Dawn Bache

MEET THE MAKER

I live in Beverley, East Yorkshire and I am at the beginning of my creative business.  I originally trained as a fine artist and I have worked in education and as a practising artist.  My creative business is a new direction after studying Contemporary Constructed Textiles. I hand spin and hand weave from rare breed fleece and make bespoke cushions, shawls and hand-stitched art works.

WHAT ARE YOUR FEEDBACKS?

Over the last six months I have learnt what it means to run a business beyond the making of creative work. The course has encouraged me to question my underlying motivations and skills, which has changed my vision of what I see myself doing in the future. The sessions on finance made me pricing break down the costs of my work and realistically assess my business prospects. I realised that the profit margin on my products were not enough to cover the labour costs of making and marketing. I recognise the need to readdress my skill base and to be less confined by the need to design products and be more open to creatively developing as a maker. Consequently, my business future may not be as a maker of products for designer-maker fairs, as I assumed but one which allows me to make one off pieces in a gallery context. Speaking and writing about why I do, what I do, was thought provoking and difficult; however, it made me realize that I have a desire to tell stories and narrative is important when presenting what I do to the public.  All of the jargon about smart goals, swots and SEO’s now make more sense to me and allow me to move forward in a more focused and coherent way.

FIVE THINGS YOU’LL BRING WITH YOU FROM THE EXPERIENCE:

• Profit margin is king when running a business and anything labour intensive like hand weaving means it is more difficult to make ends meet.
• Your identity as a maker may not be, what you think it is, start-up business training will help you clarify what you really want and what you are good at.
• As creative makers we have lots of skills and sometimes its useful to be open and think outside of the box, when things do not go in the direction we intended.
• Start up business training is just a beginning and it makes you more aware of opportunities out there and you are more skilled at applying for them.