an Intro to the creative business skills series

August 2017 marks the launch of CREATIVE BUSINESS SKILLS; an article series aimed at exploring tips, techniques and advice on how to run your own business as a content creator. The articles will be based on my own personal experiences of developing a business from the ground up, and will cover topics such as promotion, web design, networking, finance and business administration. Although I'll be basing the articles on my experience of setting up a music/audio business, the CREATIVE BUSINESS SKILLS articles will give tips and advice relevant to all manner of creative businesses.

The inspiration behind the series is the reality that it's become increasingly difficult to launch your own creative business unless you have at least a basic grasp of all of the skills necessary to run that business. I know that last line sounds like an obvious fact, but it's something that a lot of creative entrepreneurs overlook, and I'm including myself in that.

As a music producer and composer, my primary goal is to make great music, and I can achieve that goal by spending time on perfecting my craft. As a music production business, however, my primary goal is to monetise the music I make. To achieve this goal I need a different, additional set of skills. Promotion, networking, new business acquisition, branding, all skills that may not come naturally to those who aspire to make a living from their craft.

At a time when funding for new businesses can be difficult to find, the benefits of being able to run all aspects of your own business are obvious. Instead of shelling out for web designers, marketing managers, or accountants, why not learn these skills yourself?

Now more than ever before it's crucial for creative business owners to possess all of the skills needed to get their business off the ground and keep it there. After all, the end result of diversifying our skills is being able to cut down costs and keep more of our hard-earned profits.

It's certainly a challenge to learn these new skills; I myself am finding this out every day. My aim for CREATIVE BUSINESS SKILLS is to share tips and advice that would have saved me time and headaches when I was learning these new skills for the first time. Sure it's possible to avoid the time and effort of all of this extra work by hiring others to do it, but that approach is usually expensive and, depending on your perspective, a lot less fun. I don't know about you, but I run my own business for two reasons: to make a living from it, and to enjoy it! 

I'm really looking forward to writing these articles, I'm sure they're going to provide lots of "what were you thinking?!" memories/moments. The thing I'm looking forward to most is hearing your feedback. I'm hoping to write articles on topics requested by you, about things you want to learn. I'm also fully expecting to be put in my place several times. After all, I'm not claiming to be an expert in any of the topics I explore. I'll simply be offering info and advice based on what I've found has worked for me.

I'll be posting the first article in a couple of weeks, but please get in touch if there are any topics you want me to start writing a piece about. Here's to the start of what will be a voyage of discovery for myself and hopefully you too!

Oli