- 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!
---
---
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.
---
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!
---
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).
---
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.
---
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.
---
---
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.
---
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,
The creative industries have the potential to be a significant factor in economic growth in the UK and other countries.
The potential to create jobs and wealth in the digital and creative sectors has been recognised by national governments and local authorities for some time. Consequently various economic regeneration projects have focused on the creative, cultural and digital sector of the economy. This sector has high-growth businesses within it and the sector as a whole has massive potential for growth, job creation and the generation of wealth.
One of these projects is the Liverpool Creative Growth Initiative, which has been designed to help creative and digital businesses in the city to grow. This is a Merseyside ACME project at Liverpool Vision, running from 2009 to 2011.
Here's a short video featuring some of the 100+ creative businesses that have been supported by this project so far.
The project has helped more than 100 creative businesses in Liverpool to grow, create jobs and regenerate the economy of the city of Liverpool.
I'm proud to be involved in this project as well as also helping
similar initiatives in other cities in the UK and overseas in my
capacity as a specialist business adviser and management consultant.
Merseyside ACME has 13 years experience of supporting creative businesses through
projects specifically designed for the sector. Support includes
professional business consultancy services, training workshops,
provision of information and networking. Examples include the Creative
Advantage business development workshops and the Kin2Kin online network.
The experience of Merseyside ACME has been used by other creative industries support agencies to regenerate local economies, create jobs, support high-growth businesses in the creative and digital sector.
A Facebook friend called Phil sent me a message asking for advice about creating
an effective business model for his creative enterprise. I didn't have
much time - but I didn't want to ignore it either - so I sent a quick
answer. This is what I wrote:
--- Here's the starting point of a business model:
1.
Identify
what you excel at in relation to the competition. In other words,
pinpoint what you are especially good at that most others aren't. 2. Focus on the type of customers who want that thing you do really well.
Hope this helps! ---
I think this summarises the essence of any successful creative enterprise, so it's a good starting point when devising a new business.
It
can also be used as a 'reality check' to keep an established enterprise
on track as things constantly change: rivals are improving their offerings, new firms are
entering the market, client requirements develop and new customer
segments emerge.
These two questions also act as an effective
'acid test' to use when evaluating a lengthy business plan. In other
words, they ask whether or not the fundamental assumptions are valid
before going into further detail.
Coming soon! The iPhone App from T-Shirts and Suits.
"Getting the T-Shirts and Suits iPhone App is a no-brainer. Bite size chunks of great thinking and advice right there in the palm of your hand. Most content is around three to four minutes, so however busy you are, this is cool. Anyone in creative industries will benefit. Just get it." Ray Hanks. Business Advice and Consultancy www.rayhanks.com
For a sneak preview of the App, get the Beta version!
The iPhone App will contain new information, ideas, examples and inspiration for creative entrepreneurs, to help them make their businesses and organisations even more successful. The App will be free, with lots of free information, ideas and techniques to use - plus some additional content you can buy.
The App is currently in development and being written by David Parrish, author of the book 'T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity', the T-Shirts and Suits blog and a number of other publications, articles and blogs about creative business and the creative industries. He is a specialist business adviser and consultant with a background in the creative industries, working internationally.
Register for updates about the App and to be informed as soon as it is launched by entering your email address in the 'Receive Updates' box on the right.
We want you to help us make the iPhone App as useful as possible, so please let us have your suggestions and ideas at this development stage.
For example, let us know the areas of business development you would most like to be included in the App, eg: marketing; intellectual property; leadership; business growth; raising finance; organisational structures; competitor analysis; financial management; development strategies; etc.
Please also comment about the format, style, price - and any other issues or ideas.
We also want to work in partnership with creative industries support organisations and agencies to promote the free App to businesses in the creative and digital industries sector.
T-Shirts and Suits has set up an online Creative Enterprise Network to help creative people world-wide to promote their enterprises and to network with each other across national and cultural boundaries.
It's free to join - and easy to upload photos, videos and information. The network includes blogs, events and discussions.
You are invited to join the network and to invite friends, colleagues and contacts to join too.
The network welcomes anyone involved directly or indirectly in the creative industries, cultural industries, creative businesses, cultural organisations, cultural enterprises and creative industries support organisations.
The network is especially useful for creative entrepreneurs in all sectors of the creative industries: design, music, publishing, architecture, film and video, crafts, visual arts, fashion, TV and radio, advertising and PR, literature, graphic design, marketing, computer games, the performing arts, including designers, photographers, advertising and PR, musicians, writers, new media professionals, artists, marketers, publishers, fashion designers, architects and designer-makers.
Creative industry organisations world-wide are also invited to join.
For many people, the words ‘business’ and ‘culture’ don’t sit comfortably side by side. Some people assume that culture has to be non-commercial to be valid, and therefore to apply commercial thinking to cultural endeavour is to pervert it. But even charities and ‘non-for-profit’ organisations in the arts and cultural sector need to be business-like, even though the traditional business motive of profit maximisation does not apply.
Many people in the arts are reluctant to use business terminology, despite being very professional and successful in achieving their aims. When I was interviewing creative enterprises for my book ‘T-Shirts and Suits’, several managers said that they had never devised a ‘business strategy’ or used ‘market research’. These terms were simply alien to them. In fact they did do these things, but didn’t use those words or document these processes conventionally. More often than not they were skilled at growing their business and excellent at listening to customers. Ironically, cultural organisations and creative businesses are often keen to shun commercial jargon whilst actually using smart ‘business thinking’ to achieve success in their own terms.
My own background is in the cultural sector and later I also studied at business school, so I’m comfortable with business jargon but at the same time I understand the sensitivities within the arts about business vocabulary. Recently, in preparing a training workshop for arts organisations I was asked not to use the term ‘customers’ but use ‘audience’ instead. It’s a matter of choosing vocabulary appropriate to the context. In my book I feature the Windows Project, a cultural enterprise which devised a ‘Development Plan’ rather than a ‘Business Plan’ because that term fitted better with their ethos. Despite its name, it’s as robust as any business plan from the commercial sector.
The cultural sector can and should learn from other sectors, but it’s a matter of sensitively adapting techniques to fit into a different context - and maybe changing the terminology too. Equally, the commercial sector can learn from the cultural sector, but need to see what’s actually happening rather than being put off by the lack of business jargon. For example, I’ve been engaged by international corporations for revealing to them management techniques which are commonplace in the arts world, but I’ve expressed them in business-speak to make them more acceptable to pin-striped clients.
So it’s the terminology that’s the issue, not the reality. Lack of business jargon doesn’t indicate an absence of smart ‘business thinking’. It’s a point worth making, for two reasons. Firstly to dispel the myth outside the arts sector that cultural organisations are somehow ‘amateur’, simply because they use different language. Secondly to challenge the belief held by some in the cultural sector itself that using business terminology to describe what they do inevitably means somehow ‘selling out’.
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether or not we choose to use the jargon of business. What really matters is being clear about our definitions of ‘success’ and then achieving it. Then we can all become even more successful by using appropriate management methods and techniques which fit the objectives and ethos of our organisations - in the cultural sector or elsewhere - whatever vocabulary we choose to use.
Can you give us three top tips for running your own successful creative business, David?
1. Firstly, define what you mean by success – it could be a mixture of financial success, creative challenges, recognition, job satisfaction, quality of life, etc, and that formula will be different for everyone. Define what you mean by success, don’t let others define it for you, and know where you want to go.
2. Be clear about your market and don’t try to sell to everyone. Choose your customers. Choose customers that fit your objectives and your ethos and that deliver the financial results you want. Don’t have a scattergun approach, looking for any old customer. Choose the customers that work best for your business strategy.
3. Understand intellectual property (IP), because IP is at the core of the creative industries. It’s important to make sure you don’t get ripped off by other people, so it’s about defending and protecting intellectual property; but just as importantly, it’s also about how to commercialise that IP so you can make money from it, through sales and licensing, for example. Given that IP is so central, I think most creative businesses could do with knowing a bit more, and learning how to use it.
