Incubating a Creative Business
YoCo’s aim is to grow a local economy on York Central, which connects with local and city-wide communities and which supports vibrant life across a mixed-use, fifteen-minute neighbourhood. A key component of this is a proposal to turn the existing Foundry buildings off Leeman Road into an economic incubator and makerspace, with facilities to nurture the development of a wide range of economic activity.
There is a creative side to this - York has a strong infrastructure of independent and creative businesses, and as York Open Studios shows each year, a huge community of artists and makers. YoCo will be reaching out to all of these to help develop the brief for the Foundry proposals.
Meanwhile here’s a blog by local artist Ealish Wilson, which spells out how Incubators can be vital is setting the course of creative careers, providing affordable space, equipment and opportunities for collaboration. Originally from the Isle of Man, Ealish studied Textile Art specializing in print. Ealish's work has been influenced by travel and places she has lived such as United States, Middle East and Japan. Ealish now lives and works in York - more info can be found here.
This blog post is about the chances that come from saying yes, and the value of an incubator space when you start off in business.
In 1999 - 2000 I was studying Print Applications for interiors at the Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels, in the beautiful Scottish Borders. The college has a long history of combining learning with industry. Classes in weaving and dying were available from the late 1800’s.
During the early 2000’s the college was in transition and becoming part of Heriot Watt University. There was a lot of focus on supporting students in business during and after their degrees. Cultivating industry links was an important aspect of the College’s ethos.
With that in mind the college received funding to build incubator units on the campus. They created a call for business plan proposals and those who were successful were offered a space. My fellow graduate and friend Leona Collins had written a winning business plan and invited me to join her unit. Little did we know what lay ahead of us – a lasting friendship and deep design rapport –and a very steep learning curve!
We started off by sharing the space doing individual projects. However a couple of months in and Leona was commissioned to create a large scale art work for a client. Those who know screen printing; once a screen is over a certain size you can’t work by yourself. I helped with the production of her work. We worked so well together ! We had complimentary skills and being a team was more fun.
Our little company ‘The Printed Stitch’ was born, specializing in large scale art and installations for commercial and private clients.
The unit was a great place to start our business. Through the Business Incubation scheme we paid no rent for the first year and then it went up in incremental increases helping us to get started. A huge bonus of the scheme was the use we had of college facilities. The most important aspect was being able to learn from technicians who had worked in the textile industry for years and had unbelievable knowledge of printing and dying techniques. On the business side the college had links with the local council to help with collective purchasing, grants, and government funding. We were also paired with a local business advisor who was invaluable in linking us with available funding and advised us on growth, the correct bank account, tax implications, how to off set purchases and was there to support us.
We were pioneers of the scheme in Galashiels, but gradually more small designers and other businesses joined, we all helped each other out with leads and contacts. One of the most valuable elements of being with other small businesses is the networking; somebody always knows someone who can give you advice or help guide you through their own experiences.
Our startup community was a wonderful creative hub, where we could bounce ideas off each other and offer solutions and practical support. This is so important when you work as an individual artist or small design team, as it can often be a solitary endeavor. A supportive community can be the oxygen that fuels your next creative spark.
Over our time in business we worked on some great projects. The image above is part of a 36m wall hanging we created for the stairwell of an office building. We designed and made art works for boutique hotels, we created a textile ceiling for a food hall. We learned a great deal about ourselves and how to work in a team.
The Printed Stitch did not last due to life progressions, however we closed in profit and gained invaluable experience that stood us in good stead as creative professionals moving forward.
