How to avoid getting screwed

Another week, another Creator Economy company bites the dust - this time, MrBeast-backed Creator banking startup, Creative Juice.

I banked with Creative Juice, so this one is personal.

While the news is that Creative Juice is getting acquired, this email I received indicates that the company and it’s products are fully shutting down.

Despite the clickbait headline (sorry), I don’t blame Juice for their fate. It’s tough out there for Creator Economy companies…

Which is why it’s so important for Creators to understand that the products and partners they use may not be around forever - and to plan accordingly.

Juice wasn’t mission-critical to my business, so the stress and effort I put in to dealing with the shutdown was more annoying than anything else.

But what if it was my email service provider? Or my payment processor?

This isn’t hypothetical - here are three business-critical shutdowns from 2023 (with related Creator Logic interviews linked):

• Fanjoy (merch)

• Fanhouse (membership)

• Facebook Gaming (livestreaming)

Many Creators lost their primary revenue sources from these closures, and it’s very likely quite a few never recovered.

Don’t be one of those Creators.

How do you prepare for and cope with the possibility - nay, the inevitability - of getting screwed by a Creator Economy company you use getting shut down?

1. Learn all the options before making an initial choice.

Whether you’re picking a credit card, membership platform, or podcast hosting service, you should never just go with the first one you hear about.

Between Google, ChatGPT, and metacreators on social, you can find 4 or 5 alternatives to whatever tool or partner you’re considering - along with reviews and analysis of their strengths and weaknesses - in less than 15 minutes.

That’s a pretty small investment to make sure you’re making a good decision, and to set up the next step:

2. Pick your backup when you pick your primary.

Once you’re ready to make a decision, pick your backup as well.

Maybe you’ll never need it - fingers crossed - but it’s best to choose your backup when the research is fresh in your mind, and you’re not in a high-stress or time-constrained situation.

3. If the time comes, move quickly and decisively to implement.

Humans make bad decisions under stress, and little is more stressful in business than when a key part of your operating stack disappears.

If you have a good sense of the alternatives and have already picked your 2nd choice, you can bypass that stress-based decision-making entirely - you’ve already made the decision!

Rather than focusing on picking something new, you’ll be able to focus on implementing a transition that minimizes any errors or lost data / fans / revenue.

If you take steps 1 and 2 when selecting a tool or partner initially, you’ll be in a good position to take step 3 should the worst happen.

As for my experience with Juice…I must confess I didn’t take steps 1 or 2.

As a result, I spent a bunch of time researching business bank accounts, and got unnecessarily stressed about whether I wanted one with local branches, high interest rates, or a big brand name. Decision paralysis kicked in, leading to a very stressful few days.

Once I managed to actually make the decision (I went with American Express Business Checking), the actual transition took less than 30 minutes.

If I had actually done the research when I went with Juice in the first place, rather than simply saying yes to a very convincing text exchange with the founder, I would have skipped that stressful day entirely.

Now I know, and I won’t be making that mistake again.

Did you bank with Creative Juice, or have you had to deal with any unpredicted shutdowns in your stack? Reply to let me know about your experience!

Thanks for reading!

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