N.B The series is not yet complete, make sure to come back regulary to read the upcoming parts.
THIS BOOK
This book busts the myth that there is only one, fundamentally uncreative, way of doing business. It’s a collection of observations and lessons – what we’ve learnt while out talking to a bunch of successful and interesting businesses.
The chapters in this book are based on what we learnt through interviews we conducted with owners and managers of creative businesses throughout the Nordic countries. Some of these interviews have been written up as cases and serve as illustrations for the 10 axioms we outline in the book. The cases give an insight into why these aspects are important, at least for these companies and quite possibly you too. Since the people and firms that appear in this book are people and firms, it is obvious that a lot will change for them after this book is published: they may change jobs, retire, get rich, go bankrupt, go fishing, etc. Our point with including these cases is not that the details of each case will always neatly reflect what is happening right now in these firms and people’s lives.
Rather, the point is that these cases illustrate the issues central to each chapter: what’s important is the lessons to be learnt – not necessarily the facts, figures and names.
The cultural and creative industries are filled with myths about business. In particular there are many that think that creativity is at odds with commercial and business thinking. In this short book we give examples and go through different issues in order to show that there is plenty of room for creativity in business. Moreover, we hope to show that by ensuring your creative endeavour has at least some business building blocks in place, you will be giving yourself a greater opportunity to continue to be creative in the way you want.
We have focused on entrepreneurship and business development issues because we know that for many creative people setting up a company of their own is the best way for them to keep working with what they love.
IS THIS FOR YOU?
Who should read it?
Anyone who is thinking about or in the middle of starting up or investing in a business can learn something from this book. The case studies are however from the cultural and creative industries. People in these sectors are passionate about their work and entrepreneurship is typically a central part of their lifestyle. Moreover, working in industries such as software, fashion and music is extremely competitive and we can learn a lot from those who manage to sustain their businesses in these markets.
Why should you read it?
There are many problems facing all new businesses. The primary problem all businesses face is having an idea to sell. The purpose of this guidebook is not to help you build your ideas – we assume that if you are reading this book you already have an idea of what you want to work with and that you are already pretty skilled and creative in your chosen field.
Rather, the purpose of this guide is to focus on the role of money and finance in growing and sustaining small businesses, especially in the cultural and creative industries. In short, we are interested in giving some advice on growing a small business and in sharing some firms’ experiences of financing their activities and planning their financial future.
The reasoning here is that capital and money is a resource that is a crucial foundation for your business. Without this foundation your ideas will most likely remain on the drawing table. After all, how long can anybody be creative without money to cover a little food and water?
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This is the first part of Volante’s series Creative Business. The series is a complete version of the book ”Creative Business: 10 lessons to help you build a business your way” (Volante, 2010). The book is available for purchase in an ebook version on Amazon or Lulu (Kindle, ePub or PDF), a paperback version distributed directly from the publisher and soon also a print-on-demand version distributed globally.
