultimately affecting the culture of business entirely.

3. Start with pain points.

“There has to be a better way.” It’s a common statement, and thought we’ve all had at some point. This is the thinking that builds successful businesses everyday. Simply put, finding a broken system for doing something, and disrupting the process with a more efficient solution can lead to amazing products and companies. I see it on Shark Tank often, and always wonder why I never thought of it. If it makes life easier, and is feasible from a production sense, then success & revenue can quickly follow. Everyone is looking for the easier way of doing something. Many of the businesses shown on Shark Tank center around discovered pain points leading to their eureka idea. Once the sharks are hooked, the sales questions generally follow quickly after to confirm that society is interested and buying into it.

I teach a class for design students that is based on this concept. I distribute each group a certain industry such as residential, medical or financial, and employ them to dive in and look for broken systems. Discover pain points. Become empathetic to the every day user in these worlds, and what are some of the hurdles faced just by archaic methods that no one has ever attempted to reinvent. Often they find real issues that people are facing, and then create a solution, whether it be a product or service, that disrupts that industry, and proceed to bring it to life. Shark Tank is always a reference material I recommend for learning how people approach pain points and address it in simple ways. If it brings more complication to the user’s life, they generally won’t alter their habits. What have you come across today that was frustrating, and made you think there had to be a better way? You’ve identified a pain point, now go solve for it.

4. Know when the idea is bad, and kill it.

After going through the top three points, sometimes the idea doesn’t make sense. It’s more trouble than its worth, and probably will never work. The sharks can usually quickly address this and shut it down. The more you watch you’ll start seeing yourself disputing the realism of the idea, and sit back and watch it be destroyed. Some people don’t go down easy. They just know they have the next big money-making idea, even though they have never made real profit or seen any sort of real success from it. This is where the more dramatic flare of television comes into play, and definitely increases the entertainment value of the show. I’ve seen it in my students when they fall in love with their concept, and I have to dissect it to show there is no meaning. I’ve done it myself. It’s difficult to know when it’s time to break up with the idea and move on to greener pastures. Or as writers say for their works, “know when to kill your darlings.”

A big benefit of presenting in the Shark Tank is though they may not realize it at the time, valuable advice is being given. Even if there is no money or hugs exchanged at the end of the presentation, there is direction for moving forward. Watching the show you see how real successful business builders approach bad ideas, and present their tactics for altering it, or suggesting it be “taken behind the barn and shot.” Dramatic of course, but preventing wasting any more time and money on something that’s not going to work. That’s not to be said that sometimes the sharks are wrong, and the business does succeed, it will help you gauge a perspective for understanding simply why things do work in our world, and why they don’t.

Take some time this weekend to watch Shark Tank, and consider these lessons presented. It’s valuable information that can help anyone who has a dream of building a successful business to take into account. Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, and certainly not for the feint of heart. Seeing how Shark Tank gives an inside look to the conception of businesses, there are so many more lessons that will give you appreciation towards the brands and companies you believe in.

As design firms, and even freelancers, working directly with clients to help them solve business problems with creative insight is the end goal. We sometimes judge our business success off having these types of relationships. Partnering with a larger agency or firm to assist with their clients is another great way to increase your business’s revenue & portfolio of work. It’s important that when considering to partner your business with a larger agency that you see and treat them as another client, and not as an employer. Today’s post discusses four focus points when engaging your business with another agency.

1. Learn Your Role on the Team
   Understand how your business will fit into the agencies’ established teams. Most likely you’ll come into a situation where they have been working with the client for a while. Both you and the agency will learn best practices for working with each other, and working with the client. This becomes a big part of the opening conversation of being contracted. Understand the role they need to fill. A few questions to consider:

• Will there be a need for presenting to clients?
• Are you required for any in-house meetings at any time?
• Will there any be managing any part of their existing team?
• Will you be assisting on more of a production level to help with a large amount of final deliverables?
• Will there be any need to travel?
• Is there a defined scope of what deliverables will be needed during the engagement?

Answering these sorts of questions will allow for you to plan your time around working with the agencies’ team, as well as defining the level of effort needed from your business and how that may impact your other clients. You more than likely may have other projects & timelines running parallel so time management will be key. From an agency’s perspective, their client is their top priority, not your other clients, as it should be. Your top priority is all of your clients’ needs. As a business, it is important to have these relationships balanced so that you don’t miss deadlines or deliver non-quality work. During the contract discussions, make it a top priority to understand exactly what is expected of you in the particular role, and make sure that you have the availability to take on the opportunity to its full capacity.

2. Be Sure You Have the Availability
If you’ve never worked full-time for an agency, it’s important to know what the day to day can be like. There can be endless meetings that pull you away from Slack and email for hours at a time. As your business may be structured around off-business hours and minimal meetings, it’s important to be loose around an agencies’ communication. As you begin defining the relationship of working with an agency, make sure to have turn-around time expectations and if they have daily checkins. These will become the milestones in your daily calendar for keeping on track with their schedule. At the beginning of each week I suggest connecting with the project manager to let them know any scheduling conflicts of the week (other client calls, travel, etc). Be up front and transparent with your availability. It’s important to remember that even as they plan checkpoints with you through the day, they also are working towards a schedule of checkpoints with the client.

3. Be Okay with Getting Paid Later
There are generally payment terms you have with your clients from the time that you invoice to the time they make their payment. When working with agencies, you’ll begin invoicing based on their accounting departments’ terms. This could be Net-30, Net-60 or in some cases longer periods of time. This an important area to fully understand and agree to if you are considering working with an agency. Its important to have enough revenue built up to allow for the delayed time of payment. The silver lining is that you’ll most likely be getting payments received well after the project has completed. Just like dealing with clients, make sure to have the terms of payment declared at the contract phase from their end, and develop your invoicing terms to work alongside their terms. And most importantly, never be afraid to get the invoicing process completely defined for you before signing any documents.

4. Stay True to Your Process
Lastly, and most importantly, you have built a business not necessarily on the type of creative you deliver, but the quality of product that you spend time creating. When engaging with an agency you may be entering periods of fast-paced sprints, so it is important to time-manage well around their expected deadlines, making sure that the quality never suffers. When we have partnered with agencies, we get a sense of their clients’ timing expectations regarding turn-around times and review process. When working directly with clients, you are responsible for creating this timetable to a final finish date. Make sure you understand the agency’s timing that has been scoped, and how this will apply to the work you will be doing.

Working with agencies can be a great opportunity for your business. They have excelled in their business practices and landed larger clients than you may ever target with your personal business. Take the opportunity to bring the skills your company offers to partner, and succeed, with larger agencies to help grow your portfolio, business structure and revenue.

Most days I wake up feeling like I have the motivation and energy to build and grow my business, and handle the myriad of challenges that come with it.

Some days I wake up and couldn’t feel more different from the productive, energetic, grinding person I am. These days have me feeling limited in my interest to push the limits and handle what I have to do to be “productive.”

Being a solopreneur means that you are personally responsible for everything. After all the work, business development, accounting & other daily tasks are done, you have to find your motivation.

Today is one of those motivating days for me (resulting in this post.) I am considering what I can learn today to advance my skill set. I have already reflected on the open projects we’re currently working on, thinking back on some of yesterday’s reading and how it applies. The reading from this morning already resonates well with me mentally, most likely catalyzing today’s motivation. The challenge we face is how to have this energy everyday, and maybe you already do.

Even though there is a need for the slower pace to stay fresh and excited, sometimes it’s hard to remember that the empowerment and motivation I get can come from those slower times. When you’re more clear and focused you can keep your business anxieties at bay. The challenges I saw yesterday as giants are today’s stepping stones. Now I can get back to doing great work for my clients.

Today I want to get out and meet new people. Have strategic conversations about my client’s projects, pushing the barriers past where we’ve been. Take risks. Create something I haven’t before. Learn.

Motivation is great fuel in your entrepreneurial gas tank. If you’re feeling motivated today, make the most of it.

I wrote this journal entry to myself a couple weeks ago. I decided I wanted to share it, and hopefully you find it as beneficial reading it as I did writing it.

Today is Friday. And just like every Friday, I always am in a better mood than any other day of the week. I know that as the work week ends, my list of responsibilities slows down for a couple days, which helps relinquish the pressure I hold to myself. I have no issue putting a record on, pouring a cocktail, and reflecting over the past five days that I focused on someone else’s needs. (e.g. clients, bosses, etc).

It’s important to have good work ethic, but it’s also important to cool down the engines. Being burnt out is a deep hole to climb out of, and it’s important to refocus on your ultimate happiness.

Lately I’ve been focusing more on passion projects and hobbies. I used to be very into video making of trips & events. Not for business or profit, but for my own enjoyment of learning the process, and putting my perspective together for friends and family, and myself. Even though this is another creative pull on the brain, it’s also a chance to recharge because that pressure of perfection that I push to bring to my client’s projects isn’t as necessary. It’s more about the process than the outcome.

So today I’ll work hard, but know that the first glass of bourbon poured will be the tastiest.

– July 6, 2018

Ending the year with juggling client’s requests of the new year launch dates, the holidays interfering with timelines, and rush turnarounds, it’s undoubtedly going to lead one straight to burn out.

The outlook that you have on the new year reflects where you are personally and mentally. I’ve started off this new year with a different perspective, due to a goal I set and kept last year.

I made a promise to myself to keep my personal time for growth in place, no matter how busy I became. This allowed the chance to reflect on the past, check in personally where I was each day, and focus on the new goals to achieve in 2018. I made it a priority just like meeting a deadline for a customer. Clients are important to your business, but so are you.

Now, about a month into the New Year, I feel recharged and more prepared for each day to come. I’ve set personal goals such as reading more books, journaling more often, and exercising and keeping true to my good eating habits. All of these lead to a better attitude, clarity, and overall positive outlook for the future. I’ve also set new goals for Dewyngaert Design, and actually look forward to taking risky uncomfortable steps that always leads to greater entrepreneurial knowledge. Don’t let all of life’s curve balls knock you off course.

For entrepreneurs, a new year becomes a time to begin new habits, take different risks, and alter business directions in search for new & more successful outcomes. As important as business is, I have found that effort towards personal growth is equally, if not more important as the nurturing put towards the business itself. During this last week of the year, I have taken time reflect on habits I began, and new goals to launch for the new year. Here are three practices to put more efforts towards as we jump into 2018.

Journaling

I began this around the middle of 2017. Each day I arrive to my office, I pull out a blue Moleskine notebook and write a page of my fears, goals, frustrations, ideas, rants, or whatever I was feeling at the time as I begin my day. It allows for personal vulnerability, expressing internal moods for yourself on a sheet of paper. I find it extremely valuable in the sense where I didn’t feel required to keep a poker face in times where I felt a lack of confidence. The key is to be honest and open with yourself, and write it all out. Bottom line, it’s difficult to start, run and operate a business. When you connect and are aware of your internal truths, you’ll find that this exercise leads to clarity & courage for yourself to face the day with full force.

Reading

This has become one of my favorite hobbies. It took some time and effort to make it enjoyable, but when I realized the power behind the simple act of reading, I couldn’t stop. As a business owner, clients come to you for your knowledge in the area of expertise that your company is centered around. That knowledge strengthens and grows with every book you consume. I don’t focus so much on doing design for my clients, as I do on educating them in the services I offer so that the longevity of the investment evolves to a greater outcome. And when reading, keep a notebook handy to jot down quotes, thoughts or instruction which then can be readily available in the next conversation you’re having with a client. I speak from experience that conversations have become far richer based on the information & knowledge I’ve received between two covers.

Connecting

This may seem a vague idea, but what I mean is putting effort in growing your relationships. Coming from a business that received 95% of its clients from word-of-mouth, it’s important to be out there meeting, talking and learning from others. Join happy hours with colleagues to discuss ideas. Go to conferences & talks for your trade to keep on the pulse of whats going on in your industry. Post commonly on social media accounts to share what your business is doing and passionate about. Connecting is a job of its own, and its important to prioritize this even when work may be busy. The more opportunity created from being present and talking about the business, the greater the potential for expanding & evolving.

Self growth is important for entrepreneurs. To lead a business is a difficult task. Before you wake up to focus on your clients needs, take the time and put effort in yourself. It will inadvertently strengthen all the areas you touch, and will become much more productive and fruitful for your 2018. Happy New Year.

It’s always difficult to design for your own company. But thanks to deadlines, sometimes we’re forced to make final decisions to complete the project. With having an upcoming speaking engagement, this is our process and approach to creating a leave-behind for our attendees.

Focus on utility.

Initial research continued for months. Every promo website under the sun was visited, trying to find something that would impress. What was quickly realized is that far too much pressure was put on this single item, rather than on the idea of connecting the presentation to the giveaway as a holistic experience.

The presentation centered widely around the importance of importance for engaging mobile experiences in today’s digital space. Points of discussion were how many current & future smart-phone users there are, how often smart-phones are being used, and how many successful mobile experiences play a major role in your website’s SEO rankings. To encompass these points with a take-away, the first leave-behind item was a mobile power bank. It has enough juice for one-full charge of your mobile, and is small enough to fit in your front pocket. The response was positive as comments received were “I can never have enough of these,” and “I love how small this is, I can keep it with me wherever I go.”

Deliver brand messaging in a creative way.

Simply put, we needed something fun. An item that could ideally be kept on someones desktop, didn’t take up much space, and became a potential conversation starter to others who noticed it.

I’ve always loved buttons, especially the smaller versions you can find at merchandise tables at music concerts. We wanted to extend our brand message (part of our future messaging) in an eye-catching way. “Create & Disrupt.”

With some illustrative assistance from Miruna Talpas, our fall intern, we created a series of three 1.25" buttons. Lay them on your desktop, pin them to a conference lanyard, or attach them to the lapel of your jacket, which one of the attendees did as soon as they discovered them. This was a fun aspect of the leave-behind, and certainly stirred conversation within the group.

Give them a next step to take.

The presentation was given to share valuable information of the industry that we are passionate about, however, it also became a good way to seek prospective clientele. Even down to the leave-behind, we wanted the attendee to leave with a smile on their face, a fresh boost of inspiration, and to remember our brand in a positive light.

The last part of leave-behind, we wanted to make sure we connected the dots of why we were here, and give a quick call-to-action if they wanted to take further steps into a working relationship with us. First, a business card of the presenter was facing up the box was opened. Second, attached inside of the box lid was a promotional postcard explaining our engagement in three sentences followed by an invitation to our website.

Create intrigue.

I love finding things that require a bit of wonder. Not everything is exposed, and need some exploration and discovery. It grabs, and holds, the spectators attention.

As the attendee arrived for the presentation, we wanted to grab attention and trigger curiosity. To analogize, we wanted to evoke the same anticipation and excitement as a kid on Christmas morning. We also wanted to parallel the experience of working with us as a company to this feeling, where clients are able to see their visions come to life, and the pleasure and gratification that comes with it.

The leave-behind was packaged in a simple kraft oyster box, and sealed with a label that simply stated “Let’s make something.” followed by our logo. In this approach, there was intrigue as well as required interaction. The sound of labels tearing and boxes opening was our goal, and we got it.

In conclusion, creating a leave-behind that promotes your company is a daunting task. Even in our process, there are lessons that were learned for future variations. The challenge was rewarding, and the end result was successful. As is the same with operating a business, promoting a business requires goals and expectations to be set, and make sure to be holistic with whatever story you’re trying to tell.

I looked over the severance package. Stood up. Shook my former boss’s hand, and walked out into the unknown. This was about three years ago, the first time I had been laid off in my career. But also, it was a time that the path I had been following became derailed, causing everything to be different. This was an uncomfortable time in my life that would turn out to be fortunate.

It’s never easy to confront life’s obstacles. At times we think we have it all figured out, but in this particular scenario, it can erupt right in front of you, leaving us with an uneasy feeling of what tomorrow will hold. To the many that don’t handle change well, this presents a large hurdle to overcome. Rather than sway you from avoiding these times, I encourage you to take these situations head on. In Ryan Holliday’s book The Obstacle is the Way, he discusses the how the challenges we face become our greatest benefit.

Since starting a business, I have found myself in several uneasy junctures. Times where it was necessary for me to step out of the ordinary routine, and change the way I was operating. After reflecting on these situations and seeking advice from others, I’ve come up with some principles to help cope & embrace the idea of being uncomfortable.

1. No time is the right time.

It’s called a leap of faith for a reason. As a business owner, you have to keep altering your day-to-day, continuing taking risks, scaling, and discovering what this idea you have created will become. I am a firm believer in having peace with a decision, however, there are times you may miss a progressive opportunity because of the fear of stepping forward. Whether it’s renting a commercial space, hiring your first employee, or simply investing income into marketing efforts, these are the challenging hurdles, defining why being a business owner is not for the feint of heart.

2. You aren’t alone.

When I struggle with failure, I search & read stories of how successful business owners overcame their times of opposition. Steve Jobs & Henry Ford, well-known and respected tycoons, have found themselves failing multiple times before finding the best solutions. Go to meetup.com, find a good roundtable discussion with fellow entrepreneurs in your area, and discover how each person in attendance struggles with the same feelings. I find benefit growing my network of similar minds chasing similar goals, and talking through the fears and discomfort of the day to day. Don’t let your pride force you to not cope, but yet be vulnerable to the feelings. Share them with others around you. The solutions and advice you receive can make the day-to-day a bit easier to take on, and you will feel more confident having a circle of support around you.

3. Trust the process.

When beginning a business, or in the first few years of being live, we tend to focus so much on the future. Rather, place emphasis on the present day-to-day achievements. Every day that the business is open is another day of success you should celebrate. Whether you operate from the coffee table in your living room, or manage a team of fifty employees in a high-rise, you are thriving in the competitive world of owning a business. With this comes the need to take uncomfortable steps to continue advancing. The restless nights, the morning anxiety, these all should be part of the fuel that empowers you.

4. Change is necessary.

Being complacent will lead to nowhere. You may find that things haven’t changed with your business, but how much are you changing as the leader?Ask yourself what uncomfortable risks and decisions am I making to continue the forward motion. Change has its challenges. Today you may be running a service-based business, but could possibly find yourself developing a product that transforms the overall concept. It can be uncomfortable, but change is necessary. Once you accept it, learn from it, and follow it, you’ll learn to appreciate the benefits it offers.

5. Don’t see money as value.

You offer a product or service to your clients, and you get paid for doing so. That’s the model of standard business. Try and not let this process define your business’s success. Many times we pass through a season of minimal to no work, and I take the typical trip into my headspace, considering next career steps. I focus on worst-case scenarios. This the wrong mindset to have. Clients are important to a business, but your growth is the most important part. When things slow down, use the time to read and educate yourself on things that were missed when things were busy. Reconnect with past colleagues and clients. Go to museums, conferences or even travel to look for new inspiration. Don’t look at slow as negative, but a time to reflect on yourself; where you’ve been and what has been accomplished, and to set goals for moving forward.

Venturing into the world of entrepreneurship isn’t an easy task. More often than not, you will feel that its you versus the world. And once you accept the challenge, you can learn to handle the obstacles constructively, growing as a confident entrepreneur, and a person.

There is not a handbook for the entrepreneurial spirit who decides to run their own business. When I began Dewyngaert Design, I focused on two main practices, and made them habitual.

1. Meet and talk with anyone and everyone that has any words of wisdom to help me with my journey.
2. Read and consume every bit of content about what I want to do.

I find it AMAZING how many secrets are revealed inside of a book. Reading is an underrated opportunity that I believe is underutilized for someone to discover and expand their knowledge and skillset. The questions we ponder, like: how to meet that next big client, when to hire and expand your team or how much to charge per hour can be found in between two covers. More often than not, in my experience, there has always been a book that can cure the plague of my entrepreneurial curiosities. Here are 5 impressionable books I’ve read when I first began running a digital design shop:

1. Don’t Make Me Think: Revisited by Steve Krug

In an ever-changing world of technology, the foundation of successful digital products is a logical user experience. In Don’t Make Me Think, Krug has a way of breaking down this ideology into a simple and enjoyable read. There are many websites and applications that miss the mark on knowing the end-user, and creating an intuitive experience for them so they can find what they’re looking for. If you are considering starting a business in the digital design world, this book should always travel with you in your messenger bag.

2. Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff They Don’t Teach You in Design School, But Should by Michael Janda

Recommended to me by a colleague, this book became quite the gem for beginning my entrepreneurial quest. Janda narrates his personal experiences of starting his creative shop by including tips for how to successfully manage your business and overcome the challenges. He covers everything from your ideal monthly burn rate, structure for creating professional emails, to handling those red-flag clients. Have post-it tabs ready for marking your favorite chapters when you begin flipping through these pages.

3. The Art of the Pitch: Persuasion and Presentation Skills That Win Business by Peter Coughter

One of the top traits for success in the design industry is being able to convince companies you understand who they are, what their problem is, and that you know how to solve it. Coughter shares great tactics for how to turn heads in presentations, with examples like the infamous Sega pitch from Goodby & Silverstein. It’s a quick read offering plenty of listed strategies to make your presentation memorable.

4. When Talent Isn’t Enough: Business Basics for the Creatively Inclined by Kristen Fischer

The biggest illusion to running a design business is the assumption that all work is creative. Fischer debunks this myth by clearly and decisively explaining all the other hats necessary to wear when running a creative company. Highlighting the chapters and putting them quickly into practice is the most beneficial way for an entrepreneur to understand the importance of a firm with a strong business foundation.

5. The Power of Self-Confidence: Become Unstoppable, Irresistible, and Unafraid in Every Area of Your Life by Brian Tracy

If you aren’t familiar with Brian Tracy’s writings and are thinking to start a business, become extremely familiar. Confidence is EVERYTHING in owning a business. You have to be able to withstand criticism and failure on a daily basis, and learn to cultivate those towards your growth. Tracy is an amazing salesman by trade, and shares the secret to being able to confidently manage challenging situations with boldness and poise. This book presents daily exercises that will assist in personal growth and reconstruction of self-confidence, as well as lead you to the book store to buy more of Tracy’s many publications.

Good advice is like a good song, you can’t seem to get it out of your head. “Get out there and write about what you do and why you do it.” Even though it was said to me so many times, I realized that until I define why I should write, I’ll never find value in it, and more importantly, keep at it. So I have summed up in 4 points why I want to write.

1. Creating Content

It’s the main way of advertising these days. Creating content that targets your main audience. It might be potential clients, friends, family, or just a group of readers who share the same values as you. I often preach this to my clients, focusing their goals and making sure their new website or application’s content is valuable to their consumer base. People don’t necessarily always want you for your production value, but for your way of thinking. What better way to share your values, understandings and overall logic of a particular subject than posting it for people that actually care to read it.

When I launched Dewyngaert Design, the best piece of advice I received is to “never act like you know more than you know.” I found this very simple, and very important. I meet & talk with anyone and everyone that can offer the time and may have words of wisdom for future hurdles. The same goes for reading people’s thoughts in their own forums. These kind of posts offer words of wisdom towards personal growth, and understanding of the journey they began taking in the entrepreneurial world. That being one of my main catalysts, I hope to be able to pay it forward to others who are in search of advice for their endeavors.

2. Share Insights and Processes

Everyone does their job differently. And in the world of design, there are thousands if not millions doing the particular job everyday. Through this medium, I want to share my insights and the way I handle projects and clients. I love reading these types of stories from writers I follow, so I’ll add to the chaos.

I live in the design world. I consume it. Read it. Converse about it. Watch documentaries about it. And though it makes sense (mostly) to me, I find that its not the case for everyone. So why not write about it, giving all my secrets away. I love doing what I do because it helps others’ ideas and passions come to life. I want this forum to become a way to further that helping hand.

3. Articulate

I will go as far as to say that writing is the absolute best method to boost your skill for articulating your ideas. I am the king of tripping over words during explanation. I’ve even created words that don’t exist to help fill in space during conversation, which is embarrassing when someone calls you out for it.

This particular post may take two, three, or fifteen drafts, but the exercise of chiseling down the words to the most succinct & digestible message is a very important skillset to enhance. It creates ability to present better, share your thoughts more distinctly, and grow your vocabulary.

4. Be Vulnerable

This is the last, and perhaps most important. Writing your thoughts and putting it out to the critical world takes courage. Being vulnerable in your writing means exposing yourself, and helping to conquer the fear of rejection. This is a common trait shared by majority of the humans on this planet.

Recently my wife introduced me to Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, and has a great podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, where he has interviewed 200+ people ranging from business owners to celebrities about subjects all humans can relate to. One particular thing made him appeal most to me was his vulnerability in the stories he writes and speaks about. He has no fear in judgement, and I think that is the “secret sauce” to his success. I am sure it took practice and time. Every single person in this world deals with insecurity, and once we all realize we have something to offer to the next person, we can find the best version of ourselves.

In closing.

Write. Share your ideas. Create content. Strengthen your articulation. Give away all your secrets & processes. And most importantly, learn to be vulnerable. The world is critical. Push yourself past it, and don’t be afraid to just put it out there.