Module 1 Creative Enterprise

This programme has been funded with support from the European Commission

Creative EnterpriseModule 1

What is enterprise?

The term "enterprise" has two common meanings.

1.Firstly, an enterprise is simply another name for a business or venture e.g. start-ups and other businesses…"Simon Cowell's enterprise“.

2.Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the word enterprise is used in the context of a person i.e. being enterprising.

3.An enterprising person is someone who demonstrates a particular set of skills and behaviours i.e. creative thinking, determination and problem solving.

Why start a business?

Not every young person wants to set up their own business but they do want to successful in life, and they want to have opportunities that give them both the material and personal success be encouraged and understood that being “entrepreneurial”, even when you do not have your own business, can make the path to success a more guaranteed route.


Many ‘artist-entrepreneurs’ do not necessarily set out to start a business.

Their main focus may be on developing their own practice, but they then face a need to come to terms with a commercial environment in order to be able to make enough money to continue their artistic work, or see the commercial market as a means of communicating with a larger audience - which then involves developing the necessary management and organisational skills to faciltate the performance and promotion of their work (e.g. organising touring productions/companies and understanding of copyright and contractual issues.)


Running a business can be both challenging and rewarding. Starting a new business can be an exciting and inspirational endeavour however; like any new venture it is not without potential risk.

If you are thinking about starting a new business, it is important to weigh all the potential advantages and disadvantages.

Independence Capitalise on creative skills

and knowledge Personal success Better work/life balance Financial rewards Opportunity in the

marketplace Be your own boss Creative Freedom Do what you are

interested in Flexible working hours

Big dream really can become reality

Benefits of starting a business

Drawbacks of starting a business

There are a number of advantages and reasons for starting a business but it is worthwhile to know the disadvantage at the initial stage of starting a new business. Knowing the disadvantages will help you prepare for remedial actions for problems that may be encountered.

•Sole Responsibility •Income not guaranteed•Financial pressure •Stress and worry•Risk of failure•Long working hours

Barriers to starting a business

There can be many barriers which get in the way – some are personal such as negative mind set of fear, whilst others can arise via other people – being told that an idea won’t work, that it’s a waste of time, that it won’t last, it won’t scale or it won’t make money… you get the drift!

Young entrepreneurs are increasingly defying the tough economic climate and overcoming their fear of failure to start their own businesses. Despite the welcome trend, young people are more likely to perceive barriers to starting a new business than the population as a whole


If entrepreneurship is to be promoted to young people it is crucial to try to understand the constraints and challenges these young people will face when trying to start and sustain their own business. This will be essential so that the support you offer can be tailored.

Whilst the young are a diverse group facing different challenges, for many there are few common reasons keeping people from taking the leap – these include limited work experience, poor networks, limited knowledge and skills, and limited access to capital


• Lack of knowledge• Lack of finance• Fear of failure• Limited social networks• Lack of confidence/low self esteem• Not having the time

Ideas that were rejected on Dragon’s Den before they went on to be a huge success…

Shaun Pulfrey Tangel Teezer


Rachel Lowe Destination Game


James Nash Cup ’a’ Wine


Rob Law Trunki

Value failure and create routes back into projects, business, education…

Dropping in and out of business is part and parcel of life as an entrepreneur, yet this is often seen as ‘failure’. Promote the notion that failure is a necessary building block for skills development and learning and this will encourage more young entrepreneurs who drop out of a project, education or business to start again.

Inspiring entrepreneurs who has previously

failed…..

Vera Wang failed to make the U.S. Olympic figure-skating team. Then she became and editor at Vogue and was passed over for the editor-in-chief position.

She began designing wedding gowns at age 40 and today is one of the premier designers in the fashion industry, with a business worth over $1 billion.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas”

Several more of his businesses failed before the premiere of his movie “Snow White”. Today, most childhoods wouldn’t be the same without his ideas

Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts multiple times.

He went on to create the first summer blockbuster with “Jaws” in 1975, and has won three Academy Awards.

Albert Einstein had some difficulty as a child communication and learning in a traditional manner.

Of course, Einsten’s communication and behavioural problems were not indicative of a lack of intelligence. He won the Nobel prize in physics for the discovery of the photoelectric effect, and his special theory of relativity theory corrected the deficiencies of Newtonian physics.

Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first television job as a TV reporter because she was ‘unfit for TV’.

But Winfrey rebounded and became the undisputed queen of television talk shows before amassing a media empire. Today she is worth an estimated $2.9 billion

Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was ”too stupid to learn anything”.

Edison went on to hold more than 1,000 patents and invented some world-changing devices, like the phonography, practical electrical lamp, and a movie camera.

Ways to overcome barriers• Attend creative industry workshops and

networking events • Join a business or industry support

organisation• Network/talk to business owners• Read business/entrepreneur related

publications• Sign up to relevant social media Networks• Access online business related

videos/podcasts

How to successfully face your fears

Fears have the power to stop us in our tracks and prevent us from trying something new or doing what we really want to do in life. But there are ways to overcome our fears, accept them, and get on with reaching our goals.

Overcoming fear of failure

It sounds strange but we learn far more from our failures than our successes. Mistakes force us to think again and come up with new and creative ideas as well as different ways of tackling a problem. Look at the story of any successful person. Struggles and setbacks are key features of their journey.

And it’s because they have remained resilient and kept perspective, that they have been able to overcome their fear of failure and achieve their goals.


“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”

Winston Churchill, British prime minister

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today”H.G. Wells, author


“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new”

Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist

"Before you succeed, you'll get temporary defeat and sometimes total failure. It's how you cope in

those moments that really sets you apart"

Baroness Karren Brady, sporting executive, small business ambassador

Overcoming fear of embarrassment

Embarrassment is the fear of looking foolish or, more accurately, of thinking we look foolish. We can become convinced that we’ve made the biggest fool of ourselves even when that’s not the view of others. Here are a couple of ways to approach embarrassment, to either minimise it or perhaps even get rid of it altogether:


Throw yourself into life

By grabbing opportunities that come your way, friends and colleagues will admire you for being brave enough to give things a go – whatever the outcome. And the more you get involved, the easier you’ll find it to overcome any embarrassment.


Put things in perspective

Some people don’t seem to get embarrassed by anything, when in actual fact they have probably just adjusted their attitude to those potentially embarrassing situations. They understand that people will have different opinions. You don’t have to stop caring what others think but you can stop worrying about it and you can develop these skills over time when dealing with different situations.

Overcoming fear of rejection

It’s easy to take rejection but, like fear of failure, you’re far alone in worrying about it. And, like fear of embarrassment, putting things in perspective and remaining positive will help.

Don’t miss outIf no one ever tried anything for fear they might be rejected, the world would grind to a halt. Don’t sell yourself short or deny yourself opportunities just because you think it probably won’t work out. Ask for feedback and understand the reasons why you might have been rejected for something. Take a positive approach and you’ll soon find the confidence to keep moving forward.

Overcoming fear of rejection

’There are plenty more fish in the sea’.

‘When one door closes, another door opens.’

These are well worn cliches, but there’s a lot of truth in them. And, like failure, rejection gives us a chance to come back stronger. Why not make a list of the things you fear and the things they’ve stopped you doing? Naming and shaming your fears (not yourself) will help you deal with them when they try to get the better of you and can help you identity ways to focus on the positives.

Chose to act courageously

"Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?"

The hardest part of starting and running your own enterprise is believing in yourself. Plenty of people think of ideas, but most never act on them because they haven't learned to trust their gut.


Many people have failed more times than they’re succeeded, but over time, they’ve built up the courage to keep trying. Believing in your ability to execute on big things, whether that's opening your own dance studio or developing a new business strategy from scratch, begins with believing in your ability to do the small but sometimes more challenging things.


Gather courage from your smallest successes, they count! Look for it in the seemingly mundane moments of your life. Then take that confidence and act. Speak up, disagree, ask the question everyone else is too afraid to. The more you exercise your courage, the more it will grow.

Put curiosity ahead of fear

We live in a world that tends to measure our worth by outcomes, which can discourage process and experimentation. The fear of not having enough to show for our efforts holds many of us back from creating anything at all. Living creatively means living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear. We typically learn to trust our anxieties early on in life, as children. For example, in school you may have learned to play the violin but held back from indulging your real interest, electric guitar, because classical music seemed like a safer and more acceptable environment in your family.

Put curiosity ahead of fear

But as we grow older, we tend to learn the value of vulnerability. For example, start learning to play the electric guitar, and it will be amazing to find a new creative outlet. At first, it will be hard to fumbler around in a new discipline.

But being a beginner will remind you what it’s like to produce without the pressure to excel. That’s precisely what entrepreneurs need to allow themselves more of, otherwise they leave a wellspring of creative energy totally untapped..

Business Skills and Knowledge

To manage business successfully a range of skills and knowledge is needed. It is useful to consider both enterprise skills (see Module 2: Creative me) and business skills and knowledge (see diagram on next slide). The main areas of business knowledge and skills required are: Product MarketingOperationsLegal issuesPeopleFinance

Business Skills and Knowledge

Research has shown that a young person’s perceived lack of business skills is one of the main barriers to starting a business.

However, most of the knowledge and skills required are learned or gained by experience.

Business Skills

Finance skills & knowledge

•Pricing•Cash flow/managing money•Book keeping•Tax and VAT

Product skills & knowledge

•Idea generation•Product development•Intellectual Property

Marketing skills & knowledge

•Market research•Promotion•Customer Care•Selling

Operations/legal skills & knowledge

•Production•Sourcing supplies•Insurance•Health & safety•Business planning

People skills & knowledge

•Recruitment•Managing staff•PAYE

Developing skills in business

1. Talk to people in business so you can learn from them2. Get some training, enrol in a course to study specific areas

you need to improve in3. Get work as an assistant/ apprentice to a business person4. Read books that will help you develop your business skills5. Read articles about businesses in the newspaper and think

about their problems and methods6. Think about collaborative working - find a partner who

complements your strengths and weakness, instead of going into business entirely on your own

7. When things go wrong, analyse what happened and improve your ability to learn from mistakes

Other ways to develop business skills & knowledge:

• Courses

• Online forums

• Business Advertisers

• Support organisations

Courses

You may find that although you have art qualifications you also have 'skills gaps'.

1.Spend some time deciding what other skills or qualifications you need. It may be appropriate to undertake Professional Development courses in your subject area (for example learning about arts management or administration), as this can increase freelance work opportunities.

Courses

2. You may discover that learning how to design websites and apps, or use digital 3D modelling software, (rapid prototyping) 3D printing/sintering, or animation techniques will be relevant to your activities. It is an important fact to remember that updating your knowledge and skills is an ongoing process.

Online forums and websites for creative, performing and digital arts

The new Creative Entrepreneurs initiative is aimed at inspiring young people to start their own creative businesses, and offers an online platform full of advice and resources that are relevant to budding entrepreneurs across music, TV, design and theatre. The website brings together and organises, in one place for the first time, the business resources, advice and inspiration people need to get their creative ideas off the ground.

Visit www.creativeentrepreneurs.com

http://www.creativeentrepreneurs.co/

Business Advisors

• Business advisers are often a key component to help young unemployed people into self-employment and enterprise and have consistently been found to be a key factor in the success, or otherwise, of youth start-ups.

• Business advisers will typically coach young people through developing a business idea (idea to reality), transfer their business skills, and can open up access to networks and resources to help them start and grow their business. They can also provide important sources of emotional support. Local enterprise agencies or organisations such as The Prince’s Trust or Unltd have business advisers that young people can talk to about exploring enterprise.

Belonging to the so-called ‘digital natives’ generation, digital skills are perhaps where young entrepreneurs

have an advantage.

Business Factors

It is important to dispel the persistent myth that entrepreneurial success is all about innovative thinking and breakthrough ideas.

A successful business is a mixture of key factors relating to both the entrepreneur(s) and the business itself.

The Entrepreneur

It is not possible to expect a person to have all the characteristics associated with being an entrepreneur to make them successful.

But, the combination of the most important factors can help you to build and manage successful enterprise. •Determination •Motivation •Time Management •Planning

The Business

• Vision• Goals• Market Demand• Marketing and Promotion• Profit and cash flow• Resources• Team

•.Values

When you’re running your own business, you are in control. You decide what you work on.

You have the opportunity to create a business that is as you want it to be: a venture that truly reflects your own enthusiasm, passion and values.

Values

While profitability is vital for any business to be able to survive and prosper, it is essential that you align your business and how you run it with your personal values.

•Values are what make you feel truly alive and passionately committed to what you’re doing. E.g. service to others; creativity or innovation; travel, adventure or discovery.

Your values will affect a number of areas:

• how you work• how you wish your work to be

received• how you interact with customers,

suppliers and funders

Ensuring your business stays true to your values

You will have a greater sense of energy, commitment and enthusiasm for starting, developing and running a business that is aligned with your values.

It will give you greater determination and resourcefulness in getting over the difficulties and challenges of setting up a business and maintaining it.

Why are values so important?

Think of values as a kind of radar to scan your work and the other areas of your life, and notice which things are creating a real sense of fulfilment and excitement (and equally, which are not).

They’ll help you to:

1.Assess your business idea in terms of how it honours your values

2.Stay inspired when dealing with the more mundane aspects of business or when things aren’t going smoothly.

Why are values so important?

3. Keep on track when you’re offered different choices or opportunities. For example, what happens if you’re short of cash and are offered some work that doesn’t really fit in with your plan?

4. Communicate why someone should care about your business, as your values often connect with those held by others

Achievement

Freedom

Influencing others

Independence

Honesty

Helping society

Helping other people

Growth

Examples of values:

Your values and your brand image

Your values are also vital in building a brand and have to be consistent with your actions.

If you act in a way that conflicts with the values that your customers understand this could have significant consequences and even result in a backlash.

.

It’s possible that there’ll be tension between your personal values and your business values.

For example:

You may not care about money, but making a profit is essential to building a sustainable business. So how do you use your personal values to inspire, guide and shape your business? One way is to look at the various aspects of being in business, and to think about which of your values is most

.

Congratulations you have completed Module 1

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Module 1 Creative Enterprise