In this post I will analyse the unique characteristics of cultural entrepreneurship in relation to the musical instrument inventor Bob Moog and the wider impact of one individual’s creative enterprise since the 1950s.What is an entrepreneur?There are many wide-ranging definitions of an entrepreneur, with connotations of city slickers focused on profit-driven financial deals, or geniuses or hapless inventors being grilled over IP registration and profit projections in the BBC series “Dragon’s Den”.The term entrepreneur was first used by French economist and journalist Jean-Baptiste Say during the French Revolution to describe one who unlocks capital tied up in land and redirects it to change the future. Say was the first economist to recognise change and uncertainty as normal and positive in business¹.The Beermat Entrepreneur’s describe entrepreneurs as confident, charismatic, have bags of energy, obsessed with work, ambitious, in a hurry, arrogant, manipulative, lack focus and are obsessed with the competition².The risk-taker, the go-getter, the manipulator, the charismatic leader, the opportunist and the serialist are all types and characteristics of the typical entrepreneur. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Howkins, J (2001) The Creative Economy, Penguin Press pg129 [↩]
2. Southon, M and West, C (2002) The Beermat Entrepreneur, Prentice Hall pgxvi [↩]

Moses Whyte runs a social enterprise in Walsall. When I asked him if he considered himself to be a cultural entrepreneur, he looked at me quizzically and said perhaps he was. Then laughing, he said anybody could be anything they wanted to be and as long as it didn’t mean paying more taxes then perhaps indeed he was a cultural entrepreneur.

When I embarked on writing this blog entry, I myself was somewhat uncertain as to whether Moses Whyte and his enterprise, the Trelawny Overseas Relief Association UK Ltd. (TORA), fitted into the category of cultural entrepreneur. The confusion came because TORA is essentially a social enterprise. There is no question about its entrepreneurial factor, but the question arose in my mind, can its specific activities of community outreach and involvement be classified as cultural as in the term cultural industries. After carefully unpacking the definition of culture, I decided that it did indeed fit the category.

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What is an Entrepreneur? What is a Cultural Entrepreneur? Am I an Entrepreneur or could I be considered a Cultural Entrepreneur? Well let’s start with just the entrepreneur as oppose to the cultural entrepreneur. The dictionary definition of an entrepreneur is a person who organises and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. So then what is a cultural entrepreneur, what makes a cultural entrepreneur different from a ‘normal’ entrepreneur?

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 In order to look at what defines a cultural entrepreneur we need to first take a look at what we might consider are the attributes of entrepreneurs in the business world.  

It is difficult to be definitive of the particular characteristics that mark out an entrepreneur. Obvious examples of entrepreneurs will spring to mind; Richard Branson, James Dyson, Anita Roddick. They have a well-defined PR and self-promotion skills that make them very visible. But what makes them, and other less well-known individuals, achieve the high levels of success and wealth. We will see that they do have certain traits and all entrepreneurs will possess some of these to a greater or lesser degree. One of their traits is that they recognise their strengths and have considerable self-confidence but also are aware of the skills that they may be short of and ensure that they acquire those skills from elsewhere. They are driven people, having clear goals and the ability to plan to achieve. They may have a brilliant idea themselves, find one or have one presented to them. Their talent is then to act as the catalyst in turning the idea into a successful venture.  

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Through using a particular example, this blog entry shall address the issues of what makes a cultural entrepreneur and what characteristics define one. 

 Emma Pook and Adjamiba Clubwear. 

Adjamiba Clubwear celebrated its 3^rd birthday as a business last December, and reflected on how much the business has developed over the short time it has been up and running. The business offers “Made to Measure & Custom Made Cyber Clubwear, Cyberwear, Ravewear, Dancewear, Accessories and Fluffy Legwarmers”. Emma Pook, the Managing Director and Designer, started off working by herself and now employs three people for manufacturing and production, has a loyal voluntary promotions and web team, and works with models, photographers and club dance troupes to expand the brand.Emma is not the stereo-typical hard-nosed ruthless business woman however…here’s what some of her clients have said about her: 

“She puts her customers first and is always accommodating, she involves customers in her business and is friendly and approachable yet always professional”- Kirsty

“She has compassion and the personal touch” – Annie

“She cares about her customers, and she always goes out of her way to warn people of busy times” – Chrissy

It is clear from these comments that Emma is very friendly in business and customer-focused. But does this make her entrepreneurial? Let’s see…   

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Entrepreneurial Characteristics
There are many characteristics of an entrepreneur that bring together common factors helping to make them successful but there are no hard and fast rules to describe who an entrepreneur may be.

They come in many different shapes and sizes. No two entrepreneurs seem to be the same so that it is very difficult to pin down exactly who is an entrepreneur. Some are extroverts and some are introverts, some have a family history of entrepreneurs whilst others do not, some start with poverty when others begin with wealth, some are young and some are old, some are men and some are women. (Bolton & Thompson)

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Cultural Entrepreneurship Introduction

‘Cultural entrepreneurs’ have made significant contributions to not only the creative and cultural sector but in the main also to the current vitality and health of the
UK’s economic growth, thus gaining an increased amount of recognition in recent years (Wilson and Stokes 2002:37). Not only do ‘cultural entrepreneurs’  according to Leadbeater and Oakley assist in new job creation and the promotion of  social cohesion they provide a new model of creative production which has been made possible through advances in technology mainly concerning the internet and the use of I.T. (Wilson  and Stokes 2002:37). This sounds great but we need to grasp the concept of a cultural entrepreneur, therefore we must first understand the term entrepreneurship. 

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What makes a cultural entrepreneur? First, we should clarify the characteristics of entrepreneurship. The popular press and television programmes such as Dragon’s Den usually define it as starting new business ventures. Fillis and Rentschler portray it as “creating value…by bringing together unique combinations of public and private resources to exploit economic, social or cultural opportunities”¹ According to them, the essential capabilities of entrepreneurship are:

• innovation
• risk-taking
• pro-activeness

Cultural entrepreneurs are people who work in the creative and cultural industries and establish an enterprise focusing on media, design, music, film, fashion or other related sectors. But what distinguishes cultural entrepreneurs from the classic entrepreneurial model?
Read the rest of this entry »

1. Fillis, I. and Rentschler, R. (2006) Creative Marketing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p10 [↩]

Over the next weeks this blog will have multiple authors from the MA Media Enterprise Course¹. Students on the Cultural Entrepreneurship module² have to write a profile about an entrepreneur.

 Their posts should start appearing here very soon.

1. at Birmingham City University [↩]
2. there are about 20 of them [↩]