How arts companies and creative businesses can scale up

Rhian Kempadoo-Millar, Kempadoo Millar British Headwear

We scaled up due to growing demand for our caps in 2013. We were operating as a cottage industry, but in order to manufacture in larger quantities we needed working capital and the ability to support both web sales and stockists through an e-commerce site and new systems. We accessed a £10,000 loan which has enabled us to grow steadily over the past 18 months and implement the changes needed.

I think it’s a big step for micro-businesses to take on finance, so discuss it at length with outside advisors and people working in similar industries to yours.

As someone naturally debt- and risk-averse, it wasn’t in my comfort zone to use someone else’s money to finance my ideas. However, I spoke to a successful company director who reassured me that all businesses have to take risks to allow for growth. Sometimes those “I started with £50 and now I’m a millionaire” stories give a false impression of the real costs involved in launching and maintaining a brand.

If you do choose to take a loan, decide exactly what the money is for, then check, check and check again to see if any of those things can be done free or in an alternative way. Once you’ve done that, cost only for essentials.

We’ve found slow growth to be the key to really understanding the product, the costs, customer needs and areas where scaling up will be most effective. Our business plan is built around a “slow fashion” model, which is based on quality, longevity and steady growth of the brand, so our lending reflects this.

Another tip? Keep all the quirks and fun stuff even while it scales up. Creativity can get sidelined as the company gets “serious” but it’s the key to keeping it interesting on those long, lonely 14-hour days.

Amber Massie-Blomfield, exec director, Camden People’s Theatre

We have just become a national portfolio organisation for the first time, meaning we’ll receive regular Arts Council England (ACE) funding from 2015-18. We are the only London theatre to join the portfolio in the new funding round.

It’s not a huge shift for us in terms of budget, but it means a change in our confidence as well as the public’s perception of what we do. It also brings new responsibilities; we’re more accountable than we’ve ever been before.

In terms of scaling up, the key is to have a mission and a plan to achieve it. Camden People’s Theatre exists to support emerging theatre artists, making work that’s innovative in form, so every decision has to emerge from the question of whether it serves that. We can only invest in expanding our infrastructure if ultimately it means there will be more opportunities for more emerging artists to make more great work.

Taking risks is the same; you’ve got to plan, weighing up the impact on your mission if it goes right, or wrong. Saying “no” to a great opportunity is sometimes the best decision you can make.

Having said that, small organisations have an advantage in that they can be nimble and fleet-of-foot, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise, rather than having to be bound by thinking long-term or worrying about how many mouths there are to feed.

Good business planning can be as much about recognising this and leaving space for it. We’re cautious about ensuring we don’t simply create more admin by growing unnecessarily. As our ACE officer sagely put it: paperwork is self-perpetuating. Scaling up could be as much about making more intelligent choices to serve the mission – staying compact might be exactly what allows you to do that.

Liza Fior, founder, muf architecture/art

We’ve tended to expand in jumps, for example the successful winning of larger commissions and our being selected for approved lists to allow us to apply for bigger public commissions. We have not had the working capital to do so on spec.

My advice when it comes to scaling up? It’s worth collaborating in order to benefit from the experiences and expertise of others. We have always worked with engineers and cost consultants much bigger than our own office.

Another tip: understand how you spend money. Do not expand your fixed costs unless you have to. Finally, consolidate by pursuing commissions you know how to do, but also try to have new thoughts and explore new possibilities. For example, although we’ve not yet taken on built commissions abroad, we are doing more consultancy in the US, Germany and Sweden. This is work that could be built upon at a later date.

Kempadoo Millar British Headwear and muf architecture/art are recipients of Creative Industry Finance support, a programme managed by Creative United and publicly funded by Arts Council England

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