Assistance in business development in the field of creative economy

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Polessky State University

Department of Economics and Business

Assistance in business development in the field of creative economy

R.N. Grabar, senior Lecturer

Zh. G. Shumak, assistant

Pinsk, Republic of Belarus

Abstract

The article presents the trends of business development in the creative economy. The article describes the experience of the project "Create your business in creative economy”, which included organization and holding of the training courses in the direction of promoting the ideas of the creative economy, and which implementation resulted in ready-made projects of the participants creating business in the creative economy. The projects were presented at the Pinsk-Invest-Weekend. During the training in the framework of the project, students gained knowledge on finding sources of funding. This education will help to generate and implement business ideas in the creative economy. The article substantiates the need for assistance from the governing bodies to the representatives of the creative sphere in obtaining additional business education. Promotion of creative projects contributes to the change of the urban environment and increases the socio-economic sustainability of the region.

Keywords: business idea, business project, creative industry, handicraft, IT-industry, advertising, knowledge economy, creative innovation development Center, adult education.

Аннотация

Содействие развитию бизнеса в креативной экономике

Р.Н. Грабар, старший преподаватель кафедры экономики и бизнеса, Ж.Г. Шумак, ассистент кафедры экономики и бизнеса1 1Полесский государственный университет, г. Пинск, Республика Беларусь

В статье изложены тенденции развития бизнеса в креативной экономике. Описан опыт реализации проекта «Создай свой бизнес в креативной экономике», в рамках которого организованы и проведены обучающие курсы в направлении продвижения идей креативной экономики. Результатом обучения стали готовые проекты участников по созданию бизнеса в креативной экономике. Проекты были представлены на Пинск-Инвест-Уикенд. В ходе обучения в рамках проекта слушатели получили знания по поиску источников финансирования. Полученное образование поможет генерировать и реализовать бизнес-идеи в креативной экономике. В статье обоснована необходимость содействия со стороны органов управления представителям творческой сферы в получении дополнительного бизнес-образования. Продвижение креативных проектов способствует изменению городской среды и обеспечивает повышение социально -экономической устойчивости региона.

Ключевые слова: бизнес-идея, бизнес-проект, креативная индустрия, ремесленничество, IT-индустрия, реклама, экономика знаний, Центр развития творческих инноваций, обучение взрослых.

Background

Nowadays the creative economy is considered to be a new economy growth model. It involves little investment in knowledge, ideas, cultural norms, concepts, and solutions. The reference definition of the creative economy is the definition of the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The creative economy is «industries that derive from individual creativity, skills, and talents and have the potential to generate wealth and create jobs through the generation and use of intellectual property» [1].

For the first time in the UK special statistical codes were used to distinguish representatives of the creative sector from other economic entities. However, the boundaries of the creative industry are unstable. Currently, its membership includes such types of activities as: architecture, crafts, cinematography, design, creation of clothes models, interactive entertainment programs, music, performing arts, media, software and computer systems, TV and radio.

The development of creative economy in Europe is characterized by large-scale development of advertising business and visual arts. In the advertising business the products of advertising companies are close to works of art due to their complex dramatic nature. Advertising in Europe also belongs to the creative industry. The leader in the European creative arena is the visual arts sector. It unites the art market, museums, design, crafts and souvenir industry. This sector employs 1,231 million people and produces 127 billion euros of total income annually [1]. This part of the creative economy includes most small enterprises, studios, galleries, workshops by freelance artists and photographers.

In the knowledge economy employees are required to think creatively, to be able to solve tasks creatively, and to be willing to develop constantly. Traditionally, Belarus pays much attention to the real sector of the economy, but does not fully use the human potential in the field of creativity. Additional education for adults plays an important role in the formation of creative cluster in the country. According to the Ministry of education, about 400 institutions provide additional education services in Belarus, where up to 400 thousand people study annually [2]. Belarus is proud of the high education level of its population. The time when education was obtained only within the walls of educational institutions is over. Now one should be able to learn in the workplace, during leisure activities, in the process of various social orders implementation.

The development of the creative economy in Belarus is hampered by the absence of this concept in the Belarusian legislation. People have to register the status of a craftsman or an individual entrepreneur. At the same time, they do not have sufficient access to loans and resources to start their business.

It is useful to use the experience of European countries for the development of the creative economy. In Europe the support for the creative sector is directed to the simultaneous development of five components: policy development and advocacy, the activities of professional networks and associations; strengthening of organizational capacity; the work of incubators and accelerators; the creation of clusters and hubs; internationalization [1].

Such an approach ensures the sustainability of the sector. Creative economy is characterized by the development of clusters. Creative clusters arise through the development of industrial facilities that are not used due to the cessation of production. Such premises can be used by associations of artists, designers, etc. Such clusters help to study and identify the most interesting initiatives and link them with the business.

Creative economy is the production of ideas, meanings, works, projects that become independent products on the market [3, p. 154]. Most of the projects in the field of creative economy are temporal and the world experience confirms that the promotion of creative projects allows adapting to the market not for enterprises, but for cities and towns.

In Belarus, the creative industry has almost no real support at the level of city and district administrations. This is due to the lack of sustainable mechanisms to support creative entrepreneurship on the part of city and district authorities. Therefore, it is the cluster nature of the development of these projects that can provide a positive result. The implementation of projects in the field of culture should be aimed at large-scale changes in the urban environment, marketing of urban areas and support of representatives of the creative economy. Such projects can improve the status of the locality, improve its image.

In our opinion, the most complete definition of the significance of the creative industry for the economy of cities was given by Meteleva E. R. in her works [4]:

- goods and services produced by these industries can be used by urban residents and visitors, consumed locally and exported in the form of tours and videos;

- one working place in the creative industry leads to the creation of several working places in the service sector;

- the nature of activity in the creative industry excludes the effect of substitution of labor by factors of production. This does not allow the number of employees to fall below a certain level;

- cluster members benefit from the localization effect of organizations in this sector of the economy and from the proximity of other economic activities in the city.

Results

2018 and 2019 in the Republic of Belarus are declared the years of the homeland. A large number of activities aimed at the development of territories, promotion and support of gifted children and adults in various fields of activity are carried out in the country. One of the main tasks is to reduce the outflow of young and promising personnel from small settlements and towns, create favorable conditions for life. The younger generation creates prerequisites for the development of new activities in the country, one of them - creative industry. In order to involve creative people in active economic activity in Pinsk, a training project «Create your business in creative economy» was implemented in 2018. The segment of the creative economy in Pinsk and Pinsk district is underdeveloped. This is due to the lack of public awareness. The demand of the local population for the products of this segment is not formed. There is a low entrepreneurial activity of creative professionals and people with creative tendencies. There are few measures to support entrepreneurship in the creative economy in state and regional programs.

On the other hand, in Pinsk and Pinsk district there are many adults of creative professions inclined to creative activity. They have problems with employment or live in rural areas, where it is difficult to realize their creative potential because of the limited access to educational services for the development of entrepreneurial skills in the creative economy. According to experts of the employment service, 10-12% of the unemployed who applied to the labor exchange of Pinsk in 2017 has creative specialties or is capable of creative activity.

These circumstances determined the demand for the assistance to representatives of the creative sphere in obtaining additional education. This will help them to generate and implement business ideas of the creative economy and find sources of their financing. Polessky state University in partnership with the units of Pinsk and Pinsk district administrations, and together with the social information institution «Center for the development of creative innovations «Creative Industries», implemented the project «Create your business in creative economy». Cooperation is aimed at promoting the ideas of creative economy through teaching newcomers in the sphere of entrepreneurship in Pinsk and Pinsk district.

The project is supported by the representative office of the registered society «Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verbande.V.» (Germany) in the Republic of Belarus (DVV International in Belarus) within the frameworks of the project «Development of adult education in the Republic of Belarus» with the assistance of the Federal Ministry of economic cooperation and development of Germany (BMZ).

The main directions of cooperation were presented in the following activities:

- organization and holding a competition on participating in educational courses in the sphere of creative economy and forming the group of participants also from among socially disadvantaged population groups and new entrepreneurs from Pinsk and Pinsk district;

- elaboration and holding 3 educational courses for the formed group on the following topics: organizational and economic basics on doing business in the sphere of creative economy, practice of financing and promoting creative projects; ICT in promoting business. The duration of each lesson - 3 hours. The total duration of educational courses - 39 hours.

- elaboration of business ideas by the participants of the educational courses, expertise and correction of the developed ideas by the experts attracted to create a catalogue of business ideas;

- issuing consultations to the participants of the educational courses on forming and implementing business ideas in the sphere of creative economy;

- preparation of 2 distance courses (basics of doing business in the sphere of creative economy, ICT in promoting creative projects) as a result of holding educational courses and placing them on the E-Learning distance platform (http://moodle.polessu.by) with mass media (including the portal http://edu.adukatar.net). The distance course includes educational and methodological materials, tasks and videos of the educational courses.

- issuing support to the participants of the educational courses in presenting their business ideas (also within the events of Pinsk-Invest- Weekend), searching for the potential investors for the financing of business ideas;

- organization and holding the final presentation of the project with the project partners, participants of the educational courses, representatives of local authorities with the purpose of presenting business ideas of the participants, drawing the results and discussing the effect of the project, as well as mechanisms of further support to creative entrepreneurship from the side of local authorities, promotion of creative projects targeted at changing the urban environment and ensuring increase in social and economic sustainability of the region;

- drawing the attention of the broader public, including local authorities, to the idea of creative economy as a model of social and economic sustainable development of the region;

- elaboration and publishing of a catalogue of business ideas of the participants as a result of the project (at least 80 copies) to distribute among the potential investors.

The implementation of this project made it possible to implement training courses in the direction of promoting the ideas of the creative economy, which resulted in ready-made projects of participants intended to create a business in the creative economy. The formation of business projects involves a description of the existing idea with the presentation of possible prospects for the business development.

PolesSU has experience in the implementation of training programs in the field of business engineering: consulting and support of innovative business projects in the framework of the training lab «Business center» activities, PolesSU start-up school; consulting assistance to the entities of private business in the region, the development and examination of business plans by order of organization; organization and holding of bi-annual business forum «Pinsk-invest- Weekend». The activities of the start-up school are included in the program of socio-economic development of the Republic of Belarus for 2016-2020, which contains a set of measures for the development and state support of the start-up movement in the Republic of Belarus. PolesSU has highly qualified specialists, who are able to solve the problems of adult education in the field of creative economy: information technology, landscape design, tourism and hospitality, the organization of a healthy lifestyle.

Mini-project «Create your business in creative economy» allowed participants to master the organizational and economic foundations of doing business in the creative economy, to acquire the skills of drawing up a financial plan for the implementation of their own business ideas, to give business ideas an applied focus until the creation of their own business.

The target audience of the project was adults of creative professions with an inclination for creative activity. First of all, these are people who have problems with employment in the field of their specialty or live in rural areas. It is difficult to realize their creative potential there because of the limited access to additional educational services.

The information about the project was communicated to the target audience. The platforms for the dissemination of information were the Employment Center, announcements in the media and social networks, announcements on the websites of the «Polessky state University» and Pinsk Executive Committee. At the end of the first stage, the competition Committee identified the students, who were invited to participate in training courses.

The participants were required to meet the following requirements:

- a volunteer to participate in the project must be a resident of Pinsk or Pinsk district;

- it should be people of creative professions or with an inclination for creative activity, having a desire to realize their creative potential;

- those who wish to participate in the project should be related to the areas of the creative economy: software, gaming, advertising, media, radio broadcasting, architecture, design, music, cinematography, theater and dancing, literature, art and crafts, fine arts, etc.

The selection of candidates by the competition Committee was carried out taking into account their creative abilities and professional affiliation.

The preferential right to participate in the training courses was provided to:

- unemployed who have problems with employment in the specialty or live in rural areas;

- people, who organize types of business activities defined by the local Executive and administrative bodies as the most important for Pinsk and Pinsk district;

- participants implementing activities in priority areas in the field of creative economy and development of cultural projects.

The selected candidates received the right to participate in training courses free of charge.

The project was presented to the target audience, representatives of the city and district authorities, representatives of the existing business in the creative economy, representatives of the media. A discussion of the needs of the city and district in business ideas was carried out by the representatives of the city and district authorities. These business ideas are aimed at changing the urban environment and enhance the socioeconomic sustainability of the region.

5 experts were involved from among fields of organization, management, financing of business in creative economy, application of IT technologies for its advance. Among the experts there were the representatives of the operating business in creative economy.

In the organization of training courses the regulations of the educational process organization at the University were taken for the methodological basis. Training courses were considered as an educational event aimed at meeting the cognitive needs of students in the field of creative economy. The training was not aimed at acquiring a profession, retraining and advanced training, it was supposed to help in learning the basics of business organization for creative people. The forms of training courses included lectures, thematic seminars and individual consultations. The lecture was considered as an educational event, including a series of classes, united by one topic. The thematic seminar was held as an event, including theoretical and practical training sessions on a separate topic. Individual consultations were aimed at improving individual skills of students during the training sessions.

The educational process in the implementation of training courses was organized in Polessky State University in accordance with the curricula of training courses developed by experts. The educational process included online training courses: «Organizational and economic basics on doing business in the sphere of creative economy», «practice of financing and promoting creative projects», «ICT in promoting business»; individual consultations of experienced experts on the formation and implementation of business ideas in the field of creative economy; sharing of the experience in creating high-quality creative projects from the representatives of existing business in the field of creative economy; assistance to participants in the development and presentation of their own business ideas, as well as finding potential investors for their financing. The educational process in the implementation of training courses was carried out in training groups and individually.

The educational technology of the training course included:

- individual management of the trainees by an expert (a professional in the field of creative economy) at the following stages of training: the choice of a business idea, its content and economic basis, public presentation, revision taking into account the recommendations of experts for the implementation of a business project;

- conducting sessions by experts in classrooms;

- individual consultations of participants.

The training course «The practice of financing and promoting creative projects» was co n- ducted by the representatives of the existing business in the creative economy, who have practical experience in running their own business and promoting the ideas of the creative economy. As a result of the course, the trainees acquired the skills to determine the target group of their main customers, predict the profit of their business, and find sources of financing for business ideas. The trainees acquired knowledge of market choice, skills of effective communication with consumers, creation of an effective marketing strategy in the field of culture on the basis of practical examples of existing business in the creative economy and successful experience of creative entrepreneurship and project management. urban project business creative economy

The training course «Organizational and economic basics on doing business in the sphere of creative economy» was conducted by an expert with experience in drawing up business plans and conducting training courses on business design. As a result of the course, the trainees formed their own business models based on the choice of organizational and legal form of doing business, taking into account the legal aspect of doing business in the creative economy, taxation, and risk assessment.

The training course «ICT in promoting bus iness» was conducted by an expert who has the skills of computer graphics, programming, and conducting training courses in information technology. As a result of the course, the trainees received practical skills of computer graphics and programming necessary for the implementation of their own business ideas, learned the main directions of the use of information technologies in culture.

As a result of the training, 20 participants received theoretical and practical basis for conducting and developing business in the field of creative economy. To consolidate the theoretical knowledge each participant developed its own business project. To present the final product at the presentation of business ideas, participants made samples and models of their products or services.

The involved experts carried out the examination of business projects of the participants and gave recommendations for improving business ideas, as well as provided advice on the finalization of business projects. A list of criteria was used for expert evaluation during the examination of business projects made by the participants of the project «Create your business in creative economy».

1) Social significance:

- the relevance of the problem to be solved in the territory;

- sufficient effectiveness of tools to solve this problem in the territory;

- social efficiency of the proposed solution/tool.

2) Elaboration of a business idea:

- demand for a business idea (market size assessment);

- realistic financial performance;

- completeness and quality of marketing research;

3) Evaluation of the business idea presentation:

- readability;

- ability to communicate the idea clearly;

- answers to experts' questions and arguments.

Based on the overall assessment of the business idea by all criteria, all experts decided on the recommendation to participants to submit business ideas for the Pinsk-Invest-Weekend. Expert evaluation of business ideas took the form of «evaluation sheet of the business idea».

The participants finalized their business projects taking into account the recommendations of the experts involved. The modified business projects were presented to the experts involved for their final qualitative assessment. 5 business projects were recommended for the participation in Pinsk-Invest-Weekend in order to find potential investors.

According to the results of the project, a catalog of business ideas of the participants was published. The catalog included 19 business ideas:

- ART STUDIO RUSSKO. The creation of paintings for the interior on request in various techniques of execution: graphics, batik, painting, wall painting in the interior and on the facades of buildings, hand-painted clothe, face painting, make-up, henna painting, master classes on painting fabrics, interior car design;

- a workshop METAMORPHOSE. Production of unique interior items, decor, clothing and accessories created from used or obsolete materials, without additional processing, through the creative upcycling process;

- manufacturing wicker furniture made of premium twigs and related products - the furniture of economy class and basketware;

- a workshop «A COSY HOUSE». Making handmade gifts, handmade interior items, handmade props for photo shoots: (interior dolls (textile and baked plastic), boxes, candlesticks made of wood, key cases, embroidered paintings, photo frames, shelves (any size, either for a table or a wall);

- a creative workshop «HANDMADE BY BIDJI». Handmade toys -hand-knitted and almost always in a single copy;

- a workshop «TEXTILE HOUSE». Decorative pillows, pillowcases for decorative pillows, pillows - toys, ECO-BAGS, children's backpacks, textile toys, pot holders, pencil cases - cosmetic bags, clutches, heating pads for the kettles etc.;

- a workshop «COMPOSITIONS OF FLOWERS FROM CORRUGATED PAPER». The compositions of flowers from corrugated paper;

- production of hand-made art ceramics, household items, ceramic decor;

- NEXU mobile app;

- An informational-educational mobile app about the life of the city «FLEX - Y OUR CITY IN YOUR POCKET»;

- training programs in virtual reality;

- the production of musical instruments;

- creation of a cultural entertainment center in Pinsk. The center will house a Museum exhibition on the history of Pinsk, a place of food service and craft workshops. Souvenirs and craft products will be sold there, craft workshops, folk activities and exhibitions will be held, and the dishes of Belarusian national cuisine will be cooked and sold.

Also during the training, the project participants had the idea of creating a special space for representatives of the creative economy in the form of a hub or a creative business center in Pinsk. This could serve as a basis for creating a favorable environment for the development of the creative economy in the city. The activities carried out within the framework of this project are a continuation of the activities of PolesSU in the field of implementation of the training program on business design, which has been carried out by the University since 2008. This was preceded by the annual work of the training laboratory «Business center» and PolesSU start-up school: consulting and support of innovative business projects; business training, regular meetings with the leading entrepreneurs, bank specialists and the representatives of local and regional governments.

The result of this activity is a business forum Pinsk- Invest-Weekend, which presents the ideas ready for practical implementation and commercialization. During 2014-2018, Pinsk-Invest-Weekend business forums were held, including the First Republican forum of the youth start-up movement, where more than 150 business ideas were presented.

Conclusion

The developed distance learning courses, hosted on the learning platform Moodle (the entrance from the site of PolesSU), can be used to build and promote creative business ideas by creative adult with an inclination to creative activities. Anyone can take advantage of the training opportunity after registering on this platform.

For the implementation of projects in the field of creative economy a certain system of measures is requires on the part of public authorities, including: advising entrepreneurs and creative companies on the opening and conduct of business; the provision of premises rent on favorable terms; the development of micro-credits; the creation of crowdfunding sites; promoting the development of franchising and fundraising.

The growth of business activity in the region is facilitated by the creation of a cultural cluster, as people who are far from this sphere are involved in entrepreneurial activity. Investors, including international ones, consider their financial investments in the development of the creative sector as the investments in new working places creation and strengthening the social security of economically vulnerable groups [5, p. 142]. Undoubtedly, this approach presupposes a risk of developing infantility and excessive bureaucracy around the support of the creative sector, so that's why deciding to support the creative industry, it is necessary to find the best options for organizing such a support.

References

1. Kul'tura i kreativnost'. Kreativnaya ekonomi- ka v Yevrope: 5 shagov dlya vzleta [Culture and creativity. Creative economy in Europe: 5 steps to take off]. Available at: https://www .culturepartnership.eu/article/creative-economy-steps-to-rise (accessed 27.03.2019

2. Pochemu kreativnym lyudyam v Belarusi prikhoditsya stanovit'sya remeslennikami [Why creative people in Belarus have to become craftsmen]. Available at: http://www.zautra.bv/art.php7sn nid=26180 (accessed 27.03.2019).

3. Saprykina A. N. Klastery v sfere kul'tury: neobkhodimost' formirovaniya i osobennosti sozdaniya [Clusters in the field of culture: the necessity of formation and creation peculiarities] . Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/klastery-v-sfere-kultury-neobhodimost-formirovaniya-i-osobennosti-sozdaniya (accessed 27.03.2019)

4. Meteleva E. R. Otsenka sotsial'no- ekonomicheskogo effekta ot razvitiya go- rodskikh klasterov kreativnykh i kul'turnykh industriy [Assessment of the socio-economic effect of the development of urban clusters of creative and cultural industries]. Available at: https://cvberleninka.ru/article/v/otsenka-sotsialno-ekonomicheskogo-effekta-ot-razvitiva-gorodskih-klasterov-kreativnvh-i-kulturnvh-industriv (accessed 27.03.2019).

5. Grabar R. N., Shumak Zh. G. Znacheniye klasterov v sfere kreativnoy ekonomiki dlya razvitiya sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoy sistemy goroda [The importance of clusters in the creative economv for the development of the socio-economic svstem of the citv]. Sbornik trudov XII mezhdunarodnov nauchno- prakticheskoy konferentsii UO «Polesskiy gosudarstvennyy universitet» [The collection of works of the XII international scientific- practical conference, «Polessky State University»]. Pinsk, 2018, pp. 141-143. (In Russian)

Список литературы

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Р.Н. Грабар, Ж.Г. Шумак // Устойчивое развитие экономики: состояние, проблемы, перспективы: сборник трудов XII международной научно-практической конференции, УО «Полесский государственный университет», г. Пинск, 27 апреля 2018 г. - Министерство образования Республики Беларусь [и др.]; редкол.: К.К. Шебеко [и др.]. - Пинск : ПолесГУ, 2018. - 268 с.

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