business training
Investment Matters – Creative Industries meets Investment Finance
This summary video gives an overview of the challenges of connecting Creative Industries to Investment structures that were covered at Investment Matters in 2008. The message of the need for a bridge or a translation between the values of the creatives and the values of the investor clearly came across fairly strongly the question is what will people do differently as a result … watch to find out.
Investment Matters, British Embassy, Brussels, 2008 – courtesy of CIDA and the ECCE programme
Non-business books & films
If you listened to all the business advisors recommendations of books & strategies you’d never get to the bottom of the pile. Personally there’s only so much of that stuff I can handle and I’ve rather reached the ‘tastes good but I couldn’t eat a whole one’ stage.
There are however lots of non-business books & dvd’s that are full of insights and inspiration in a business context….here are a few of my favourites:
-The Salaried Masses, Siegfried Kracauer – it’ll remind you why you don’t want to be an employee 
- The years with Ross, James Thurber (a book about the editor of the New Yorker Harold Ross, a book about how all these creatives worked together)
- First you have to row a little boat, Richard Bode
- Flatland, Edwin A Abbott
- Rock’n'Roll, Tom Stoppard
- I don’t mean to be rude but, Simon Cowell
- Murder in Samarkand, Craig Murray
- Feel, Chris Heath
- Air Guitar, Dave Hickey
- The Alphabet vs. the Goddess
- The Mastership Game, Scott McBain
- The Marketing Plan (a pictoral guide for managers), Malcolm McDonald & Peter Morris
- The New Great Game, Lutz Kleveman
and just for good measure a few films/dvds:
- I’m your man (Leonard Cohen)
- Man on Wire
- Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus (Jim White)
- Legally Blonde
- The Corporation
- Rize
- Basquiat
- Enron
- McLibel
- Walmart
- Bull Durham
- The Fog of War
- An Inconvenient Truth
- Big Wednesday/Riding Giants
What would you add???
Cultural & Creative Self-Employment in Hard Times (New Deal of the Mind report)
Arts Council England contracted New Deal of the Mind to research the role of the self-employed in the Creative & Cultural Industries. There are all sorts of interesting nuggets in the full report, here are our favourite stats, ideas and food for thought:
- It is estimated that 41% of people working in the creative sectors are freelance or self-employed
- As of April 2009 there is a 16 week ‘self employment credit’ of £50/week for those who are claiming unemployment benefit
- The Federation of Small Businesses are calling for a new version of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme … in 1989 65% of those who’d been on this scheme were still trading 3 years later
- NDotM suggests that creative businesses join with the FSB in calling for this new EAS
- Unemployment has risen in the creative industries from 43,445 in April 2008 to 83,660 in April 2009
- Creatives rarely see self-employment as a route to employment and instead see themselves as collaborating with other independents to grow their opportunities. In this sense they don’t see a value in being ‘unemployed’ and working through Job Centres to find employment but see self-employment as a valid status that helps them find work.
Whilst a 16 week offer is a step in the right direction it usually takes longer than this to get a venture going and, like the FSB and NDotM MyCake would suggest that a 6-12 month programme would be considerably more effective.
In January 2009 the FSB launched its five point plan which calls for 48 weeks of benefit payments (£200 per week for 24 weeks, followed by £100 per week for a further 24 weeks), alongside investment grants and a £1,500 training grant. The FSB cites research showing that new small firms grow at a faster rate than larger companies and create more employment opportunities even when corrected for their higher probabilities of exit.
What do you think is needed?
Click on these links to read the full reports from NDotM and the five point plan from FSB
CIDA is ‘Raising the Bar’ with MyCake
If you’re attending any of the Raising the Bar sessions that CIDA are running in Yorkshire you’ll have the chance to explore MyCake with Alistair’s help.
Vicky Locklin, presenter of ITV’s Calendar is visiting Huddersfield this spring to pass her skills on to budding entrepreneurs. As part of CIDA’s (Creative Industries Development Agency) ‘Raising the Bar’ programme, twenty lucky participants living in Kirklees will get the opportunity to learn how to set up their business within the creative industries for FREE.
Vicky will be joined by Kate Sanderson, West Yorkshire Playhouse’s former Director of Communications, and Alistair Wilkinson, Independent Consultant, to deliver the workshops in which learners will develop their vision for their business, look at marketing learn about financial management and learn how to present and pitch to potential clients.
Based in Huddersfield, CIDA specialises in helping to strengthen the contribution of the creative industries sector to local, national and international economy. A completely independent creative business, it was set up in 2000 and continues to be run by successful creative practitioners.
The course will be running twice throughout March to June and takes place over eight days. It is free to unemployed residents within Kirklees.
If you’d like more details on how to apply to participate or more information about CIDA please drop a line to claire@cida.org
Business training at Cockpit Arts
Mark McGuinness is running a series of four workshops to help you gain creative momentum in key areas of business. The series will focus on how to motivate creatives and yourself, time management, web marketing and presentation skills. Sign up quickly to book your place at Cockpit Arts in Holborn, London.
Search
Subscribe
