Do you have a dream of running your own creative business - but reality feels like it gets in the way? 

Rest assured, You're far from alone.

Having a passion for your chosen medium is only part of the puzzle. Making it financially viable - and sustainable - capable of putting food on tables for other creatives and reaching your lofty goals takes a number of other factors.

Eve Gordon, co-founder and director of circus theatre company The Dust Palace, is one of the success stories. One of the country's most sought-after circus artists, they have established the company as one with both national and international reputations, touring around 15 full-length works.

Gordon details "We started as a theatre company wanting to change the audience understanding of 'circus' from a form of seedy entertainment to a group of athletes using a theatrical language to tell epic stories.  Our inception came from within the inaugural Auckland Fringe Festival so we have our roots in fringe and have always prioritized fringe, edgy, genre-defying work."

That love of Fringe continues with their appearance at the Whangārei Fringe, with Dust Palace's climate change-focussed, youth-centric show The Ice Cream Is Melting! (October 3-4). "Circus itself is an amazing tool, it helps tamariki and rangatahi with physical confidence, social nuance, creative practice and simple, beautiful fun. We want to share in the wonder of circus arts.

"Art and creative expression don’t exist independently of culture and we need formats like these (Whangārei Fringe) to share ideas and shows and work and ways of making!"

The Big Idea asked Gordon about what they've learned through the start-up process, to give others an insight into what to expect and be prepared for should they dive in the deep end and chase their dreams.

"The biggest struggle has been trying to maintain a strong public image that the organization is awesome, making sure audiences and clients feel safe in engaging with us, whilst in reality, it has depended on so much blood, sweat, tears and gifted time and energy that has really been hanging on by the skin of its teeth the whole time. It creates this real balancing act…

"Burnout has also been a massive one. There still aren’t enough people hours to do all the work in a sustainable manner and that’s 15 years in!"

Those initial challenges are still there now, Gordon states.

"Even more so now I think. It’s really hard to make stuff happen and create work  - higher living costs and less work at the moment makes that all the harder."

There's no question that circus performance can sit in the ‘niche’ - so has that been a help or a hindrance for Gordon's creative business ambitions?

"It’s been both! A help, because when we started out, people would often say we were new and different - but a hindrance because it required heaps of education of clients, venues and audiences."

That doesn't stop Gordon from going big. When it comes to setting goals for the Dust Palace, Gordon's not the type to aim short-term.

"As a person, I will default to the biggest idea. I think being a creative leader type necessitates having a kind of vision that you can see and are trying to get to."

Gordon's main advice - don't try go it alone.

"Get the right people around and form a collective," they underline. "One person can’t provide everything for everyone, no matter how much they might try.

"It’s a really tricky thing to balance sector development, creative experimentation and quality control / your reputation."

That can be in any area you need support, from administrative to financial.  Gordon went in knowing how crucial those elements would be, but her experience as a creative business owner has shown her what they needed most.

"I guess I didn’t know how important and fundamental the creativity is to the business itself. I kind of started out thinking the two were side by side - but actually the creativity is the vision and the vision is the business." 

The Whangārei Fringe runs until 13 October - click here for details.