Enterprise Training
Specialist Areas
My lecturing style is a mixture of formal talks, presentations, group exercises, and interactive role-play with informative handouts at varying levels with creative people. Whom may have completed or are outside formal education that seek to develop an occupation or set up in business.
Current research shows that artists, designers and creative professionals are three times more likely to be self-employed or start their own micro-enterprises than any other member of the UK population. Creative people today often leave college without fully understanding what practical entrepreneurial and business skills they actually need to learn in order to make a success out of their vocation or ideas.
Though professional development is important, failure to tackle the importance of establishing oneself as an artist, designer or maker officially means emerging creatives will struggle to keep going or be able to take legitimate payment for their creative services, products or artworks. This prevents them from taking control over their practice or business and being able to earn a decent level of income.
Courses, workshops and online lectures are available for undergraduate/postgraduate levels and for those developing their practice or enterprises outside Higher Education.
Entrepreneurship
- Practical entrepreneurial skills development, including networking, blogging and social media strategies
- Self-promotion, social media, networking, creative marketing, publicity stunts, profile rising activities, communication and presentation skills
- Developing entrepreneurial qualities, negotiation techniques,confidence, presentation techniques, how to sell, making a pitch
- Exploring current & future demographic, retail, forecasting, technological and digital trends, innovation, focus, vision and spotting opportunities
- Evaluating risk, creative thinking, flexibility, and team building
- Legal issues, business plans, contracts, jargon and rights grabs, NDAs, terms and conditions, insurance
- British/EU/International regulations, licenses and copyright, design right, trademarks and patent
- Research methods for interviewing an arts/creative figure /entrepreneur in the visual arts or creative industries
- How artists/designers earn their income and relation to their environment.
- The artist/designer/maker as entrepreneur, overview both historic and contemporary, community, ergonomics, ethics and social entrepreneurship
Business Start up
- Seven steps to self‑employment, business start up and plan, recognising skills gaps, strategies, marketing, USP, competition, SWOT, STEP, PESTLE, cash flow, costing and pricing, pricing work, commercial fees & rates, money management, invoices, tax issues, business structures, legal matters, business names, and Intellectual Property, funding, (new collective movements) sources of support, record and book keeping.
- Writing a business plan for an exhibition or event/project/business launch, this includes, funding, planning a marketing campaign, contacting the press, bloggers, writers, media releases and photo calls
- Meetings, understanding the value of time, time management, roles and responsibilities
- Introduction to branding, image rights, and multiple registration rights
- Market research explorative methods for scalability and manufacture
If you are an individual creative, an organisation or university and would like to book Alison for a one-to-one advice session, consultancy or for a talk or workshop please contact her.
