Artist as Entrepreneur Adam Milford, 27 January 2013 After running a session on what you wish you'd learned while training to help you do your job better there seems to be a consensus that artists need a little more business training and savvy so we don't get bogged down with it abd can focus on the actual job more. whether we agree with it or not, most of us are entrepreneurs. We create work, set up companies and generate business. so why not acknowledge that and look at opportunities outside our comfort zone? There are advice centees and organisations for entrepreneurs which we can take advantage of. The sites below may help us find new streams of funding our work and rethink how we ask for help to make our projects come to fruition: http://www.seedrs.com/ http://www.schoolforstartups.co.uk/ http://www.seis.co.uk/ This last site may be of particular interest to those who attended the ‘Artist as parasite in Tory Britain’ sessin on Saturday - its a scheme set by the current government to help investors by essentially underwriting their investments through tax breaks etc. Artists can take advantage of this. Adam Milford Theatre Workout.com Tags: seed funding, arts administration, Investment, entrepreneur, artist, Arts Council, inver, arts council, Funding, funding, investment, Arts council, capital, business Comments: 2 Chris Grady, 27 January 2013 The advice given by my colleague Lynn Whitehead (Head of Creative Learning at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds) to all people going into the business is to remember…You are starting a business. You have a very special product to sell. You need to understand the business, promotion of your product, and who can help you sell it. The only difference between your situation and a seller of widgets, is that YOU are the product. You are selling yourself. You are the sole product of your business. Its a difficult concept for some actors and arts people to get their heads around, but it is an important one. Cheers Chris [email protected] Deborah Henry-Pollard, 6 February 2013 There are also other places to get free business advice if you are a freelancer/entrepreneur, such at the City Business Library, who have loads of free events and seminars covering tax, networking, business planning, etc. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/business/economic-research-and-information/city-business-library/Pages/default.aspx The British Library has an extensive library and also has events, including a lot on trademarks/Intellectual property http://www.bl.uk/bipc/ The people at both are really helpful and can help you find the material you need. I have a free ebook on my website ‘Demystifying the Business Planning Process’ for people who are complete novices (think of it as training wheels!) http://www.catchingfireworks.co.uk/My-Free-Stuff.html There is a very good creative coach called Mark McGuinness who has a totally free 26 part online foundation course, Creative Pathfinder, in how to develop your creative career, whatever your creative background (writer, designer, actor, etc.) http://lateralaction.com/pathfinder/ Hope this helps!