The world of brand collaborations can be a tad confusing for small-business owners, but working with your community rather than competing with it can be super-beneficial to growing your biz and keeping your creative passion alive. We recently attended the Finders Keepers Creative Business Summit, where artists and designers Pete Cromer, Esther Sandler and Shuh Lee told creativity coach and author Marion Piper everything they know about collaborations (and trust us – they know a lot). Here’s what they had to say.

PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE
There’s no one way for collaborations to occur, according to Esther, but turning to your immediate network is a good place to start. “Early on in my career, I reached out to friends and peers that I met through the market community in order to create collaborative products,” she says. “I saw a great benefit in being able to cross-pollinate our audiences and work with someone who’s outside of my own head to get that different perspective.”

More recently, Esther has gotten to collaborate with big, “aspirational” brands, which she attributes to the huge amount of work she has done behind the scenes. “Really cultivating my signature style of illustration, developing how I work and producing work has been something that has driven collaborations to my inbox,” she says. “And conversely, me reaching out to places has resulted in a few positive collaborations as well. There are a lot of different ways collaborations can happen and I think it just involves trying as many different avenues as possible.”

Pete adds that, on top of participating in markets and events, just talking to people and “being friendly generally can open the world up to so much more”. And if you connect with someone who you don’t want to work with in the end, then you can still say no. “Just because these conversations start, it doesn’t mean that you’re obligated to collaborate,” he says.

HAVE YOUR OWN BACK
Through her past collaborations, Esther has learnt that sometimes you have to adapt and shift your vision in order to make space for the person or business you are working with. However, she has also learnt when to stand her ground. “Through commercial collaborations, one thing that’s been an important learning experience for me is how to really advocate for my work and feel confident in saying no or pushing certain designs that I think will work. In my day-to-day life, I’m not like that so much, but with my work, I can do it because I don’t want to compromise how it looks. It’s a standalone thing that I want to nurture and make sure it’s represented well.”

Part of having your own back is ensuring that you sign a contract, especially if you’re taking part in a commercial collab. “Legal stuff does come into the mix, and it can be super-overwhelming, but it’s really important to advocate for yourself and your work within those documents, because they’re there to protect you and let you know the framework that this collaborator is allowed to use your work in,” Esther says. “You can license your work so the other party doesn’t actually own your work – they’re just using it for a set amount of time for certain products or applications – or you can sell your work. That’s two ends of the spectrum and there’s lots of stuff in between.”

Pete agrees that having documentation in place is crucial. “I have a very scary-looking contract, which is needed because it protects you in so many different aspects,” he says. He explains that he has a number of exclusive and non-exclusive licensing agreements, but he will never sell his IP. “Once you hand over the ownership, someone could take it in 10 years’ time and do something with it that could then compromise another collaboration that you’re doing.”

Shuh adds that she neglected the documentation side of things during the start of her career, but she realised that it wasn’t worth the potential regrets. “It’s good to even write a few paragraphs. Just put it in paper to protect yourself and your collaborator.”

And if you need help with writing or deciphering documents, seek legal advice from the experts.

DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET
Not every collaboration will be successful. For example, Pete has recently had to deal with the fact that a party he’s been working with – and chasing payments from – has gone into voluntary administration. “The situation is totally out of my control and unfortunately, some people don’t show you the financial situation they’re in when you’re doing things with them, so it can land you in shit,” he says. “This is an experience I can learn from, and there’ve been other people who have been through this as well, so being able to reach out and talk to them has been really helpful for the whole thing.”

The moral of the story? “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” he says. “I’ve got fingers in pies, so if I was gonna lose money or an opportunity, it’d just be a sliver of the pie.”

CHARGE WHAT YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH – THEN WORK YOUR WAY UP
When you’re dealing with collaborators and clients, distilling the value of your hard work into an exact number can be a tricky task. Esther and Shuh say that it’s important to have people in your creative community who you can talk to about these kinds of issues if you’re unsure of how much you should charge or how to approach the situation. Charging your hourly rate plus a bit on top can be a good place to start, Esther says. “Sometimes it feels like pulling a number out of a hat, but with experience, you kind of get to a point where you feel like you don’t want to settle for a certain amount.”

Marion suggests that you start with the price that you feel comfortable with, then gradually increase it. “What I used to do was just add $100 or $200 for every client after that, until I got to the point where somebody said no. If people aren’t saying no, then you’re not charging enough.”

Want to know more about collaborations? Small-biz experts Ivy Niu, Julie Tran (Aacute) and Sianna Catullo (Clothing The Gaps) have plenty of advice over here.