Here's a fascinating interview with fashion design guru Paul Smith, who talks about many aspects of growing a business in the creative industries, including:
- How he succeeds as a creative entrepreneur by saying no to many potential clients, choosing only those projects which fit his brand and excite his creativity. He has (politely) rejected the opportunity to design 3 hotels, 5 mobile phones and 2 cars - and that's just in the last year!
- How he manages his company's finances and business growth in such a way that he can be selective. He avoids the pressure to constantly grow his creative business. Crucially, he manages cash flow carefully so that he has never needed to borrow money from a bank.
- How he became 'big in Japan' by being respectful of Japanese people and culture (when others were being brash), and took his time to build solid business relationships.
Keep it personal when using social media. That was one of the key messages from DK of MediaSnackers, who gave a very impressive talk in Aberdeen where we were both keynote speakers at the launch of the Cultivating Creativity project to develop creative businesses in Scotland. I learnt a lot (and yes, still have a lot to learn).
Now MediaSnackers have publshed their Top 50 Blog Posts about using social media, which I recommend as essential reading to creative, digital and cultural enterprises.
One important point emphasised by DK is that when using social media you should imagine you are in a room full of people, interacting with them on a personal level. Sounds obvious, but in a face to face situation you wouldn't introduce yourself with your company name, you'd use your real name. You wouldn't just talk, you'd listen too. You wouldn't just say your mission statement like a robot, you'd tell stories about what you do. In other words, you'd be real, with opinions, stories, personality and humour.
Read the MediaSnackers blogs, including the ones about 'The Business of Being Human' and 'Why Social Media Shouldn't Be Outsourced'. These messages link in with a point I often make when advising creative businesses about marketing - your potential customers want to do business with real people, not with a "info@abc.com", or a slick corporate website, or a salesperson working on your behalf. For more about why it's important to show your personality, not just your products or services, see the blog 'Don't hide your people!'.
So when using social media in the creative industries, keep it social, not 'corporate'.
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DK from MediaSnacker with David Parrish at the 'Cultivating Creativity' launch at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
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Share your experience and opinions about using social media in the creative industries on the T-Shirts and Suits Creative Enterprise Network. It's free to join and easy to promote your creative/digital business and share cool business ideas with creative entrepreneurs world-wide.
You can use crowd-funding platforms to test the market for a new product, service or project, in parallel with raising finance to fund new creative initiatives.
This was one of the many interesting points made by Slava Rubin, Chief Executive Officer of the crowd-funding platform Indiegogo, where we were both speakers at a creative industries conference in Santiago de Chile.
Market research can be expensive but it's crucial to be able to test the market to minimise risks. Feedback from potential customers can help improve products or services at an early stage of development. Posting a project on Indiegogo or another crowd-financing platform provides an opportuntiy to test the potential popularity of a new product.
Even better, creators can establish an online dialogue with potential investors who are also likely to be customers and consumers of the product.
Don't just think 'crowd-funding', think 'crowd-testing'.
Slava Rubin, Chief Executive Officer of Indiegogo, with David Parrish, at the Cultura y Economia conference in Santiago de Chile.
- How Creativity and Business can be combined intelligently and sensitively to achieve business and creative success in a way which is consistent with our values and objectives.
- Being Creative in Business: How creative people can be creative in the office as well as the studio. In other words, how creativity can also be applied to the 'business system' or business model. We need to apply our creativity not only to working 'in' the business but also 'on' the business.
- How creative entrepreneurs have raised finance for projects in unconventional ways, applying their creativity to business issues, including 'crowd-financing' or 'crowd-funding'.
- How to Achieve Your Own Version of Success. Advice on being clear about your objectives and personal definition of "success". Don't just follow the crowd or develop your business in the way others suggest. Decide what you mean by Success - and then go and achieve it!
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This is a video of excerpts of the keynote speech by David Parrish about 'Creativity and Business' at the Shropshire Creative Business Conference in Shrewsbury in 2011. Click for more information about David's experience and expertise as a speaker.
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Embed this video in your own website or blog from Vimeo or YouTube.This video is published using a Creative Commons licence which allows you to republish it.
In this 'How to Succeed in Creative Business' video, David Parrish offers five pieces of advice about how creative entrepreneurs can make their creative and digital businesses even more successful.
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1. Define Success - in your own terms, with your own specific and unique definition of success for your creative enterprise.
2. Understand your Strengths - especially your strengths in relation to competitors. Identify what you can do better than everyone else, or at least most of your rivals. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
3. Choose your Customers. Not all customers are good customers. Choose customers that fit your objectives, your ethos, and your financial aims.
4. Manage your intellectual property. Use copyright, design right, trade marks and patents not only to protect your rights but also to generate income through sales and licensing.
5. Business growth. Be clear about what you want to grow. Grow your business in the right way. Grow the right things. Size isn't everything. Small enterprises can generate large profits and have a big impact.
Clearly, there are many more things to consider when growing a business in the creative industries, but these are five important things to think about. Enough for now!
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Embed this video in your own website or blog from Vimeo or YouTube.This video is published using a Creative Commons licence which allows you to republish it.
Business doesn't have to be about being the biggest, fastest or strongest.
Entrepreneurs don't have to be short-sighted, aggressive and unfair.
"Entrepreneurialism has nothing to do with hardwired personality traits."
This is what Robert Kelsey says in this article in the journal of the Royal Society of Arts.
I agree totally.
Unfortunately, the popular image of the 'successful entrepreneur' is someone who is arrogant, ruthless and entirely motivated by money.
Robert Kelsey argues that this skewed image of what a successful entrepreneur needs to be is deterring many talented people from setting up their own business. In the same article, Rajeeb Dey says that "The media overplays the image of the nasty entrepreneur. It's easy to forget that business is primarily relationship-driven."
In my view, TV series such as The Apprentice and Dragon's Den, entertaining though they are, portray business in such a way that they probably do more to deter rather than encourage people to become entrepreneurs.
Many creative people don't fit the 'maverick entrepreneur' stereotype - yet they can be highly successful in business. They choose to do business in their own way, being clear about their objectives and sticking to their values.
There are many different ways of growing a creative or digital business and all kinds of people can succeed by doing things unconventionally. My book, blog and the Creative Enterprise Network illustrate how people have combined their creativity and with imaginative business thinking to achieve success on their own terms. Indeed T-Shirts and Suits® is all about empowering creative people with the best business techniques so they can grow their creative enterprise in the way that's best for them.
Successful creative entrepreneurs focus on their own Business Formula, which brings together creative passion, personal and business goals, business feasibility, competitive advantage, financial realities and strategic marketing.
So, be creative in your work - and also be creative about the way you do business and develop as a successful entrepreneur.
You don't have to be like the stereotypical businesspeople portrayed in the media.
Be true to yourself, your goals and your values.
Be your own kind of entrepreneur!
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The article 'Create your own Business Formula' and the eBook 'T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity' are both available free online and can be copied, printed and re-distributed (provided you don't change them or sell them).
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Robert Kelsey's book 'What's Stopping You?: Why Smart People Don't Always Reach Their Potential and How You Can' is available from Amazon.
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David Parrish, Robert Kelsey and Rajeeb Dey are Fellows of the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce).
The Guggenheim Museum is a symbol of the transformation of Bilbao from an industrial past to a creative future. And throughout the city, less visible but just as important, creative businesses are starting up, growing, creating jobs and transforming the economy. Creative entrepreneurs in the Basque Country are making their businesses even more successful, with the help of Creativity Zentrum and their Bizkaia Creaktiva project.
This short video reports on a project to help creative entrepreneurs become even more successful. The project was organised by Creativity Zentrum, the agency which supports creative entrepreneurship, based in Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain.
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I was invited by Creativity Zentrum to deliver a training workshop called ‘Designing Your Creative Business’ (See dycb.info.) This helps creative entrepreneurs to start feasible enterprises, attract financial investment, and grow successful businesses. The entrepreneurs who were selected to attend have businesses in publishing, online social networks, product design, fashion, computer games, iPhone app development and other fields.
I work internationally and bring cool business techniques from all over the world to my clients in Bilbao and elsewhere. And I have also learnt a lot from creative businesses in the Basque Country each time I have visited. I also went to the border town of Irun, to run a business development workshop and I was a guest at a meeting to discuss the development of the creative industries there.
The staff at Creativity Zentrum are professional and hardworking. Yet they always find time to be hospitable when I visit, and this includes enjoying the wonderful food – and having a few drinks.
I’m looking forward to helping more creative enterprises in Bilbao in the future. In the mean time, I wish all the entrepreneurs every success with their creative businesses.
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Find out more about business development workshops for creative entrepreneurs, or contact David Parrish's office for details.
In this video Danny Boyle talks about certainty, doubt, inspiration - and why it's important not to be intimidated by your heroes when working in the creative industries.
Danny and I were at school together in Bolton many years ago. Since then he's had a brilliant career in theatre, TV and film, winning an Oscar as Director of 'Slumdog Millionaire',
Here he is inspiring young film-makers at a European Film Academy Masterclass in Ruhr, Germany,
''Freedom, Money, Time - and the Key to Creative Success' is the title of an excellent new free eBook from Mark McGuinness.
Download this free ebook here. You can also distribute it to friends, colleagues and contacts.
Mark reckons that creative people need three things to be happy:
1. Freedom - to do what you want, when you want and how you want it. Not just in holidays and spare time - but also doing meaningful work, in your own way.
2. Money - to maintain your independence and fund your creative projects. Of course you want a nice place to live, but you’re not so worried about a bigger car than the guy next door. You’d rather spend money on experiences than status symbols.
3. Time - to spend as you please, exploring the world and allowing your mind to wander in search of new ideas.
Usually, you’re lucky if you get two out of the three. But if one of them is missing, it compromises the other two. Without money, you don’t have much freedom, because you have to spend your time chasing cash. Without time off, money doesn’t buy you a lot of freedom. And if you’re doing something you hate for a living, it doesn’t matter how big your salary is, or how much holiday you get.
This is the premise of Mark's free ebook: Freedom, Money, Time - and the Key to Creative Success.
It's full of practical advice you can apply to your own situation, if you want to earn a living from your creative talent, or if you're a freelancer or small business owner and want to make your business less stressful and more profitable.
Mark and his partners have also prepared a training programme to accompany this eBook - the Creative Entrepreneur Roadmap course. (The free ebook gives you a preview of the training programme.)
Mark's writing and coaching business complements my own work as a creative industries business adviser, trainer, speaker and writer helping enterprises in the creative, cultural and digital sector worldwide.
'Freedom, Money, Time - and the Key to Creative Success' sits nicely alongside my book (and free eBook) 'T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity'.
An excellent new service to help creative individuals and businesses to protect and commercialise their intellectual property has been launched by Creative Barcode.
A Creative Barcode builds on this information and provides more detailed and robust evidence for the creator: detail of ownership, date of creation and limitations on use. The barcode includes uniquely numbered digital codes on creative works to specify ownership and permitted usage. The barcode can be used on designs, written proposals, sketches, drafts and other copyright works associated with a project.
For example, have a look at the Creative Barcode I've attached to this copyright article at the bottom of this page. (Click to enlarge.)
Creative barcodes make the copyright position even more clear to recipients of creative works than a simple copyright notice (though there's no harm adding that too). Furthermore their use is an indication that you know your rights and are organised. This in itself should help deter unlawful usage of your copyright works.
An additional very useful facility offered by the Creative Barcode service is the ability to forward your copyright works to external parties via the Creative Barcode file transfer area, which adds a password unique to the recipient so that they can download it after receiving your email. In this way, the Creative Barcode system can track receipt of files and register the recipient’s agreement to the conditions of usage associated with the work.
Finally, the Creative Barcode app includes a ‘transfer of ownership’ feature which enables the creator to provide the purchaser with a certificate of ownership when full payment has been made.
Registration costs £30 GBP plus VAT per annum, which includes five free barcodes and a downloadable program to generate them. Additonal barcodes cost £4 GBP each. Annual membership also includes the usage of 200MB of server space to store documents for registered download by clients.
