Creator vs. Operator

I had an interesting call with an online entrepreneur the other day. This guy’s been working in his space for four years, and he just crossed $350K in annual revenue. He’s got a lot going for him: a loyal audience, three successful products, and steady income growth.

Sounds like a dream until you look under the hood.

This guy booked a call with me because he’s drowning in operational chaos. And working as a one-man show, he was desperate for some guidance. His customer support emails were piling up, delivery systems were unreliable, and he has no process for creating the social media content that fuels his business.

He’s making more money than ever, but he came to me feeling stressed out by his situation.

It didn’t take long for me to understand what the problem was here. He’s still working like a creator in a business that desperately needs an operator.

Two different minds

After seven years of building my online businesses, I've noticed an important difference between creative entrepreneurs who succeed and those who get stuck.

The most successful people aren't just creators or operators. They figure out how to be both.

The problem is that, naturally, most people will lean heavily toward one side and ignore the other.

Creators live for the spark. They chase new ideas, build audiences, create compelling content, and spend time designing. They're driven by expression and impact. Their strength is creating content that resonates.

Operators live for the system. They optimize processes, track metrics, and build infrastructure that makes everything flow smoothly. They're driven by efficiency and scale. Their strength is making things work without needing constant attention.

Neither approach is wrong. But ignoring the other side can kill your business and your sanity.

The creator who doesn’t build systems ends up with a $350K mess on their hands. They have great revenue, incredible stress, and constant fires to put out.

The operator who doesn’t create ends up with a $50K ceiling. They’ve got perfect systems, but no pipeline. They’re nearly invisible online.

This call reminded me of conversations with a dozen other people. The details are always a little different, but the underlying problem is the same. Smart people building businesses that stall because they aren’t aware of their natural shortcomings.

The real problem

What gets you to $100K won't get you to $500K.

In the beginning, the creator’s energy is everything. You need that creative juice to stand out, build an audience, and develop your voice. The systems can wait because you haven’t reached critical mass yet.

But around $250K, the game starts to change. Suddenly, you're spending more time putting out little fires than creating content. Every new product or service makes your business more complex. And every new sale creates more support tickets.

This is where most creators hit the wall.

They know something needs to change, but they don't know what. So they do what creators do. They create more: New products, new content, and new ideas.

But more creation without better operations just accelerates the downward spiral.

Finding your balance

I’ve watched excellent creator friends spend months trying to transform into a pure operator. Reading books about systems. Building elaborate workflows. Optimizing everything.

They usually hate it. And it doesn’t typically work.

Here's what actually works:

Start by being honest about what you're actually good at and what you truly enjoy working on. Would you rather spend your time creating content or building useful systems?

There's no wrong answer here, but it’s important to know where you stand.

When you figure this out, set aside a little time to improve on the other side. And keep in mind, you don’t need to become a master. If you're a creator, find one day a week to improve your systems. If you're an operator, schedule a day for creative writing.

Next, zoom out and make sure your business is designed around your strengths while covering your weaknesses. If it isn’t, solve the problem. Here's what that might look like:

• Partnering with someone who complements your core skills
• Hiring someone to cover your areas of weakness
• Building automation to handle the stuff you hate doing
• Staying intentionally small to match your natural style

For example, I outsourced my web design, built automations to handle all of my product delivery, and have stayed small and lean so I don’t have to manage anyone. My creator brain stays happy while systems and automation handle the repetitive stuff. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s sustainable.

After exploring this topic with my struggling customer, he agreed to dedicate his Fridays to operations. He’s going to start documenting processes. And I showed him how to set up a few simple automations and create reusable templates for customer service tickets. Nothing overly fancy. But these little tweaks will make big differences for this guy’s business and his mental health.

The bottom line

The creator-operator gap is real. But it's not impossible to overcome.

Successful businesses aren't built by pure creators or pure operators. They're built by people who understand both sides and design accordingly.

The good news is you don't have to become a different person. But you do have to acknowledge where you are naturally inclined to focus, and what your business needs at each stage.

Know what you're good at, and design your business to work with you, not against you.

Because your goal isn't to build the biggest business, but to build one that lets you do your best work without burning out.

And that's all for today.

See you next Saturday.

P.S. If you want to join a network of 800 creative entrepreneurs building profitable businesses that improve their lives, check out my new Inner Circle membership. You’ll get access to our live group chat, weekly Q&A, monthly workshops with world-class entrepreneurs, and in-person networking events worldwide.