Easter Program - How To Be A Creative Entrepreneur

What is a creative entrepreneur?

• Someone who combines business with creativity. 
• Creativity drives the business.
• To be a creative entrepreneur you must be disciplined. 
• Creativity is the generation of good ideas. Innovation is exploiting these ideas and actually making them a reality. 

Function - Design 

Left Brain - Right Brain 

Microsoft - Apple

Design is important, it sets you apart from the rest and offers something more than just functionality. 

Argument and telling a story.

Focus and empathy. (understand your customers)

Serious and play. 

Imagination + Empathy + Innovation = Value Creation 

Where does creativity come from?

Culture, imagination, attitude, resources, knowledge, habitat. 

Creativity from inside...

KNOWLEDGE - provides fuel to imagination, lateral thinking. 

IMAGINATION - transform knowledge into ideas. 

ATTITUDE - The spark that starts the innovation engine. 

Creativity from the outside...

RESOURCES - all assets available to you. 

HABITAT - space, rules, constraints, people around you. 

CULTURE - beliefs, values, behaviours of community, understanding other cultures. 

Brainstorming - no judgement, no filter, there is no such thing as a bad idea. 

Lateral thinking - go through the brief with a MINUTE TOOTH COMB to find the meaning. Don't presume you understand what the brief is asking you to do. It is a good idea to reply to the client with your understanding of the brief. 

Don't waste time on refusers. 

What do people say about creative people?

Flaky, not interested in profit, always rely on subsidy, why don't we do the popular stuff, why don't we get a PROPER JOB!!?!?

Improvisational entrepreneurship is being creative with the way you set up your business. Finding alternative ways to do things and get things going. 

Freelancing - a freelancer or a microbusiness (under 5 people) must invest in themselves. YOU are the primary asset(s) so you need to keep your skills up to date. Make sure you are keeping up with the rest of the industry. 

creative entrepreneurs are not driven by the market, they often make the market. They need to understand the market and the customer to succeed. 

Social media is not free! The cost of social media is your time and it will always take up more of your time than you first expect. Imagine your time paid per hour and think about how much you are 'spending' on your web presence without even realising. 

Keep a record of the real number of hours that work takes you, not just the hours that you are paid for. It will help for pricing up future projects. 

'Bread and butter' product lines. These are the standard products or services you offer which are a steady source of income. You can use the funds from these to fund other work that you want to be doing, personal projects etc. 

Creative organisations are seen as high risk financially. Creatives want to protect their integrity and maintain control so they don't want to risk being controlled by someone else. 

The majority of creative people get their business from a 30 mile radius. This shows lack of imagination - it is so easy to share work long distance now and it can be very profitable. 

NEVER go anywhere without a business card!

10 Attributes for Success for Creative Entrepreneurs

VALUES LED

• Values, beliefs and visions. 
• Who we are and what we want to do. 
• Mission statement. 

CONCEPTUAL THINKING

• Fresh approaches. 
• Listen to new ideas without prejudgment. 

STRATEGIC THINKING

• Valuing the planning process.
• Recognise external trends and opportunities. 

COMMERCIAL ATTITUDES

• Keep up to date with latest developments. 
• Talk to people. 
• Seize less obvious opportunities. 
• Attend creative/business networks. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Planning to turn ideas into reality.
• Negotiation and communication. 
• Evaluate effectiveness and implementation. 

RISK TAKING

• Hope of success rather than fear of failure. 
• Successful entrepreneurs don't take unnecessary risks.
• They believe setbacks are due to a manageable circumstance rather than a personal flaw. 
• Risk analysis and assessment, be informed. 
• Fail often and fast to succeed sooner. Failure means learning. 

CUSTOMER SENSITIVITY

• Creatives are bad at this, mainly due to conflicts in taste. 
• Build long term relationships. 
• Exceed customer expectation. 
• Be personal. 

NETWORKING

• Build a network of business people and creative people. 

LEADERSHIP

• Build capability of the team. 
• Common purpose. 
• Inclusiveness. 
• Walk the talk. 

INNOVATION

• Turn ideas into real outcomes. 

The creative entrepreneur will have to balance the conflict between head and heart. 

CO*STAR - CUSTOMER OPPORTUNITY SOLUTION TEAM ADVANTAGE RESULTS

Pitch - Hook, 3 key messages, ask. 

We then did a group exercise where we had to come up with a business idea and analyse it in response to CO*STAR, and then present what we had come up with. I was in a group with three printed textiles students and the business idea we worked with was based around customisable wall coverings for commercial spaces like shops, hotels, etc. Although this is very different to my practice, the process of figuring out the realities of the proposal was useful. I thought this would be a useful exercise to do about my own freelance practice to get a more focussed idea of where I would exist. 

Today has been really good and I feel quite confident that I am on the right track to getting where I want to be, even though i'm not 100% sure where that is yet. I feel like my confidence has been boosted and I'm feeling motivated to work hard to do whatever I need to do to make the next steps.