Top Challenges I See With Entertainment Entrepreneurs: Part I

A few weeks ago, I wrote about why entertainment entrepreneurs make great entrepreneurs. 

And while I still believe that 100%, I’ve found that our unique breed of entrepreneurs also faces some of the same challenges. And if not curbed, focused or redirected, they can run a business completely off course. 

After working with dozens of consulting and coaching clients, it’s become super clear that the creative nature of entertainment entrepreneurs can sometimes get in the way of creating a clear and focused path forward. 

We have millions of ideas buzzing around in our brilliant brains, which is really useful during marketing brainstorms, initial product and business development, and other areas . . . but it can be a detriment in other areas of business like quarterly and annual planning, and sticking to a plan when we suddenly run into a problem or have a new idea that we get excited about. 

Our ideas mean everything to us because it’s how we create value in the world. So it’s understandable that anytime we have a great idea we suddenly want to drop everything and pursue it with the same passion we pursue everything. But this instinct can lead to a million unfinished projects, and if we can’t ever seem to finish a project or stick to a plan, our progress and results are diminished. 

I’ve even seen people use this as a subconscious excuse to never start anything, because they have so many ideas they get overwhelmed and don’t know which to choose or where to start. 

To help overcome this desire to constantly chase new ideas at the expense of your current plan, consider keeping a running list of all your ideas and writing them down every time something new pops into your head. Then every week or every month go through your list and evaluate which ones would have the biggest impact on your business or your life the fastest. 

As painful as it is, we can’t pursue every great idea.

We will see better results faster when we pursue and complete one great idea before starting another one and that’s just math. 

If we have 4 ideas/projects we want to pursue that will each take 1 week to complete, we could start them all at the same time, and then finish them all at the same time at the end of week 4. But this means that we don’t see any results from our efforts until week 5, after we’ve completed our projects. 

OR, we could start only one idea first and finish it by the end of week one. So by the start of week 2 we’re already seeing results from our first project as we start the second project. Then by the end of week two we have our second project complete and can now see results from two projects already! 

You get the point. 

Our creativity is a blessing and a curse, and I encourage all entertainment entrepreneurs to notice when we start to get excited about a new idea (which is an addictive feeling!) at the expense of another project. 

If your new idea is going to derail other projects, then write it down and come back to it later. It will still be there.