Lisa-Marie is the owner of Creative Avenue York, who took part in the Creative Catapult Skills Bootcamp. She wanted to improve how she planned, priced and developed her products, while making better use of exhibitions and sales opportunities.
Lisa-Marie had taken part in an annual exhibition at the RHS Harlow Carr Bath House for four years. Although the event offered strong opportunities, she wanted to become more organised and approach her creative work with a clearer business focus.
She also wanted to review her pricing, plan her product range earlier and create items that would appeal to a wider audience.
How Creative Catapult Helped
The weekly sessions gave Lisa-Marie dedicated time to focus on one area of her business at a time. Between sessions, she could reflect on what she had learned and begin putting her ideas into place.
During the programme, Lisa-Marie:
- Introduced a price increase
- Reviewed her product range from a commercial perspective
- Planned and created products earlier
- Developed products to complement her larger pieces
- Launched a jewellery range for the first time
- Improved her approach to pricing, product development and sales
This helped Lisa-Marie treat her work as both a creative practice and a business.
The Results
Following the course, Lisa-Marie organised an exhibition at the RHS Harlow Carr Bath House alongside 19 other artists.
The five-week exhibition generated £38,000 in sales, making it the most successful year since she first became involved four years earlier.
The event also led to:
- Two new commissions
- Several workshop bookings
- Additional income opportunities
- A stronger pipeline of future work
Better planning helped Lisa-Marie make more of the exhibition and feel better prepared than in previous years.
Lisa-Marie’s Experience
“The course gave me focus and structure. I came away with lots of ideas and have already started acting on several of them, which has had a real effect on my business.”
To find out more about the business support and training available through EMS, visit our Contact Us page, email info@enterprisemadesimple.co.uk, or call 01642 061062 and speak to our team.