Note: This article is by author Stephen Key, in which he shares his experience of putting his creativity to work.
When launching a new service or product, every entrepreneur experiences doubt along with many questions, including:
- Will consumers purchase my new product or service?
- Is now the ideal time to launch the product or service?
- Do I have enough experience to launch my product?
- Do I have the funds necessary to start this project?
- Is the labor market ready to receive a service or product like this?
Every entrepreneur who launches a new product or service must deal with uncertainty. It is more genuine than it has ever been. Even though timing is crucial, no one can predict the right time precisely.
There are a lot of unknowns with every new service or product. In other words, it will always be a risky journey.
As a long-time entrepreneur with licensed products and businesses in various industries, I can say I know this feeling all too well. However, I can recall a particular instance. A friend of mine came to see me in my office a few years ago and asked if I could design new guitar picks.
I had no experience in this area, so I wondered whether he was serious. Yes, I love these products, but why would someone decide to go into this particular field? Also, I have yet to learn about the music industry, and guitar picks are just cheap plastic pieces.
However, it was good timing. We'd just moved to a new house, my wife wasn't working, and the royalties from one of my inventions had stopped. Additionally, I had plenty of free time, no options, and no idea how I would make the housing loan installment payments.
This is when you have to believe in yourself. Your best creative work may result in moments of uncertainty. I accepted his request because of my situation at the time, which is the appropriate mindset for getting creative.
Therefore, I started working immediately and created my first set of guitar picks. However, the line failed as when I put some samples in local music stores. Nobody would buy them, proving my initial intuition to be entirely incorrect.
All entrepreneurs, though, have experienced failure at some point. I have been rejected many times in my career, and this particular instance was undoubtedly one of them.
Later, I realized that I knew very little about young culture because I was fifty years old, so I had yet to study the market thoroughly. Then, I went to a local mall in my California town and went inside a Hot Topic store to research the social trends of young people. I was amazed when I saw skull shapes everywhere, but it was inspirational. After that, I designed a skull-shaped guitar pick and chose a very appropriate name: "The Grave Picker."
I researched the packaging in this industry, and I found out that guitar picks were sold in sets and kept in a box behind the counter. At that point, uniquely packaging my picks would help me stand out even more. I can sell my guitar picks to musicians and reach out to music enthusiasts if I can create unique guitar pick designs that will widen my customer base.
This intuition was so correct. In less than four years, Hot Picks, our company, became one of the world's leading producers of guitar picks. Also, music stores, Walmart, 7-Eleven, and other retailers from everywhere flocked to us to sell our products.
However, to sign a contract with retailers that don't usually sell such a product, we had to resolve our doubts. I distinctly recall asking to sell my picks at 7-Eleven by setting them up at the checkout counter exclusively on the weekends. The manager agreed to let me try even though he didn't think I would sell any of them. Eventually, they sold out by Sunday.
Also, we use new marketing approaches. Myspace was a trendy social media platform then, so we made the most of it by sponsoring garage bands and giving them free picks. As a result, their fans grew to love our products as well.
The Benefits of Harnessing Creativity in Moments of Doubt
In other words, you'll gain a lot from giving yourself a chance, particularly if you have few options. Here's what I've learned by using my creativity in moments of doubt:
1. Good Observation
Observing your surroundings is a great way to learn. You shouldn't base your decision solely on assumptions, even though you may believe your idea is great. Instead, consider the following, "What do customers prefer?"
2. To Lower Risks, Test Your Products First on a Small Scale
It was easy to start over and develop new designs because we only made a limited amount of the first design and didn't lose much money when it didn't work out.
3. Think Out of the Box
We could sell to a much wider range of customers with just a small alteration to the guitar pick design. Also, stores that did not sell this type of product sold several types of our picks.
4. Choose the Right Partner
When my friend visited me that day, I knew nothing about the music industry, but he was a musician and had two stores. Also, his connections to distributors and trade shows were very helpful to us.
(Most significantly, he was skilled at obtaining our money from retailers who failed to make timely payments.) Therefore, choose your partner carefully. Find a trustworthy partner who is knowledgeable enough in the field you are entering if you still need to.
5. Be Bold to Cross the Lines
You must believe in your creativity. In my case, my lack of direct experience in the music industry became significant, as I could think creatively and have fun with the designs because I don't play the guitar and could, therefore, think outside the box.
I will always remember when I was forced to try something new, pay rent, and have no other options. Every entrepreneur launches a product in uncertain moments, and that defines entrepreneurs.
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