Creative Entrepreneurship Basics: You Need Input from Others (Part 3)

You know . . . I’ve been on this “getting input from others” kick lately. And I must say that there’s a lot to say for doing so. As a matter of fact, when thinking on what I was going to share with you today, it became increasingly apparent that I wanted to stay on this topic for one more go-around. Hope you don’t mind.

However, I’ve decided to take the topic of input to a deeper level than the “seeking knowledge, suggestions, and advice from others” route.

What about the input that actually involves rolling up the sleeves and getting to work?

Now, I know a thing or two about enlisting the input (or help) of others in my own creative entrepreneurial endeavors. How so? Well, my children are pretty much incorporated in just about everything I do with Degrees of Maternity (DOM). They are one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place. Many posts on this blog have been influenced by them (or children in general) or are about my relationships with them; books I’ve written have included anecdotes about them or were inspired by them; and they’ve created handcrafted and digital artwork for this blog, my other social platforms, the DOM newsletter, and the DOM stores.

So, I would say that I’m all about the input-seeking strategies. I’ve let my children be a big part of my creative journey; and it’s been extremely beneficial to me. Actually, it’s been mutually beneficial to both parties if I can be totally transparent here.

One of my goals with the businesses that I engage in through Degrees of Maternity is to get my family involved. Yes, husband too. This is a family thing. I’ve had to have family backing from the beginning to get this far in my journey. And, it has taken all of the family members being on board in order for me to do so.

Now, I will admit that none of them deal in the daily grind that involves what I do with this blog or my stores; but the fact that they are supportive enough to let me do my thing is a blessing in and of itself. They give me the time I need to be present on my creative platforms. They’ve been known to pick up the slack for me at times when I can’t get to things I may need to do for the household due to being in creative mode. Or at least, don’t complain when certain household responsibilities that usually fall to me may be less than 100. And when I need to pull them in to grace Degrees of Maternity with their creative talents, they are always more than willing to be of service.

Okay, so I’m going to put a little bit of a plug in here about my children’s creative abilities, because I believe in cultivating the talents of children when they’re young and letting them flourish in those things that they’re great at doing. And since I didn’t inherit the “ability to create appealing visual arts” gene, I’m constantly in awe of the creative work my children put forth.

And you better believe that mom’s not shy about displaying their talents out there for the world to see. It’s great stuff. And it’s awesome having children that can hone their craft in something they enjoy doing, bless the family business, but also take those skills sets with them to other creative endeavors they may personally have a passion for doing. Mutually-beneficial all the way.

And with that being said, here’s the plug: if you would like to witness some of that awesome visual artwork I was just discussing above, then I’d like for you to head on over to the Degrees of Maternity Teachers Pay Teachers store and check out a lot of it over there. Most of the digital downloads have been designed and created by my adult daughter, Toodlez. And you can find the visual handiwork of my 11-year-old son in the “Welcome Back” cards for grades Kindergarten through 5th.

And if you see something you like, I wouldn’t mind it one little bit if you’d like to take advantage of the Cyber Sale that’s coming up on November 29th through November 30th, where everything at the Degrees of Maternity Teachers Pay Teachers store will be up to 25% off if you use the promo code CYBER21.   

Just click on the image below to take you over there.

But I digress. I’m back now, though, and continuing on with the topic at hand. Ah yes, input from your household.

So, those of you living with other family members in the household can probably relate to how important it is to have their input, whether it’s indirect help by giving you the time and space to work your creative genius or whether it’s direct work they perform for your endeavor. Either way, you have to have some cooperation with those in your household in order to make creative entrepreneurship work in your favor.

Now, I imagine you may be able to make your creative endeavor work with little to no cooperation from your household, as well. Miracles do happen. But, creative progress can be more of an uphill battle if you have forces working against you from the inside. (NOTE: you can expect some opposing forces (or challenges) from the outside — ALWAYS. Count on that. And this is not me being negative; I’m being completely realistic. Real talk.)

So at least, try to mitigate divided forces from within and seek ways to create and maintain a cooperative flow in your household for everyone’s benefit. And getting the family’s input (indirect or direct) is one of the best methods you can take toward creating that togetherness for your creative environment. Here are just a few suggestions for enlisting your household’s input:

1. Communicate to your family, regarding your creative entrepreneurial plan. (Sometimes, simply making sure everyone understands what you’re doing with your creative business can help dispel misunderstandings and garner trust in the process.) Communicate:
   • what it is you’re doing or you would like to do.
   • why you’re doing it or would like to do it.
   • what outcomes you’re expecting to see and how you and others will be affected by these outcomes.
   • the costs in time, money, and resources to pursue your vision.
2. Allow them to actively participate in things they can do to help you with your business. (The more input they have in the process, the more invested they’ll be in seeing it succeed.)
   • Allow them to use their creative genius in the business.
   • Be willing to delegate certain tasks to others who have the ability to do those tasks.
3. Create a household chores plan to help your household help you when you may not be able to get to certain domestic tasks due to creative priorities.
   • The plan could be a temporary plan when you might need a little extra time to work on the business, as needed.
   • The plan could be a permanent plan for splitting up household chores on a continuous basis.

Will you or have you tried some of these suggestions? If you have tried some, how did they work out for you in your pursuit of household cooperation?