Walking the tightrope

If you had the benefit of being a fly on the wall in a variety of creative practitioners’ studios these days, you would probably be privy to two of many business models. The first example might consist of rows of high spec computer terminals with designers toiling over elaborate graphic designs, whilst across the studio an illustration team discuss the looming deadline on their latest high pressure corporate project. The second studio might provide you with an entirely different view: open plan desks hosting casually dressed creatives engaged in frantic financial bid writing, whilst a project manager sits and discusses a child protection policy with a national youth manager.
 

If you were a fly on the wall at Hedz Creative Arts, you would be greeted by a mixture of both scenarios. Established in 2005 by a small collection of Midlands-based creative professionals, our artists frequently facilitate large art and design projects. We have worked for everyone from Virgin Trains to government-administered secondary schools. As you can imagine, running a business that deals directly with both poles of the creative sector isn’t without its challenges. Often we find ourselves not only dealing with deadline-sensitive corporate work, but also managing and facilitating art education sessions for underprivileged young people. Hedz ‘juggles’ its client base across various markets. One of the key differences between our customer groups is seasonality, which is particularly notable in the youth sector. We reflect this through the timing of our sales and marketing, and aim to focus on more stable markets, such as corporate brands, during predicted seasonal lulls in the youth sector.

CORPORATES AND COMMUNITY
The business balancing act that Hedz maintains has significant benefits both to artists and organisations. Many commercial clients we encounter have a strong emphasis on channelling creative energy back into modern youth culture. They are often enthusiastic about linking their companies with good causes within national community settings. Hedz artists are often called upon to educate commercial companies as to how they can help make a difference with less fortunate areas of our society. Our social inclusion client base is the best example of daily job satisfaction for our employees. Our staff find that the pressures and responsibilities of corporate contracts can be partly relinquished during the act of engaging and inspiring less fortunate and marginalised young people in creative thoughts and practices.

BUSINESS SAVVY
With nearly 95% of our social inclusion work being funded by local government funding streams, it can be a daily challenge when approaching these ‘pockets’ of money as a private business. Our community-based clients are often not accustomed to dealing with private non-governmental contractors; they may be unfamiliar with paying VAT, or signing legally binding payment schedules and contracts. They are unfortunately sometimes just cynical about the successful completion of projects due to government bureaucracy. Part of our job is to ensure that every client feels comfortable within the relationship, irrespective of their business experience and acumen.
Our staff must always be capable of managing people and relationships before they can expect to shine as artists. The successful management of community clients and commercial companies comes from having the ability to metaphorically wear several hats at once. Whilst wearing the ‘community liaison’ hat, you must often also wear your ‘corporate protocol’ hat. Clear and concise communication will assist you in fulfilling both. If we find that recipient organisations are finding it difficult to manage their project commitments, we offer to assist with all elements of their project details. We take charge of our contracts whilst allowing for the organic development of each client relationship. The challenges of our business model inspire us to improve. We believe that diversity breeds inspiration. This allows us to achieve corporate business results whilst also delivering education-based art activities to the next generation of potential creative practitioners.