110 The Digital Artisan Manifesto

After five years of immersion into entrepreneurship, we’ve learned a few things. Here’s the advice we’d like to share with our fellow founders, distilled into 23 suggestions for building an intentional business online.   These are the practices of Digital Artisanship: Identify your core values early. These will be your touchstone and will help you to navigate every difficult decision. Ask why. Daily. Don’t assume that what’s been right for others is right for you. Build it well. Quality matters. Strive to be an artisan with your work—whether you’re making soap or outlining an online course. Curiosity is essential. Your ability to approach problems with wonder will carry you through. Audit your supply chain. Prioritize your values over what’s cheap or convenient or fast. Hire the people whose work you want to see more of in the world. Embrace niching. This will be the key to your financial success. Understand a specific group of people and serve them well. Value relationships over transactions. Treat your employees, contractors, and suppliers with trust and respect. Demand fair prices from your customers. Avoid the negative energetic exchange that fuels resentment. Pay fair wages to your team. Honor the community by respecting someone’s training and expertise. Embrace the long game. Slow down. Build in buffers. It always takes longer than you think. An idea, when followed through with consistent action, can create tremendous financial liberation. Be mindful of interconnectivity, the larger ecosystem, and ripple effects.  What we do affects others (and our future selves). Embrace a culture of responsible generosity. Infuse your business practices with service and philanthropy, but not to a point that it drains you or breeds resentment. You know when you’re overextended. You know when you have more to give. Trust your intuition. Eliminate the tasks that some advisor or random Instagram post told you that you “should” be doing. Do what’s right instead of what’s easy. Treat leadership like a sacred duty. (If you’re reading this, you’re a leader.) Look beyond profit and growth. Money is a metric of success, but not the only one. Tell your story. Encourage others to tell theirs. Amplify the work of others. Use your platform to showcase the voices that you respect and admire. Connect with real human beings. Networking will get you off the ground in the beginning and it will accelerate your success as you grow. Value your offline life. Carve out analog space. It will refuel you. Speak up. Your voice matters. You won’t get there by playing small. Bravery is inextricably linked to your success. Nobody does it alone. Find the people who will celebrate your victories and pull you out of those inevitable dips and struggles. You can figure it out. You don’t know it all and you never will. Be willing to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. Know that success is possible for you. It make take longer or look differently than you expect. It’s worth it. WE WANT YOUR HELP… Collectively, we have an opportunity to impact how this evolving economy shifts, to drive it in a more intentional direction. Please share these #digitalartisan practices with your people. Let’s build a world where entrepreneurship equates to creativity, service, and sustainability.   Joy: David Whyte’s Santiago Hustle: The Digital Artisan Manifesto