Business School for Artists: A Creative Approach to Business Planning

The workshop programme encompasses addressing business as a creative practice, being a step ahead of others, taking into account resources, time and costs, analysis of profitability, business plan as a narrative aid, as well as conclusion and questions. The workshop is led by Amy Whitaker, Assistant Professor at New York University. She completed her postgraduate studies in Management at Yale School of Management and postgraduate studies in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art. She is the author of the books Museum Legs (2009) and Art of Thinking (2016). 

Students and graduates of art schools and academies have priority in applying.
Bookings: petra.derganc@mglc-lj.si

Business School for Artists: A Creative Approach to Business Planning
Programme:

1. Framing Business as a Creative Practice
-Protecting space and amplifying reach
-The limitations of language
-The idea of inventing point B

2. Lighthouse Questions (interactive and hands-on)
-Developing the question that drives your work (and this project)

3. Resources, Time, and Costs 
-Resource audit: what you need to do your work (interactive exercise)
-Time and money: cross subsidies and what supports your R&D (story and interactive exercise)
-Fixed and variable cost
-Cost and budget worksheet (interactive exercise)

4. Breakeven Analysis 
-How to plan the mechanics of paying for your project
-How grants and earned income come together

5. Other kinds of costs and advantages
-Transaction costs
-Scale and scope

6. Business plans as storytelling devices 
-Introduction to business plans
-Discussion of an example from the room (interactive)
-Templates and collective design challenges (interactive)
-Business plan exercise (interactive exercise)

7. Conclusions and questions