At first glance, it might be a touch difficult to believe that an entrepreneur with a mail-order lobster business has anything to teach a struggling song-and-dance gal trying to make it on the Great White Way. I can assure you, Mr. Snappy Claws has learned a thing or two the hard way and is better for it. Listen up.
Forbes.com featured this fabulous article about entrepreneurs balancing their little business babies, and their day jobs. Since the lending climate changed from cozy, slightly-humid, rip-your-clothes-off-and-start-rolling-around-in-piles-of-money to something decidedly more Arctic, it's gotten tougher for people to get small business loans. And this has changed the way that these self-starters get started. But don't think just because these people have MBAs instead of MFAs means they don't have anything in common with you, gentle coffeehouse rocker.
The truth is, if you're trying to make a career for yourself as a performer, you'd be ridonkulously stupid to ignore the trials and tribulations of clever entrepreneurs and business-folk. You want to be an actress? Guess what? That means that you're running a business, too. Instead of shipping lobsters across the globe, you're sending your own brand of talent out into the world, and busily managing the (hopefully) resultant work. The headshots that you bought last week are a business expense, your auditions are nothing more than glorified 'client meetings', and the new dress you bought at Nordstroms is most certainly a uniform for your very unique business. You're self-employed, Missy. (Between shifts at Hollywood Video, that is.) It's time to get smart about how you establish yourself.