As the owner of creative businesses, I'm usually handling a lot of moving parts- and often on my own. Between my writing work and my design projects, I’ve seen just how varied the setup can be depending on what you do and how you work. Sometimes it’s just me, juggling client briefs and deadlines from my home office, and other times it means collaborating with freelancers or using tools to keep everything on track. That variety is definitely part of the appeal, but it also makes it tricky to know how to scale when things start to pick up. Some creatives just prefer to be the brains behind their business and only stick to the workload they can handle, with no ambition to grow the business further. In some cases, this can be more than reasonable. But if you’re aiming to grow, having clear systems and the right support in place can make all the difference. Here are some approaches I’ve found useful, and that might help your creative business too.
Systemize Your Processes
Creative businesses can easily build themselves around the way one person works, which makes sense in the early days, but when you grow you need a format to follow. That’s because once the client load starts building up, the gaps start showing. Sorting out one solid, reliable process, such as how you deliver finished work or how you onboard new clients with a KYC meeting can smooth a lot of that friction. Putting together starter documentation can be a good place to start, as is a shared drive with pre-named folders. It’ll help you better communicate when you:
Hire & Delegate, Or Outsource Reliably
Waiting until you’re completely maxed out usually means you’ll end up handing things off in a rush, and that’s where miscommunications and rushing can easily happen. If you can see that you’re approaching your ceiling, that’s the time to start looking at support, be that that bringing on a freelance designer, using a copyeditor, or asking someone to handle your emails or work as your support. Even if you bring someone on with a part-time contract, or a graphic designer to finish your projects, it can help.
Work With Experts Who Know Creative Structure
Some creative businesses aren’t built for rigid hierarchy as we mentioned above, and that’s still fine. Yet if you’re serious about scaling, having people in your corner who understand how creative businesses work in line with the newer format works. Using a service such as Digital Agency Launchpad can easily help creative teams grow without flattening the spark that makes them good at what they do. They can help shape the systems you don’t have time to build from scratch, by making specific recommendations and onboarding you onto systems proven to work. This way you can get out of your own way, and make sure increased load or additional contacts don’t add too much friction to the creative spark you can provide.
For me, juggling writing and design projects alongside everything else means I’ve had to learn the hard way how important it is to have clear systems and the right support in place. It’s not always easy to step back and delegate when you’re used to handling everything yourself, but finding that balance has made a big difference in managing growth without losing the creativity that makes the work enjoyable.
