About the Scheme
Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs is a one-year part-time (one day per week during termtime) business training programme which offers personalised teaching, mentoring and guidance to help you turn your creative idea into a sustainable, long-term enterprise. Our partnership with award-winning social enterprise Cause4 means we can offer a unique combination of artistic, professional and business expertise specific to the performing arts.
Over the course of the year, you will combine expert-taught seminars and peer discussions covering the fundamentals of entrepreneurship with tailored 1-1 mentoring and guidance. Topics covered include developing your business plan, marketing & PR, pitching & presentation, legal guidance for entrepreneurs, and more.
The course culminates in a pitch event at which you will present your business plan and pitch to a panel of experts from the business and performing arts sectors.
Successful entrepreneurs can be expected to be running their creative businesses or social enterprises with sustainable sources of income within two years of completing the scheme.
Who is it for?
This course is ideal for anyone wanting to set up or grow their own business in the performing arts, whether bringing a new idea or an enterprise that is already established. This includes performing artists across all relevant disciplines (actors, dancers, musicians, etc.) as well as individuals in the wider arts sector (producers, administrators, technicians, digital developers, etc.). So long as you want to create or develop a business or social enterprise linked to the performing arts, this is for you. Take a look at our Scheme alumni.
Why Guildhall?
The Scheme is the only incubator in the UK dedicated specifically to the performing arts. As a world-leading conservatoire and drama school we possess the expertise to assess the feasibility of new creative ideas. Our association with the Barbican Centre, other leading cultural organisations and the wider UK creative industries means we can link our entrepreneurs into the right networks. Cause4 make a vital contribution in providing our entrepreneurs with essential business skills through one-to-one advice surgeries, while offering access to relevant business & investment networks.
Further information
For further information regarding the Creative Entrepreneurs Incubator, including fees, please download our FAQs (PDF).
