"Artists are bad at business; so are women". Wanna bet?

South wilts business of the year awards

Me and the much beloved at the start of the awards night
 Spoiler alert - I won Enterprinsing woman in business! But here's what happened at  SWBOYA 2019

A few years ago Phil came home from the South Wilts business of the year awards and said to me "You should enter next year". I thought he was crazy, after all he works for Porton Biopharma which is a multi million pound company and there's just little old me, a sole trader and an artist to boot. What an earth could I do at a business awards?
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These brilliant awards, attended by over 800 people are organised by SpireFM and FSB.

Last year I entered without expecting much and was delighted to become one of the finalists. This year, I felt a bit more confident and wanted to really push myself.

SWOBOYA Salisbury city hall

The tension mounts as participants take their seats.
The process is actually quite a pleasant one. I was interviewed at The Enterprise Network by Amanda Foster. Her positivity and enthusiasm about women in business is absolutely infectious and far from being a chore it was an absolute delight to be able to talk to her and tell her about the innovations and developments I've made in my business over the past year. I was also entered into a second category Marketing excellence, sponsored by Unstuck design and my interview with Bexi was just as supportive and interesting. I came away from both interviews really enthused and excited about my own business and rather proud of what I have achieved.
 The awards night is great, you're greeted with photos, a glass of bubbly and a chance to network. Networking has turned into a dirty word, but it shouldn't be - it's just making business friends. And it's nice to support each other.
Once we were all seated in the auditorium of Salisbury city hall, the opening act got us all going. It was the rather brilliant James Morrison no less. What a start to the night.
Then the awards start, each category has a short list of finalists, followed by the winner being announced, the judge for that category presents the award, with a few words about why they won.
When it came to "Enterprising woman in business" my heart leapt. Hopeful I might be a finalist again. Then Karen pointed out this category had the highest number of entries and was hotly contested. My husband squeezed my hand; you'll be alright.
I was thrilled. I'd made the short list. Then my name was read out again as the winner. Fantastic. I can't believe it. Then the dreaded walk down the stairs...I don't wear heels often, they weren't high but even so, its remarkably hard walking down stairs!
Collecting my award from Amanda was just wonderful. It is just so good to know I'm doing something right. I work hard in my business and it's great that that has been recognised and rewarded.
There was an added surprise to my night, as I was a finalist in Marketing excellence. The winners in that category were Chalk valley history festival, where I'm exhibiting next weekend. Wow, two winners in one field...I might have to take my trophy with me!
After the awards are completed I felt as if I was at the Oscars; lots of photos, a couple of interviews and plenty of congratulatory hugs.
A quick drinkie in the Old ale house to round off the night was lovely too!
So what have I learnt through all this. I have to balance my time carefully. Part of my life I'm working on my art. Sometimes just making it, sometimes making it better, but it's painting and I love it. Part of my time I'm working on my business, website updates, SEO, blog posts (!), events, doing the books. And thirdly, and this shouldn't be underestimated, I'm working on my mindset. Having a positive outlook, working on those little demons in your head who say you're not good enough, and replacing them with angels who say you are! It sounds woo woo, but it works. It's got me here.
I'm chuffed to bits.

by Dougal Matthews

Graceful as a swan....(but you can't see the chaos underwater)

Do you share your life with a creative?
Is a member of your family pursuing the arts?
Maybe your best friend has just jacked in her job to finally lead a truly creative life?

Can they be a right royal pain in the backside at times? Don't worry, you can make them happy very easily with my top tips - I guarantee they'll appreciate your efforts.

1. Creatives can be sensitive!
That doesn't mean shower them with false praise! But try to be gentle if criticising their work; it can  be tough. However, in my experience creatives are very able to take criticism about other aspects of their business, so if you know a better printer, courier service or accountant, tell them - they'll want to know!

2. They're doing lots of things you can't see.
Creatives are often "one man bands" and do everything. I'd love it if every day was pure painting! But whatever it takes to keep business going, that's what they're doing. So if you feel you can't really  talk about their art then talk about their business. They'll love it and again you might have some useful insight that they'd really appreciate.

3. Online is good, bad and everything in between. And it takes up time.
Creatives need to be online, and sell online, and know what their competitors are up to too.  We need to have a presence online - and here's where you can really help the creative in your life:
  Like, share, heart, retweet whenever you can!
Facebook business pages don't have the same reach personal profiles. So
everytime you click 'like' on my business page, it tells Facebook that my post is good and groovy and it extends the post reach to others.
Everytime you share or comment, it pushes it even further. All for free. And boy do I appreciate it. I really do. Even better, if you have bought my work, prints or anything else post a picture in situ...wow I love seeing my work  in situ!

4. Give them a testimonial.
Pop them an email with a nice quotable sentence.
I really appreciate the friends who have, over the years, bought work from me, attended  my workshops, seen my exhibitions and visited my studio. And indeed, the new friends I've made by selling work or doing workshops. When they've written a little email with how much they enjoyed it, or how  much they learnt, or how much they love my painting - it's worth its weight in gold. It not only helps me through the tough days ( and that alone is great) but it helps fill a folder of testimonials, that help other customers develop trust in me, my work and my business..

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

by Dougal Matthews