Enterprise Evaluation

The two series of incredibly informative enterprise lectures that I attended greatly helped me understand the technical and business aspects of the creative industry. At the beginning of this year I has absolutely zero understanding of how studios physically functioned and remained in business. This module has opened my eyes to the many avenues I would need to initially explore and fully understand before I could ever dream of going into business, be it a solo effort or one of a collaborative nature. There are many key terms and phrases that I have taken away from the lectures which I am confident will help me greatly in the future. I generally feel as though I have learnt a wealth of information that will benefit me in ways I couldn’t imagine in my graphic design career. I have always considered myself sheltered in terms of monetary situations, having never actually been in charge of my own personal finances. Therefore this module has additionally aided me in my private life, not just my professional one, something which I am grateful for. Even though I have become more aware of financial terms and management I did take somewhat of a backseat in the specifics of our costings. Perhaps in the future I could expand even further out of my comfort zone and undertake sole responsibility of the monetary assets.

Working collaboratively has actually made me realize something I had previously been oblivious to; I am in fact capable of managing a team of people and am no longer afraid of voicing my opinions. All other collaborative work has been of a practical nature and therefore different somehow, this however, has been much more theoretical and difficult to keep on top of. I have managed to stay on top of my individual workload and constantly been confident in my own abilities, on the other hand it is when relying on other people that I begin to lose confidence. The group has done well in terms of taking the time out to meet and discuss any prevalent issues, but I would be lying if I said there were not occasions when I had doubts about our abilities to successfully execute our proposition. This has definitely been a learning curve, one that I’m sure could be streamlined, if not avoided altogether, in the future. However, no matter how stressed I was at points during the module, I wouldn’t ever consider giving up and never dreamed of a different work group. I feel I have learnt a lot more through my struggles than if it was plane sailing.

Realistically this module has made me realize just how much time and effort goes into setting up a creative company, and how this is not just at the initial stages, but ever present. Therefore I feel it is a slightly too ambitious business plan and have changed my perspective on working alone. I had previously considered it quite a lonely option and one that seems very isolated, but as long as I where to remain in contact with the outside world; be it clients or other studios, I’m sure it could be a pleasant experience.

If I where to undertake this brief again there are a few things that I would do differently. As I have previously mentioned I would take a greater interest in the financial side of things, but I would also hope for a more open discussion forum within our group. I would have also assigned individual responsibilities at a much earlier point. If I were to take one thing away from this experience it would be that I can be quite a dominant figure within a group and I am much better at public speaking than I thought. That last bit has really boosted my spirits as it is an area I have always felt underdeveloped in.