David Parrish designs and delivers practical, interactive business workshops for creative entrepreneurs and the organisations that support them.
Having worked with creative businesses in more than 60 countries, David combines international experience with practical business expertise and a deep understanding of the particular opportunities and challenges facing entrepreneurs in the creative industries.
His workshops are not lectures. They are conversations in which David introduces ideas, techniques, stories and examples — and participants explore how they can apply them to their own businesses.
The objective is not simply to give people more business information.
It is to help creative entrepreneurs make better decisions for themselves.
Business Workshops Designed for Creative Entrepreneurs
Creative entrepreneurs don’t all want the same kind of business.
Some want to grow. Others want to remain small and independent.
Some want to export, license their intellectual property, find investment or employ more people. Others want better customers, higher prices, more freedom — or simply a business that works better for the life they want to lead.
David’s workshops help participants explore their options, challenge assumptions and make informed choices about what is right for their businesses.
Sometimes the most valuable decision is what not to do.
David’s approach draws on his own experience as an entrepreneur, business adviser and author, as well as decades of working directly with creative enterprises internationally.
Practical, Interactive and Relaxed
David creates workshops around conversation rather than lectures.
Typically, he will introduce an idea or practical business technique, illustrate it with examples and stories, and then open up the conversation so participants can explore the implications for their own businesses.
Participation is encouraged, but never forced. David doesn’t unexpectedly pick on individuals and require them to answer questions in front of the room.
Instead, he deliberately creates a relaxed atmosphere where participants feel comfortable asking questions — including the supposedly “silly” ones — offering comments, sharing experiences and occasionally disagreeing.
The result is lively participation without pressure, with participants learning from one another as well as from David.
“David created a great atmosphere. Despite being on a competition everyone was feeling very confident and they were all sharing ideas about the different projects. At the end of the two intensive days everyone thought it was a very useful and helpful workshop.”
— Elena Ruiz, Creativity Zentrum, Bilbao, Spain
Workshops Tailored to Your Creative Community
Every group of creative entrepreneurs is different.
David therefore works with the commissioning organisation to understand its objectives, its local creative industries context and the needs of participants.
He draws on a substantial repertoire of proven workshop material, exercises, business tools, international examples and case studies, adapting and combining them to create the right workshop for each group.
Subjects and techniques can include:
creative entrepreneurship • business strategy • business models • strategic marketing • competitive advantage • pricing • financial management • cash flow management • intellectual property • growth strategies • leadership • international business • creativity and innovation
Find out more about creative business workshop topics.
Most workshops can be designed as a full-day or half-day session, or extended over a longer period where appropriate.
David particularly enjoys working with relatively small groups where conversation and participation can flourish. Larger workshops are also possible, with the format adapted accordingly.
Designing Your Creative Business™
David’s flagship workshop, Designing Your Creative Business™, helps creative entrepreneurs step back from the day-to-day demands of running their enterprises and think strategically about the businesses they actually want to build.
Using David’s Designing Your Creative Business™ toolkit, participants explore the different elements of their enterprise and the choices available to them — combining their creativity and ambitions with practical business thinking.
The workshop is based on a central principle: there is no single correct way to build a successful creative business.
Different entrepreneurs have different ambitions, strengths, values and definitions of success. The objective is therefore not to impose a standard business formula, but to help participants design a business strategy that works for them.
Find out more about the Designing Your Creative Business™ workshop and toolkit.
Workshops That Lead to Better Business Decisions
The measure of a successful workshop isn’t how many theories participants have written in their notebooks.
It is what they do differently afterwards.
One entrepreneur might decide to increase her prices.
Another might identify intellectual property that could be licensed.
Someone might decide that the business is ready to enter an international market.
Another participant might realise that growth isn’t actually what they want.
Someone else might decide to stop trying to sell to everybody and focus instead on the customers who value what the business does best.
And occasionally, the best decision is to pause, reconsider an investment or not pursue an opportunity.
David’s aim is to give creative entrepreneurs practical tools, different perspectives and greater confidence to make those decisions for themselves — according to their own ambitions, values and definition of success.
“After attending David’s workshop, the creative businesses at Fabrikken are prepared to be more focused, their prices are rising and they are more selective about what kind of customers they want.”
Henning Holmbakken. Fabrikken Manager, Lillehammer, Norway
More Than a Workshop
A workshop can stand alone — or become the centrepiece of several days of activities designed around your creative community.
David particularly enjoys spending time on the ground with Creative Industries Support Organisations — including creative hubs — rather than simply arriving to deliver a workshop and immediately leaving again.
Having time before and after the workshop allows him to understand the local context, get to know entrepreneurs and contribute in other useful ways.
Depending on the organisation’s priorities, a visit could also include:
Or something else that emerges from the initial conversations.
David is deliberately flexible. Sometimes the most useful ideas arise after he arrives.
““For us, as an organization, it was a pleasure to work with David, always available and easy-going, with a tremendous sense of responsibility and professionalism… totally engaged in making new contacts, giving attention and time to all involved in the event.”
Tânia Santos, Indie Workers / CRU Cowork, Porto, Portugal
Working with Creative Industries Support Organisations
David has designed and delivered workshops and business support activities for organisations supporting creative entrepreneurs around the world.
These have included creative hubs, government agencies, NGOs, universities, development organisations, accelerators and other creative industries initiatives.
He understands that a successful project needs to work for both the entrepreneurs taking part and the organisation commissioning the work.
That means understanding the organisation’s objectives, designing activities around its priorities and working collaboratively with its team — while remaining focused on practical value for participating businesses.
David can also contribute ideas and perspectives to the organisation itself, drawing on his international experience of creative hubs, support programmes and creative-industry development.
“You know the workshop was great when you have to kindly ask people to leave the premises because the building is closing soon. David is the only speaker who managed to evoke such interest in young entrepreneurs, and we had a wide range of international speakers and businessmen visit us. Combination of expert knowledge, enormous experience, and unique eloquence are what make David ‘a must-have’ in every accelerator/organization/event/conference.”
— Ajla Fijuljanin, Foundation Networks, Bosnia-Herzegovina
See examples of David’s training projects and clients worldwide.
Face-to-Face — and Online When Appropriate
David’s preference is for face-to-face workshops and on-the-ground engagement.
Being in the same room makes workshops more conversational and allows for spontaneous questions, informal discussions and the interactions between participants that often become some of the most valuable parts of the experience.
It also creates opportunities for conversations before and after the formal workshop that simply wouldn’t happen in the same way online.
Online workshops, webinars and follow-up sessions are also available when appropriate.
Books as Part of the Workshop
David is the author of T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity and Chase One Rabbit: Strategic Marketing for Business Success.
Paperback copies can be incorporated into a workshop or wider visit, with organisations purchasing books for participants as part of the project.
The books give participants something practical to take away, revisit and use long after the workshop itself has finished.
Choosing business training for a creative community?
Read David’s guide to How to Choose Business Training for Creative Entrepreneurs.
Invite David to Work with Your Creative Community
If you support creative entrepreneurs and are considering a business workshop, David is happy to have an initial conversation about your organisation, participants and objectives.
The starting point doesn’t need to be a predetermined workshop package.
It can simply be:
What would be most useful for your creative entrepreneurs — and how can we make the most of David being there?