Nesta Creative Enterprise Programme

The British Council, in collaboration with Viveka and with the support of  Ankara Development Agency, are brining the Creative Enterprise Programme to Ankara between 27-29 March 2020 as well as series of warm up events.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

The Creative Enterprise Programme is a three-day practical workshop to help creative entrepreneurs turn their business ideas into reality. Over the three days, participants will learn the key aspects of setting up and running a creative business.

The workshop is led by a Creative Enterprise Programme associate with Nesta accreditation and features local guests and business experts. The associate will provide the support to help creative entrepreneurs explore their business ideas, develop their business proposition, and create a business model that suits their hopes and motivations.  

The Creative Enterprise Programme has been developed by Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation, and is delivered in partnership with the British Council. It brings Nesta’s Creative Enterprise Toolkit to life and uses a mixture practical exercises and activities that have been designed specifically for a workshop environment. The Creative Enterprise Toolkit is available to download for free and has been translated into Turkish.

Before the training, a Meetup and a Sprint event will also be held under the program. Creative Entrepreneurship Meetup, which will include detailed information about the program and will include entrepreneurs with business in the creative industries field, will be at CoZone on 5 March 2020.

Entrepreneurs selected among the applications will be invited to the Sprint event, which covers the design, prototyping and testing of prototypes with real customers and aims to minimize the risks in product development processes. The teams selected by the jury will be entitled to participate in the Creative Entrepreneurship Program with the presentations made at the end of this event, which will take place on 19 March at CoZone.

Design Sprint is an innovation tool that aims to examine the design, prototyping and testing of prototypes with real customers in a short period of time, and to minimize risks in product development processes.

Programme Agenda

Day 1: You and your idea
Participants dissect their personal values, how these relate to the purpose of their business, and visualise the future.

Day 2: Your customers
Participants imagine who their customers are, what their customers values are, how to communicate to potential customers and how to ensure their business meets their customers’ needs.

Day 3: Your business
Day three brings the efforts from the previous two days together. Participants explore the key components required to build their own business model canvas.

Who is the programme for?

The Creative Enterprise Programme is for entrepreneurs who have a strong business idea but are yet to set up, who are in the early stages of establishing a business (0-3 years), or who have a creative business which hasn’t matured and significant change is planned.

  • The focus is on the creative industries such as advertising, architecture, arts and culture, craft, design, fashion, games, music, publishing, tech, TV and film.
  • To ensure Creative Enterprise Programme is right for you and your business, please consider the following:
  • You can commit three full days to attend the workshop,
  • You have no/limited experience of business skills and support,
  • You own/control the IP in your company,
  • You have an already established enterprise, or you are in the later stages of developing an idea. (This is typically a business no more than three years old, but can be a more established business wishing to pause and consider their model through the Creative Enterprise Programme lens),
  • You are willing to work with a group in an open, supportive peer lead learning environment where you will be sharing your knowledge and experience with people you don’t know,
  • You will be prepared to work on your business, to progress through the programme considering peer feedback which can challenge your business idea,
  • You enjoy networking, can conduct yourself professionally and manage your time effectively.

About the facilitators

Atılım Şahin is a connector of people, concepts and organizations. He facilitates these processes within the fields of creativity, technology and entrepreneurship. He is currently Community and Prototyping Lab Lead at ATÖLYE. Prior to joining ATÖLYE, he worked as design engineer, application specialist, sales director and project coordinator in engineering, design, culture and arts. He has also been in the field of theatre as actor, performer and author for over ten years. After studying Mechanical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, he completed a Msc in Industrial Product Design at ITU and Interaction Design at Malmö University.

Esra Gönen is an entrepreneur with a focus on innovation and design in service and creative industries. In 2009, she founded GNN Foreign Trade, an import/export consultancy firm, followed by GNN Office in 2014, the first co-working space for businesses in Izmir. After observing the impact of co-working and co-creation on local development, she cofounded ORIGINN COWORKING in 2016, where creative and social entrepreneurs work, socialise and develop projects collectively. In 2017, she co-founded Merak Creative Activities and Culture Association to foster new work at the intersection of art, technology and innovation. Esra studied Business Administration at Dokuz Eylül University and holds an MA in International Business at the Applied University of Mainz and London South Bank University.

Jason Lau is a Partner at Core Strateji, a consulting firm that specializes in transforming corporations into entrepreneurial, ambidextrous organizations. In the past three years, he has worked with 150+ internal business ideas, helping teams to fail fast or garner market traction. Previously, Jason served as the Development Manager at the Mother-Child Education Foundation, the Entrepreneurship Manager at Koç University and the Social Entrepreneurship Supervisor and Start-up Trainer at Özyeğin University. Jason also teaches business and entrepreneurship at Özyeğin University. Jason holds an MBA from Bilkent University and a B.S. International Business from the University of Southern California.

Key dates

  • Deadline for applications: 9 March 2020
  • Creative Enterprise Program Meet-up: 5 March 2020, 17:30-19:30, CoZone
  • Successful applicants for the Sprint notified: 11 March 2020
  • Creative Enterprise Program Sprint: 19 March 2020, CoZone
  • Successful applicants for the Creative Enterprise Programme notified: 20 March 2020
  • Creative Enterprise Program: 27, 28, 29 March 2020, 09:00-17:00, Ankara Development Agency 

Essential Information

  • Participants will be selected by the British Council and Viveka.
  • The British Council is unable to provide financial support for participants’ travel, accommodation or local transport expenses.
  • Creative Enterprise Programme is free of charge and participants will be selected through an open call. 
  • Applications are open to teams and/or individuals.    
  • Tea, coffee and lunch will be provided free of charge for programme participants.
  • Workshop materials and stationery will be provided. 
  • The programme will be held in Turkish. 

External links

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