Unit 1 – Task 8: Other Considerations • Finance

• Insurance • Working from home • Business rates • Geography

• Sources

Finance There are many ways to attain funding when your business is starting up. Listed below are some of the latest opportunities for funding of creative businesses: • Arts and Culture Impact Fund – This fund sets out to promote the wider, positive impact of the arts, culture and heritage in order to benefit more individuals and communities. In order to be eligible your business must fit into one of the sub-categories of creative industries. Furthermore you must be registered, operating and be able to offer measurable progress of your social mission. • Creative Growth Finance – The goal of Creative UK is to use the creative industries to change lives for the better, essentially by placing creativity at the core of our values. This fund offers loans between £100,000 and £1m in order to help this happen. • Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants – The Arts Council believe that identity can and should be shows through creative forms. Most investment goes toward making creative industries more accessible and diverse, ensuring that as many people as possible can contribute to the arts and culture sector of the country. Every year they invest over £407m in arts/culture/heritage businesses and institutions. Grants of up to £100,000 are available for these organisations/individuals. • Start Up Loans – This is a government backed personal loan for people looking to start their own business. With this funding there is also the opportunity for 12 months worth of mentoring alongside it. Individuals can apply for up to £25,000 each, with a maximum of £100,000 for an individual business.

Insurance Insurance is necessary for a business as it allows protection against, mistakes, damage and legal costs. There are multiple types of insurance for creative businesses, such as: • Public liability insurance – this will cover you if someone claims you have injured or damaged property. Furthermore it will pay for any costs incurred by this claim. This type of insurance is typically used by sole traders or those who are self-employed. • Professional indemnity insurance – this will cover defence costs and anything you may have to pay to the claimant (up to the limit your cover insures). This is also typically used by sole traders and people who are self-employed.

• Media professional indemnity insurance – this is used by those who work in the media industry. It will cover against defamation, unintentional infringement of intellectual property rights, breaches of licences and unfilled bookings of space. • Employers liability insurance – as soon as you become an employer with employees on a contract basis, you are legally required to that employers liability insurance. This will cover if an employee injures themself at work or if a claim is made against you. • Business equipment insurance – this will protect your equipment against damage, theft or loss, and is very essential because it will cover very expensive items which would be difficult to re-fund if lost or damaged etc. The most common policies for those working in creative industries is the public liability and the professional indemnity insurance. These will protect both you and your business.

Working from home There are both pros and cons of running a creative business from home, listed below are some of these: • You have more flexibility with your time, potentially bettering the necessary work-life balance • Working from home can make it different to differentiate work hours from home hours, this line can be difficult to see and cause burnout • There is no commute to and from work, potentially reducing external stress factors, and again being more time efficient • If you are working from home, especially if you run your business as an individual, you may feel more isolated and lonely than if you worked at a set establishment • More creative control over your workspace means that it will be optimum for maximum efficiency and effectivity for yourself • A lack of creative collaboration can potentially not maximise the benefits of your product/service. In-person creative collaboration usually ensures a product is as good as it can possibly be Looking toward finances, tax relief may be provided by the government if you are working from home. This can only be claimed for things you do from home that directly relate to your work such as electricity expenses etc. The way you get tax relief will be dependant on the rate you pay tax. Since April 2020, tax relief has been £6 a week without keeping evidence of extra costs, or however much extra cost you experience however this must be with evidence etc.

Business rates Business rates are a tax paid on the premises of your business, most non-domestic properties will have some sort or business rate. These taxes exist in order to assist funding services within the local authority. Business rates are calculated by using the rateable value of a property. This means the estimated value of the property on the open market, these evaluations are redone every five years. Due to Covid-19, the government have created a ‘business rates holiday’ in order to reduce disruption caused by the pandemic. As of last year business rates were reduced by up to two thirds. In 2020 there was a review of the business rates system to ensure it is working to its maximum potential and as a result of this review, they have come to the conclusion of re-evaluation properties every three years as opposed to five, and a new relief which supports eco-friendly property investment. This new relief means that no property will experience higher rates for the first twelve months of creating qualifying improvements to the property.

Small business rates relief is available if your property’s value is less than £15,000, there is full relief available if the property’s value is less than £12,000. This means your business rate will be calculated using the lower small business multiplier. If you are only using a small area of your house for the primary function of your business, you will likely be exempt from business rates. If you employ anyone or if your home is split (one floor for work and living being on the other floor) then you will have to pay business rates.

Geography When setting up a business, it is really important to consider the geography and accessibility in order to maximise the potential success. Firstly it is necessary to think of how your business will operate. Is your business a shop where it relies heavily of foot traffic or is it more accessible online and therefore not relying on people physically entering the shop. There are many key aspects which will alter how you may want your business to be accessed. If your business is going to be one which has more of a retail aspect to it, you will want to think of a few key things. Where is the foot traffic high which means the maximisation of people entering the property. How accessible is it to customers and suppliers. If there is no local parking near your business then less people will be able to reach it. Will suppliers be able to easily find and reach the location if the surrounding areas are too pedestrianised? Has your business got a similar competitor within local proximity? All of these factors which inevitably cause either the success or demise of your business.

If your business is primarily accessed by customers online then it isn’t as necessary to worry about all of the above factors. If people are trying to access your property then they will likely already be aware of where they are having to go and customers will mainly be regulars as opposed to requiring high foot traffic to ensure sales. It is incredibly important to research locations before settling on where you would like to be based, and that doesn’t even include looking at the property itself. By assessing surrounding areas before looking into the property, you will be able to understand whether the location will add to the success of your business, or otherwise. Once you are settled on locations, THEN you should look at the individual properties.

Sources https://bristolcreativeindustries.com/funding-for-creative-businesses/ https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/businessinsurance/#:~:text=Why%20do%20I%20need%20business,interruption%20and%20supply%20chain%20breakdown. https://www.qdoscontractor.com/news/2021/11/30/business-insurance-for-creativesectors#:~:text=Types%20of%20policies&text=The%20most%20common%20policies%20for,Indemnity%20and%20Public%20Liability%20insurance https://www.artsculturefinance.org/our-funds/arts-culture-impact-fund/ https://www.wearecreative.uk/support/creative-enterprise/investment/creativegrowthfinance/ https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/

https://www.startuploans.co.uk/ https://www.caunceohara.co.uk/important-insurance-for-creative-media/ https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-reasons-working-remotely-is-even-better-than-you-thought-it-was https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home https://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2021/03/business-rates-guide-for-small-businesses/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/10-things-to-consider-when-choosing-a-location-for-your/299849