A creative playground

Is ignoring the advice of ‘doing one thing well’ a good idea?

If you read business books or listen to entrepreneurs on podcasts, you will be familiar with the theory of niching. Making a decision about what you ‘do’, focusing, picking a lane and then sticking with it, until you become an authority and earn the elusive title of ‘expert’.

One of my favourite podcasts is Conversations of Inspiration, where Holly Tucker, the UK Ambassador for Creative Small Business, interviews founders, entrepreneurs and thought leaders about a myriad of inspirational topics. One of the episodes I have returned to time and again is her conversation with David Hieatt, the co-founder of denim brand Hiut Denim along with pioneering The Do Lectures and renowned series of The Do Books. Hieatt is a true advocate for ‘doing one thing well’ and has built his business on this principle.

‘We only make jeans. We say no to anything else. Be narrow. Be good.’

Personally I have always struggled to follow these rules, although I acknowledge that they do make perfect sense. I studied Textile Design at University and combined this with Marketing and Design Management. I then split my studio time between print, knit and weave, only specialising in print at the very last moment. I enjoyed exploring all of the disciplines and finding ways of combining them in innovative ways.

The concept of ‘doing one thing well’ and picking a niche has been weighing on my mind a little as I have seemingly taken the opposing path with my business idea for The Tiny Department Store. Purposely choosing a journey of variety and exploration, over niching. The idea of producing a diverse range of different products each month based on evolving themes and changing departments, at odds with the advice.

Over the last few weeks I have been making paper flowers for my very first product line. Small wooden wreaths, with crochet jackets, hand wrapped woolen pom poms to decorate, with tiny paper flowers woven through the stitches. My thoughts have wandered to the true experts of paper flower making. Should I be honing my skills in paper flower making, aiming to become known in this field, rather than simply dipping my toes into the water? Plenty of food for thought.

I am reminded of the words of one of my tutors at Art college. She was known for being difficult to please and despite working my hardest under her tutelage she was yet to offer more than a cursory nod at my endeavors. On the last week of my two year program she begrudgingly told me that ‘I was surprisingly good at putting things together.’ At the time I didn’t think too much of her comments, but on reflection I think that I am good at bringing things together, colour palettes, textures, inspirations from a broad and eclectic range of sources. I can take elements from each and spin them together to create a narrative and this is what I have done for much of my creative career to date.

So, maybe my ‘one thing’ is being a curator. Rather than striving to become a master of ceramics, embroidery, printing or indeed paper flowers, my goal is to become a doyen of storytelling. Developing concepts and narratives that captivate and connect. This could be the golden thread, woven through each collection and department. So on reflection perhaps I am not ignoring the advice of creative maverick David Hieatt after all!

I have included some images of my first product range for The Tiny Department Store. A small series of just seven wreaths inspired by the colours and textures of a spring walk. They are all completely unique and will come with a hand stamped and signed certificate of authenticity along with some kind of look book/concept book sharing the story of the theme. This will make up the homewares department so now I am going to begin working on a collection of tiny beaded bracelets for the accessories department.

As always I would love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions.

Until next week x