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Entrepreneurship for Creatives

Hello and welcome to my new shiny website which has been designed by one of my fantastic entrepreneurship students Alana Biviano of BVN Creative who I met last year. Over the last couple of days I’ve been beavering away on my own, polishing and tweaking links. The image above is of the fine set of individuals who came together from all over the world on the Entrepreneurship Summer School, at Central Saint Martins in July.

I have always had total faith in any of my courses whether at Granary Square or online that a group can form a community. Which is a resource, that can, even if for a short time contribute to launching or moving your arts practice or design business on to the next level. When aspiring creatives form a group, for a couple of hours or weeks, e.g. a workshop, exhibition or conference much is learned which can be intelligently applied to their next project. With the advent of social media, free real time global communication and payment systems it is possible for the first time in history to network and trade on an international footing from the first few minutes of setting up in business.

If you wish to strike out on your own or with others, as the old African proverb goes…

‘If you want to move quickly, go alone…If you wish to go far go together’

Avoid the old trap that you can do it all on your own…you can’t. Its only possible with the support and involvement of others*. This new website won’t exist I think if I had not met Alana for instance.

*Scottish Referendum, voted no and the Scots have decided to maintain the union by staying together.

Business Start-up for Creatives Online

Ahoy there shipmates! This is my second post, please excuse the formatting, its early days in these uncharted virtual seas of the blogosphere!

So why not launch yourself and set sail with the winds of good fortune in blowing in your sails this month?

If you’ve recently graduated from a visual or applied arts degree, or perhaps you have just started your business as a freelancer, design business or arts practice and feel very confused about what is going on, then this online course will help you formulate a plan, understanding some marketing basics, networks, business planning, money management, costing and pricing, fund raising, legal matters and tax. A very useful course for anyone based in the UK, EU or elsewhere in the world who seek to trade with or in Europe.

Its very easy to make mistakes in business, and making too many can drain you of time, funds and resources. Often its about spotting problems and putting them right that will aid your route to success, leading to financial stability or a profitable enterprise.

This course is broadcast live, but its recorded so if you miss a class you can catch up during the week, there will also be time to discuss your plans and extensive handouts are also provided along with these exclusive course extras:

As part of the course students have a free one hour consultation with specialist design accountant Dean Shepherd of Tax By Design and a Business name and a free UK/EU trade mark search undertaken by city the law firm Silverman Sherliker LLP.

For more information and to enrol please view the new Central Saint Martins website.

A 7 Step Guide to Protecting Your Brand: Asos Market Sellers Blog

I venture out into the blogosphere with tentative tiny steps, please excuse the formatting, as I’ve just set up this account!

I launch with a recent post I wrote for Asos…just out 25th September 2013

A 7 Step Guide to Protecting Your Brand

When you start out as a fashion designer, maker or seller like all other creative enterprises you have to decide on what to call yourself. You might for example use your own personal name or trade under a business name. Some of you may have started trading using an eye-catching name, phrase or motif but what you might not realise is that without sufficient checks and seeking to register a trade mark, your brand isn’t safe in the commercial marketplace.

When you officially register as a sole-trader (aka self-employed) a partnership or a company, the following seven step guide helps you to avoid costly mistakes with your label name or logo often referred to in legalese as your ‘mark’.

When you see the â next to your favourite label or store name it means they have registered their name, possibly the graphic representation of their mark and logo as a registered trade mark. When you see ä this means that the business founders are stating this is our ‘trademark’ either before or whist waiting for official registration to come through. Trademarks are registered by ‘territory’ which usually means by country.

1. Go out and check the world
You might not be aware but it is now a legal requirement for anyone setting up as self-employed, partnership or a limited company to make sure they’re not using the same business name as another enterprise. You might not have officially registered yourself as a business, by-the-way if you haven’t and you have started to make sales you need to get this done. So even if you’re using a name and you haven’t officially registered as a business you can still run into problems. The best thing to do is….(To read more please visit Asos)