It is Creative but is it a Business?

A creative passion is at the heart of every enterprise. Many entrepreneurs have developed their creative talents into successful businesses in the creative and cultural fields.
It’s creative, but is it a business?

Creativity is necessary, but not sufficient. It’s fatal to assume that creativity alone deserves or guarantees business success.

For many creative people, their creative passion is not part of an enterprise at all – and they don’t want it to be. This means that they can allow their creativity to flourish without the constraints of business or the requirements of the marketplace.

They have the freedom to create without having also to calculate prices, promote their work, deal with customers or keep an eye on the accounts. This option is valid in artistic terms, but is not a business option.

As soon as the creative person decides to make money from their creativity and enter the marketplace, a range of business factors immediately come into play, including pricing, marketing, financial management, organisational structure, intellectual property and other matters.

Creativity is one element of a business formula which also involves key decisions about which particular creative goods or services to provide – and which particular customers to serve. For example, Rob Kinsey is an artist with a passion – and a focus.
Can you be creative and commercial?

Being creative in a totally non-commercial way is fine – as is being a creative businessperson. However it’s possible to ‘fall between two stools’, playing neither role well.

    The pricing structure is appropriate for the economics of a ‘paying hobby’ but totally unworkable for a real business.

Often people find themselves in this position by selling to friends and family. This is understandable, but in commercial terms can be fatal.

Why? Because this approach is usually combined with setting prices simply to cover direct costs of materials but not including their labour, because at this early stage they still regard it more as a hobby and perhaps also have a day-job.