Alison Branagan is an author and visual arts consultant and also teaches business, entrepreneurship and self-promotion courses for Creatives at Central Saint Martins Short Courses. Students who have attended Alison’s courses have gone on to set up innovative, experimental and commercial companies. We therefore asked Alison to give us more insight to the different routes of  business success for Creatives ahead of her new courses starting this summer.

If you are looking for a way to launch your art, craft practice, or design business than look no further. This summer there are a number of popular business, entrepreneurship and self-promotion Summer School courses which I run at the Central Saint Martins Kings Cross Campus in Granary Square, which are also available online.

Students who have attended these courses in the past have gone on to set up innovative, experimental and commercial companies. Each course has a number of guest speakers, including one of the team from Silverman Sherliker LLP a top London Intellectual Property firm.

In Business Start-up for a Creatives, we look at how to get started, covering a wide gamut of  vital areas such as costing and pricing, what to charge, business planning, legal issues, networks, marketing, trends, as well as, finance, how to get paid and understanding tax. Audrey Whelan attended this course a couple of years ago and she has now established a successful Interior Design Business. She is now a guest speaker on my courses. She works with residential clients in London, from small flats to large homes, and she says ‘Alison’s course was a great way to begin my journey into the world of running my own interior design business. Alison was not shy about the reality of the focus and commitment I would need to put in to make it work. But her approach and attention to detail resulted in an inspiring and very informative Launchpad.’

In Entrepreneurship for Creatives we explore more practical aspects of being a creative entrepreneur, such as vision, confidence, attracting attention, negotiation, presentation, how to pitch as well as developing focused networking strategies. Rob Dakin is also a former student and he now runs his own successful children’s games business Clockwork Soldier. He is also a guest speaker on my courses.  His creative products are stocked in over 500 stores in ten countries and he says ‘I truly believe the course was a really good and useful stepping stone to launching my creative business’.

In Self-Promotion for Creatives we cover many different aspects of self-promotion, these include self-promotion, social media, networking, publicity stunts, writing marketing and more serious statements. We also cover important issues such as protecting your brand, as well as presentation, confidence, and how to sell. Alana Biviano attended my course in 2014 and has established a highly successful graphic design business, BVN Creative and she says, ‘The Self-Promotion for Creatives course was a pivotal point in my career. It covers everything a freelancer needs to know in order to market themselves and turn their skills and passion into a successful business.’

Alana also attended my online Entrepreneurship for Creatives course even though she is based in Melbourne, Australia. My Business Start-up for Creatives (online) and Self-Promotion for Creatives (online) courses are  available to enrol on this summer, students have attended these courses from Brazil, America, France, Spain, Sweden, Russia, China, Japan and as well as the UK.

Want to take an online course in Business Start Up for Creatives? The next one starts in June and Self Promotion for Creatives (online) starts in August

Both Entrepreneurship for Creatives and Business Start-up for Creatives will take place in July at Granary Square, with further dates throughout the year 

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