We live in an era of radical new economic demands and environmental changes.   These demands require new ways of thinking as cultural and creative organisations have to adjust and adapt to survive. 

Complete changes in patterns of community needs, audience requirements, generational and demographic changes, new forms of resource development and technological advancements have shown that the old ways of doing things to promote organisational stability now need to be balanced by equally new solid ways of adaptability. If cultural and creative organisations are to survive, they must proactively seize opportunities for change instead of merely reacting. They need to adapt and adapt quickly. But in order to identify opportunities, they need to know what constitutes an opportunity and, critically, how you can plan, validate and implement them. 

Now that culture has been added as one of the cornerstones of the EU, cultural and creative organisations must have the entrepreneurial and business skills needed to deliver on their vision.

It has been finally realised not only in the EU but also in Ireland that the Creative and Cultural Industries are among the fastest growing and most vibrant industries with substantial economic potential. The Creative and Cultural Industries provide employment to over 7 million people and generate 4.2% of the EU GDP (equivalent to what the EU28 collectively spend on Education).

85% of people working in the Creative and Cultural Industries are Freelancers (self-employed) and micro-businesses (1-3 employees). However, a report by Graduate Prospects published in the UK in 2005 showed that “whilst only 2.3% of all first-degree graduates had become self-employed in the six months after graduation, over a third (36.8%) of these had studied creative arts and design subjects.”

Despite the common knowledge that self-employment and freelance work require very specific entrepreneurial skill sets, attitudes and competencies, there is a common perception that entrepreneurship training for students of arts, design and media and similar creative programmes is heavily neglected and under-developed in the current Higher Education and Further Education curriculum.

Many feel that their degree courses do not adequately prepare them for careers in the Creative and Cultural Industries as freelancers or small business owners. This is because they are not attracted by traditional forms of business and entrepreneurial training; instead, they require sector-specific, contextualised learning experiences that allow them to link creative practice with commercial realities.

As a personal example, in September 2009, the Centre for Creative Practices opened with the ambition to run a sustainable independent, non-commercial arts centre. It did not work out the way we intended, but we learned a lot about sustainability or the lack of it in the creative sector along the way.

The Centre for Creative Practices soon became known as the only arts organisation in Ireland dedicated to connecting, integrating and promoting migrant, experimental and emerging creatives among the local creative scene. We were winners of the Arthur Guinness Fund in 2012, named in the Purpose Economy 100 for Europe in 2014, awarded the Multicultural Company of the Year and Shortlisted as Dublin’s Gallery of the Year both in 2011. We received financial support from the Arts Council of Ireland and Dublin City Council.

We ran, on average, 15 events per month, a total of over 700 events during the centre’s lifespan and engaged with around 1,500 creatives and 16,000 audiences. And it took us almost three years to price our concert tickets at €10 and to increase our venue hire rent to an “extortionate” €120 per day.

We were afraid to take risks. We didn’t have the Education or the skills to run a business; we had never heard of, let alone produced a business plan. We were afraid of failure, afraid to realistically price our work, afraid people wouldn’t come, afraid that people couldn’t afford it. But we were also afraid to ask them; we just assumed it. So we worked in the creative sector, and it was more about showing something than making a living from it, or so we thought.

However, through our contact with over 1500 artists, we realised that well over 90% of them suffered from the same conditions and false notions that we did. We were not alone. Most of the sector lacked the skills to run a successful creative business or build a sustainable career. Therefore our overriding mission became to acknowledge the fact that we all needed help, irrespective of where on the path we were.

We need a new model that puts the role of creatives and their ability to make a living wage at the forefront of Creative Education. But what do we need to do to get from where we were at that moment to one where creatives are making a living wage? Because as Tim Knight says, “Everyone and every organisation is perfectly designed to get the results they are getting.”

What skills did we lack? Based on a recent survey by the Arts Council of Ireland, four factors predominate:

• lack of financial skills
• marketing services and attracting new clients
• basic business administration skills
• and finally, the ability to raise investment or funding.

Also, in relation to developing or continuing their careers, they say the biggest needs are access to external expertise and Education, money, and resources.

We need to encourage cultural and creative leaders and their staff to explore the power of Education and personal development, to share good practices amongst colleagues and co-workers, and bring back their learned knowledge to communities, organisations and eco-systems. 

The organisations that are thriving and continuing to deliver real value are the ones that are increasing their emphasis on innovation and adaptive change. These are the ones who are strengthening their adaptive capabilities, allowing them to ideate, innovate and adapt. We need more of these cultural and creative organisations to thrive so that they can fulfil their remit of challenging people to inspire and get inspired, to change lives, and, most critically, to open minds. We need them to adapt, not die!

Letcombe Production is dedicated to the arts, creative and social enterprise sectors. Our website has dedicated reels on running your creative or artistic practice as a business, articles and opportunities for artists. In addition, we can organise digital media, marketing, project management, grant writing, application assessment, and tools to help you run your creative and artistic practice.

Working predominantly in the arts and social enterprise sector, Letcombe Production can assist in all getting projects from idea to distribution. We can look after any size of project, from commercials or promotional productions to film or radio productions.