Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Business Side of Creativity



Key Business Plan Components
The creative world boasts of their passion and ability to express themselves in various forms, whether it’s singing, music, art, film, dance or poetry.  Rarely do we find these same people with a solid plan to turn their art form into a successful business.  It is important to have a spark, a passion and creativity in their expression, but it is equally important to develop a business plan so their passion can generate revenue. 

The blogspot, http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com, features business plan expert views and shares successful businessmen and their methodologies.  Two excerpts featuring Muhammad Yumas and Bobby Flay and Steve Ells stood out to me. 

Muhammad Yunus was a successful economist that founded Grameen Bank.  They had one of the most successful loan repayment rates in the world.  He came from humble means growing up in a poverty stricken area of Bengal and believed education was a tool that could help him escape.  He believed in giving loans to people who had a passion and a drive, and only needed the money.  He believed that credit was a fundament human right, which is probably why he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.

Indie Artists
In the entertainment industry one may wonder, what does this have to do with me?  This speaks volumes to those of us pursuing our passion, especially independent artists needing financial backing.  We all have talent but we must remember that we need to reflect this passion in an organized business plan.  This one step could be the difference between struggling to pursue your passion, and having the funding to truly establish your brand.  You could successfully develop a marketing plan and properly advertise to bring clients to your doorstep.

The Business Plan
This has motivated me to change the way we do things at CC Productions.  We’ve always had passion and talent, but we didn’t have a proper business plan to seek funding, so that we can position ourselves in the market.  We must understand that investors are analytical people.  Our most important section is the market and the budget.  Investors need to know that there is a market for your talent and a budget that will show a return on their investment.


Bobby Flay and Steve Ells
Bobby Flay is a household name to those who are into reality cooking shows.  He not only boasts this fame, but he is one of America’s top chefs and owns six high-end restaurants and five fast casual dining restaurants grossing millions of dollars.  Steve Ells equally acclaimed as Bobby and has a few things to boast about on his own.  He founded Chipotle in 1993 with an $85,000 loan from his father and now he is a top investor on the new hit series Americas Great Next Restaurant.  This show was looking for the best concept to invest millions of dollars to open three new restaurants in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York City.  There were three key components that investor were looking for in the business plan for the concept to work:

The Name
The name must represent whom the owner is and what they are trying to convey.  This is key in my business plan.  The name has to have a sense of your style and what it is your trying to say.  The name has to connect with the product or the service. In my case, the name fits the owner, its fun and not too serious.

The Logo
The logo is another key component in the business plan.  This is an area that I struggled with the most in my business plan.  I wanted the logo to be eye-catching, memorable, fun, horizontal and reflect who we are.  It is very important for it to be connected to what we do, short and to the point.

The Slogan
The slogan is the next key component part in the business plan.  The slogan needs to be able to pull all of the components together in a simple phrase.  It needs to be one that the employees can remember and one that can remind employees who we are.

Out of all of these important components in my business plan, I feel that the most important section is the financial statements.  The typical investor just wants to know that they will have a return on their investment.

(Sources: Neumeier, M.  (2006) The Brand Gap.  

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