By Helen Wardropper, Business Adviser, North East BIC
When you think of careers, it’s easy to imagine a clear path to becoming a plumber or a teacher. But what if your ambitions lie in acting, photography, writing or art?
Could you make a living doing what you love? And could you play a part in the creative revolution that is unfolding in Sunderland?
Perhaps you’re into beauty and could have a future in makeup for film and TV with the opening of Crown Works Studios. Or you might be an aspiring musician wondering how to monetise your work and get involved with our new Music City status.
Here at the North East BIC, we want to make sure local creatives make the most of the wave of new opportunities that are flooding in to the creative sector in and around Sunderland.
That’s why we’re working with our partners to develop new ways to help people transform creative passions into profits – whether that’s as a side hustle or as a full-time thing.
No boring business advice here!
Having run my own business as a caricature artist, I have first-hand insight into the unique challenges and rewards of running a creative business.
When you’re an artist or creator, all you want to do is create. The business side of things can seem quite boring and even daunting. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
We’re designing support differently to simplify things and make the business bits more fun. No suits and no tedious spreadsheets – we’re all about engaging and inspiring creative minds.
Putting your heart and soul into your work as a creative is a really personal thing. It’s natural to feel exposed, and it’s not always easy to take your talents seriously. But that’s where we come in.
We can provide the validation you need, helping you test if there’s potential to make a business from your skills. We’ll scope things out together. We’ll also help you to decide if self-employment is right for you – either right now or sometime down the line.
A different kind of support for a new generation
The vulnerability that comes with creativity can also be a barrier to people reaching out for support. We find that especially true with young people so we’re working hard to break down barriers and dispel myths around what business advisers actually do.
We’re taking our support directly to creatives in their own communities and visiting schools to introduce the idea of entrepreneurship early. We’re showing young people that self-employment is a real, exciting option.
We’ve only just scratched the surface but already we can see there’s huge appetite for entrepreneurship and there’s so much potential out there.
We’re giving young people real-world examples of how we can help, with time management for example, if they wanted to balance university with running a creative business.
The next generation are incredibly savvy and we are learning as much from them as they are from us so it’s a very collaborative environment.
How we can help turn passion into profit
Our 1-1 support sessions provide a dedicated adviser who is matched to you and can offer tailored advice, in your own neighbourhood. Everything is really relaxed and friendly.
Whether you’re looking for a second opinion on an idea, wondering if you can make a second income from a hobby, or simply exploring if self-employment is the right path for you, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
We’ll invite you to our Flying Start Workshops that guide you through all of the business basics, plus special events like the Creativity Collaboration Panel on 28 March, designed for creatives in Sunderland looking to take the next step in their business journey.
For you or someone you know
If you’re not a creative, but someone you know is, then please share this information with them. Think of the people around you – your children, parents, friends, neighbours – could they turn something they love to do into a business?
If creativity is their happy place, then we could help them to make a living from that happiness!
To find out more, take a look at our workshops or find out more about the support on offer here.