Tag: business creativity

Business Growth: Does Size Matter?

Part of my job as a business adviser in the creative sector is to ask questions – sometimes awkward or unexpected questions. So when entrepreneurs ask my advice about how to grow their businesses, my first questions are: “Why do you want to grow?” and: “What do you want to grow?” Why grow? There is …

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… and what we didn’t do

The most focused creative enterprises are clear about where they want to go and have a clear vision of the future and exactly what ‘Success’ means. In a ‘Designing Your Creative Business’ workshop for creative entrepreneurs in Taipei, sponsored by the British Council in Taiwan and the Taiwan Design Centre, I suggested a technique to …

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Don’t be a ‘Poor Pioneer’: create Barriers to Entry

I often advise creative entrepreneurs who have innovative products or services. Sometimes it’s a completely new idea and they are planning to open up a new market for it. Someone asked me whether I’m ever tempted to ‘steal’ the ideas people tell me about when I’m advising them. My answer was firmly No, for two …

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3,14 or 50 Kinds of ‘Free’

Thanks to Hannah Rudman for sending me a link to an article on Chris Anderson’s ‘Long Tail’ website about ’14 Free Business Models’, which is based on a paper entitled ‘Copying and Copyright’ by Google’s economist, Hal Varian. The 14 business models which involve giving things away free include: ‘Sell Physical Complements’, ‘Advertise Yourself’, ‘Sell …

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Passion in business

“Do you have to abandon your creative passion to become more businesslike?” is a question I am sometimes asked when I’m talking with creative people in business. My answer is that passion is essential in a creative business. We need to harness it, not deny it. And we must stay true to our values as …

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Chase one rabbit (Chinese proverb)

Here’s some ancient wisdom from a Chinese proverb: “If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” A useful thought for all creative entrepreneurs. It can be applied to: deciding which creative speciality to choose, from all the creative things you can do. deciding which particular market segment to focus on, rather than trying to appeal …

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The Art and Science of Advertising

The best advertising agencies know that the ‘creative’ elements of advertising are just the tip of the iceberg – or the ‘icing on the cake’. Less visible, but equally important, is the market research and clear understanding of customers’ want and needs. Advertising legend David Ogilvy emphasised the importance of researching how customers think in …

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Get out more!

At the launch party for Creative Times Online, which was full of ‘creative industries’ people clustering together, I met a civil engineer. Civil/structural engineers don’t normally attend these gatherings of ‘creatives’ (fashion designers, musicians, writers, film-makers, advertisers, artists, website designers, broadcasters and publishers, graphic designers, performers, computer games programmers, designer-makers, etc.) So I was intrigued. …

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Rolls and Royce: a shared vision

Successful creative businesses need a combination of creativity and business strategy – what I call ‘T-Shirts’ and ‘Suits’. Sometimes, one individual has both of these elements in good measure, but more often than not, the harmony of creativity and business is formed by two people, or a larger team. Frederick Henry Royce met Charles Stewart …

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Good Enough…

Thanks to Phil Birchenall for sending me this article about the Flip Video camcorder. It’s about a simple and inexpensive camcorder that’s “good enough” rather than being “the best”. It has just the right range of features to be usable and useful, at a reasonable price. It’s opened up a new market of ‘ordinary’ users, …

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