From Maker to Manager: The Shift Every Growing Creative Business Has to Make (and Why It Feels So Hard)

If you run a creative product business, you’ll know the feeling: orders are steady, your audience is growing, and things are “working”… yet somehow everything feels like it’s held together with tape and a prayer. You’re juggling production, packing, emails, content, supplier issues, customer questions, - and you keep thinking:

“If only there were two of me.”

I get it because I’ve lived it. Growing a handmade or product-based business is a wild mix of joy, exhaustion, inspiration, and overwhelm. And there’s a moment every founder hits - usually right after a period of rapid growth - where they realise that passion alone isn’t enough anymore. Creativity got you here. But to grow from here?

You need structure. Systems. A plan that isn’t constantly rewritten in your head at 2am!

This is the moment you shift from ‘maker’ to ‘manager’... And this blog is here to help you navigate that shift with confidence, clarity, and a little less stress.

Why That Shift Feels So Uncomfortable

It’s a completely different skillset from the one you started with. You are brilliant at the thing you create. But no one taught you how to price for profit margins, map out a seasonal production cycle, manage supplier relationships, plan your workload balancing life and launch timelines, or build systems that grow with you.

You didn’t start your business to become an operations manager... yet here you are.

And the tricky part? Most creative founders continue to work in the business long past the point they should start working on the business. Not because they can't, but because it feels like you don't have the time.

That’s when things can start to slip:

• You're always playing catch up

• You’re reacting instead of planning

• You don’t have time to improve anything — only time to “get today done”

• Ideas pile up, but implementation never happens

• The business grows… but you don’t feel like you are growing with it

If this sounds familiar, this blog series is designed for you.

The Good News: You Don’t Need a Big Team to Get Organised

You don’t need corporate-level systems. You don’t need a full-time hire. And you don’t need to magically become a different kind of business owner.

What you need is:

• Clarity: What needs doing now, next, and never

• Simple systems: A few straightforward ones that actually fit your way of working

• Realistic plans: Made with your capacity, life, and seasonality in mind

• A paired-down set of priorities: No more trying to fix everything at once

• Support: Someone who can step in, roll up their sleeves, and help you implement

That’s exactly the gap my new service offering is built to fill - a practical, hands-on, “extra you” for the moments you need it most.

But we’ll get to that in future posts.

Right now, I want to help you see where the shift begins.

Five Signs You’re Ready to Step Into the “Manager” Version of Your Business

1. You’ve hit capacity — not financially, but mentally

You can’t see how to grow without working even more hours. (Spoiler: you can.)

2. You know systems would help… but you don’t know which ones or literally just don't have the time to think about them

You’ve might have tried apps, planners, templates. Nothing sticks because they’re not built for your business.

3. You want to plan ahead, but you don’t have the bandwidth

Seasonal launches sneak up. Admin piles up. You don’t have time to zoom out.

4. You’re doing tasks you know aren’t the best use of your time

But delegating or hiring feels too big right now.

5. You’re tired of feeling behind

You want space to think, plan, and create again - not just survive the week.

If you’re nodding along, you’re in the exact stage I work with every day. And you’re not alone.

So… Where Do You Start?

Here’s the simplest way to begin the shift from “busy maker” to “confident manager”:

1. Stop trying to overhaul everything

Pick one area: orders, content, production, planning, customer service. Choose the part that creates the most stress. Fix that one thing first.

2. Map your next 6 weeks, not your next 6 months

Creative businesses thrive on short, focused bursts - long timelines often become unrealistic and also not fit for purpose by the time you get there!

3. Build one small, sustainable system

Example:

• One template for customer replies

• One production checklist

• One content structure

• One weekly planning ritual

Small systems can reduce decision fatigue instantly, opening up brain space for other things that will more your business forwards.

4. Ask: “What would make this easier?”

If the answer is “another pair of hands”… good news, you don’t always need to hire a staff member to get that. Jot down the bits you aren't getting to each week (what is slipping daily from the to-do list, or that you are putting off) so you can see the types of tasks that are being missed and the impact that this could have on your stress levels and bottom line if they got done.

5. Get support before burnout hits

Most founders wait until they're overwhelmed. The smartest ones get help right when they see the cracks forming.

What’s Coming Next on the Blog - Business Support Tailored to You

Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing practical, simple, genuinely usable content including:

• How to plan your business seasonally (without overwhelm)

• The exact systems every creative product business needs

• What to automate, what to simplify, and what to stop doing

• How to prepare for busy periods like Christmas without panic

• Realistic planning for founders who don’t have endless hours

• When you need a full-time hire — and when you absolutely don’t

Plus some behind-the-scenes insights from both my creative practice and the businesses I support.

If You’re Ready to Feel Calm, Organised, and Ahead of Yourself… Stay Tuned

This new chapter of BB is about helping creatives run their businesses with intention, and clarity, without losing the joy that brought you here in the first place. If you're already feeling like you need that "extra you" now, you can explore the new services here. Everything I do is hands-on, tailored, and rooted in lived experience - no fluff, no generic frameworks, just practical help that works.