One of the core ideas behind my book Try It & See is that everything is an experiment. Not only is that the title of the first chapter, but “try it & see” has become shorthand for taking something from just a thought (as in, “I wonder if this is worth my time?”) to real world test. (And in most cases, “test” means putting something out into the world and asking for money. Because you can survey people all you want, but you really won’t know if people are interested until you ask them to pay for it.)
The idea behind treating everything as an experiment is a simple one. It gets you out of analysis paralysis by acknowledging that, even if you do all the research in the world, you can’t predict the future. Ultimately, the only way to know if something will work is to put it out into the world and see what happens.
Treating everything as an experiment also lets go of the pressure to succeed. When everything is an experiment, there are no failures. Everything is a learning experience that leads you closer to figuring out what does work in your creative business.
That last bit is key. Everything isn’t supposed to be an experiment forever. Treating everything as an experiment doesn’t mean living in a perpetual state of upheaval. You’re experimenting so you can find what works and exist in that space for a while.
For me, trade shows were a perfect example of this. When I first started exhibiting in them, things were constantly changing. My booth design, my location in the show, the shows I was doing, even the products I was selling. But over time, doing my regular shows started to feel like clockwork. I found things that worked, and I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time.
The goal with treating everything as an experiment isn’t to burn things down and start over every few months or even every few years if things are working. Instead, it’s a mindset shift to help you get comfortable when you want or need to try something new in your creative business.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges in running a creative business is that things are constantly changing. So many shifts have happened in the world that what worked last year may not work this year. But that’s the other great part about treating everything as an experiment. When the world pivots, you can give yourself permission to try new things as well.
Ideally, you business exists as a mix of experiments and things you can reasonably predict are going to work. These are the things in your business that started as experiments, but over time, and with refinement, they become the core of your business. I call these focuses, and they are just as key to your businesses as experiments.
In many ways, they are even more important, because they are the things you’ve proven work. And there’s nothing wrong with sticking with them as long as they continue to work. So while it’s important to bring that experimental mindset into your business, that doesn’t mean you constantly have to reinvent the wheel. Experiments are there to help you discover the core things that work for you and your business. Because ultimately, discovering those things that work, so you can focus on them, is what building a business for the long term is all about.
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This is exactly why I’ve built room for both experiments and focuses into the Try It & See Planner. There’s also space for quarterly reflection, so you can look back at your experiments, see what you’ve learned, and decide if any are worth turning into focuses. The planner is available now my online store!
