Research Task 1

 

L4 Creative Enterprise

Unit 1: The Creative Entrepreneur

Research Tasks

Task 1: Business Analysis Tools

•SWOT and PEST(EL) analyses - what are they and how can they be used?

SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

PESTLE – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental

A SWOT analysis is one of the most primary and effective methods of analysis for a business, it is a fundamental basic for all SME’s to take on board and grow from. The SWOT analysis can be broken down in half. Strengths and weaknesses relate to everything within the business internally, for example employee efficiency, cash flow and resources. All of this is factored within the business which is much easier to control and maintain consistently. On the other half, opportunities and threats relate to all the external factors of a business which is much harder to predict and control yet can be capitalised. For example, this relates to competitors, legislation and even as simple as the weather. Once these two halves are combined, a full SWOT analysis is taken shape to break down a full report on where the business is going in the right direction, and where it is going wrong. Once this is analysed and understood, action can be taken to improve this.

•PEST(EL) analysis - what current factors are impacting businesses and ventures in the UK?

On the topic of external factors effecting a business, PESTLE broadens the horizons of a SWOT analysis even further. PESTLE relates to the following

Political – How does your business meet political expectations, does your business meet ‘politically correct’ needs

Economical – Does your business add to the UK’s economy, is your large business affected by Covid-19 in a trend of collapsing values in shares

Social – Is your business in the good books in terms of employee and customer mental health, can it make a positive impact on people’s lifestyle via their Corporate Social Responsibility

Technological – Can your business take advantage of technological advances, for example home office increases due to Covid-19

Environmental – Does your business follow an environmental programme, can this be turned into a USP, does this overcome environmental regulations and focus groups

Legal – Is your business abusing work, health and safety legislation, is it ethical and just, is the business in every aspect fully moral

•What does / might Brexit mean for the creative industries?

Brexit has a huge impact on business regardless if they are SME’s or global leaders. Typically, Brexit has affected businesses that heavily rely on imports and exports via suppliers and overseas custom. For example, primary resources sourced from countries in the EU may be harder to obtain due to the non-existent EU trading regulations that used to exist. This is particularly affecting our biggest imports and exports such as the motor industry, oil and food. However, the creative industries can also gain or lose due to Brexit. For example, a fashion designer may need to look for more local sources of textiles materials and manufacturing which in the UK, can be very expensive in comparison to cheap labour in the Middle East. As a positive, sales in the creative industries within the performing arts could increase as a result of Brexit. This is because performances and performers from overseas may find it difficult to keep the UK as a stronghold within their target market in order to travel and live in the UK temporarily. Therefore, the performing arts industry will need more local talent to provide entertainment whether it’s on the West End, local performances or live tours.

•Cultural policy - what is currently happening in the UK?

Cultural policy relates to the government and other local governing bodies protecting, regulating and funding the creative industries. The creative industries are a huge part of national culture hence why it needs special attention and funding in order to make sure the ‘show must go on’. Since it is such a competitive industry, smaller and local creators can find funding very difficult to get their idea ranked with the big leagues. As a result, cultural policy levels the playing field to make the industry fairer and introduce further diversity.

However, a hot topic in the world this week reflects just how insignificant cultural policy is in the eyes of the government. Granted, in times of great emergency, everyone must do their bit to get the world functioning as normal again. However, in an iconic poster published recently by the UK government, there is a ballerina with the quote ‘Fatima’s next job could be in cyber, she just doesn’t know it yet’. This caused great outrage as this unintentionally rocked the entire creative industry stating that no matter what your passion, life goal and ambitions are, you should perhaps get a better job instead. I appreciate how ‘Fatima’ may be needed as a more relevant professional to the current national and global emergency, however it was worded in a way to presume what she’s doing isn’t relevant to the economy anyway. All performers bring great tourism, entertainment and life to the UK’s culture and brings in millions to the economy too, she is still very relevant. As cultural policy is perhaps at it’s weakest, it still needs to be protected to ensure the creative industry’s future stays intact.

•SWOT - conduct a personal SWOT analysis

Strengths:

As far as strengths go, education is one of the strongest. With a B in GCSE Business, C in A-Level Business and Merit in Entrepreneurship, I feel highly educated and prepared to understand and push Tuley Productions to the limits. Whether it’s finance, strategy or marketing, I have core strength in understanding business terminology, equations and even the simple basics. I have a passion for understanding where businesses can be improved and enjoy the idea of growing my own business. I can use previous case studies during my business academic to inspire the motive and drive of Tuley Productions in order to achieve market growth and profit comfortably. In addition, I have a hardcore motivation to get myself deep with the sharks in future concerning business growth, therefore exploring SMEs such as Tuley Productions is crucial to achieve this.

Weaknesses:

However, there is always room for improvement depending on my weaknesses. For example, there are still factors of business studies that I need to revise on in order to retain full academic power to ensure the success of Tuley Productions can be expressed as much as possible. Whereas this would have be learned over 1-2 years ago I still need to grow the learning curve. This can be achieved from previous work I have completed on the subject, textbooks and online. Another weakness is my experience within the creative industries, particularly being actively involved within music. Luckily, I have great passion to learn about the music industry since music means so much to me and I am constantly discovering new artists weekly. However, I have little contact within the music industry which is such an important factor in order to optimise market growth. Without the contact of artists, I’ll need to do a mass marketing campaign to get the word out about Tuley Productions.

Opportunities:

The music video industry is a simple equation. Contact plus collaborations equal sales. Therefore, the external half of a SWOT analysis needs particular attention. Provided you can adjust the production to the artist’s needs to the highest quality, Tuley Productions needs to be flexible in order to take advantage of their opportunities. The primary opportunity for TP is to take advantage of social media, and the mass young artists how are creating their own empire via music. Typically, within the rap, grime and hip-hop genres, adolescents are finding their way to success due to the ability of being able to become overnight viral sensations as a result of creating music. Even the most famous pop and rap artists in the charts started as YouTube sensations who capitalised from the market attention and needs. Whereas a decade or two ago, an artist would have to produce the track, rent out a recording studio and spend real time and effort campaigning their EP or album. Now, they can produce from their bedrooms and become the next big thing in the click of a button provided the quality is stand-out from the crowd. Since so many male and female performers aged 12-18 are producing stand-out tracks, there is a huge market who need a top tier music video to thoroughly push their content to the highest quality for greater hits. Locally and nationally, Tuley Productions can cater for tens of thousands of teen’s needs. This can be obtained by advertising on social media, collaborating with desirable brands and maintain a trendy online presence.

Threats:

The primary threat for any business whether professional or creative, relates to competition. Whether the business is taking on market leaders, or a sparkling new concept is climbing the ranks, any business must be flexible and adjustable in order to conquer competition. As with every business, Tuley Productions will start small and local which means competing against to big leagues is tough, unless there are great innovations, contact and revolution. Luckily, there is little local music video producers in east Anglia which is a very large area to cover. Once a market league in the East, TP can progress further south towards London or other cities. As this is much easier said than done, the strategic plan should look like this. However, once the local basics and fundamentals have been planned, this should be an achievable aspiration. Another threat concerning Tuley Production is the demand due to Covid-19. Due to the rule-of-six regulation enforced to reduce the R number of the virus, the artist’s ideas for the music video may not be achievable if the shot includes a crowd of people. Therefore, compromised efforts may need to be enforced which could limit expectations from the client.