Creative Business

Sabrian Kiefer, the Business School's Venture Coach and Business Plan Manager

A new report reviews how Imperial MBA students provided support to several small creative companies as part of their studies.

A new report reviews how Imperial MBA students provided support to several small creative companies as part of their studies.

Business schools and small firms in the creative industries will benefit from a new guide recently published by NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. The report makes recommendations for running similar projects based on a pilot study with Imperial College Business School and four others.

Creative Business Catalyst: Matching business school expertise with creative businesses reports on the programme to help creative firms prosper by matching them with MBA students. Over a period ranging from six to twenty weeks small creative businesses with the potential for growth were given business support. Creative firms contribute £57 million a year to the UK economy and face some unique challenges; creative skills do not always mean good business leadership or management skills, which can hamper growth. Creative firms may undervalue their work, sometimes missing opportunities to make money from these assets. They may also fail to communicate effectively with potential investors and customers.

Businesses referred to the programme received a ‘health-check' as part of a formal selection process which assessed their stage of growth. Once selected by NESTA, the firms received advice on business strategy, marketing, personnel and finance issues from MBA students on the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Design course at Imperial College Business School.

Haidee Bell, programme manager pilot at NESTA says the pilot was a success for many of the firms involved, though some were victims of the recession. "Businesses are reporting increases in revenue or profits which they partly attribute to the [Creative Business Catalyst] programme," she said. "Several companies have been prompted by the MBA team to be more structured and strategic about how they run their business and are doing better for it."

MBA students from Imperial College Business School worked several companies, including Haberdasherylondon, a design agency run by Daniel Siden, Ben Rigby and Mac Cox. Their business benefitted from guidance and support in planning a sister company focusing on experimental work. Mac explained that the "new business plan for a gives us a clear path for growing the business in a manageable way, with an emphasis on how we can differentiate ourselves from competitors and add value to our creative design process."

"The things that have really stuck with us are about how to communicate effectively and how to create a business offer that has real value," said business partner Daniel. "They're quite simple lessons, but incredibly effective."

Sabrina Kiefer, Venture Coach and Business Plan Manager, in the Business School's Entrepreneurship Hub welcomed the report. "The NESTA pilot was a great way for students to make a difference and gain experience working with SMEs as part of their coursework on our Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Design programme," she said. "One or two have told me they're now considering moving into the creative industries, thanks to this experience. We're a keen supporter of entrepreneurship at the school and we look forward to being involved in this programme again if NESTA continues it."

One of the main lessons from the project relates to the selection process used to find growth-oriented small creative firms. A firm must be ready to grow, be open recommendations, or already have experience of working with independent advisers, if it is to benefit from the process. These are also requisites for interesting and engaging project work for the MBA students.

 ends