6. Blueprint Modelling
“Blueprint Modelling is a
fantastically useful (lifechanging!)
tool that we are using to break
down the goals we want to achieve.
Such a simple thing, but so
incredibly helpful if you are a
creative
perfectionist!”
Zoe Sinclair, Artist
12. Every business needs a set of
relationships to makes all the steps
happen. Take stickies from Part A
and remap them into the four
quadrants in Part B
13.
14. Every business needs a set of
relationships to makes all the steps
happen. Take stickies from Part A
and remap them into the four
quadrants in Part B
20. Try it for yourself, in couples or groups:
http://ow.ly/aHhNo
Editor's Notes
Good morning. I am going to introduce you to a tool that we have used in pilot for Hothouse here in Farnham, that I’ve used in support of over 50 graduate start-ups over the last couple of years and one which I think may help you in achieving your ambitions in craft and design.What we are going to discuss is not about social media …or about managing personal relationships…but about how you use the resources and people available to you to get where you want to in making a living.And before I begin – when I talk about ‘business’ what I’m referring to is “making a living in craft and design”. The ideas I discuss in the following slides are aimed at sole practitioners, collaborations, collectives and companies.
I’ll leave the link up there – it’s a short one I created so that you can remember it slightly easier. Now, as the toolkit is a step-by-step interactive guide to starting up in financially sustainable business, before I begin to introduce Relationship Modelling, I’m going to briefly introduce you to another tool in the kit which really acts as the foundation to thinking about business planning. This tool is called Blueprint Modelling.
Now blueprint modelling allows you to visualise how your business will function. It’s a way of developing a business without having to write one of those tedious ‘business plans’You don’t need to know the detail on this – but one of the essential aspects of planning for your creative business is the idea of mapping out the steps that you need to take to deliver your business. Here, we do this on a linear flow diagram using sticky notes…
Here is one I prepared earlier. Actually, it is one that a fine artist, Mine Zabci mapped out for putting on her first solo show…..
The other great thing about the blueprint modelling is that you can work out the ‘operational stages’ of your business – The Engagement, Development and Delivery Stage and where the activities within these stages take place in view of your customer (onstage) or out of view (backstage)
Here is one that Jo Lovelock developed for her business during Hothouse.
And in case you needed convincing that it is usable – here are a group of fashion and design management students at Epsom using just the same tool – beginning with the linear flow diagram to map out their journey.
And then thinking of how the journey can be re-ordered into onstage and backstage tasks…and then they start to work on relationship modelling. Which is what we’re going to do.
The point of relationship modelling is to help you manage your relationships in realising your creative business goals. We developed the linear flow diagram….
Here is one I prepared earlier. Actually, it is one that a fine artist, Mine Zabci mapped out for putting on her first solo show…..
And now we map them to people or groups of people.But its also a good way of looking at your own skills and abilities and working out where the gaps in knowledge or time are so that you can ask someone else to help you out. You will never be developing your practice or business solely on your own… So there are four types of
Once you’ve had a look at the toolkit and you’ve done some creative business modelling of your own, you might be interested in some work I’ve been doing in supporting a local philanthropist who has invested in the building of three/four workshop spaces in her garden which she is setting aside for UCA craft graduates.
Ann has space for one or two textile designers, one or two jewellers and one or two ceramicists.
But the doors won’t open …. Get your frameworks together first – do some business planning.. And then come and talk to me or Hannah or Rebecca.