Growth Workshop
‘Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people’
— Steve Jobs
Working alone or with just one or two others is very common in the creative sector. It’s how most people start out. But it’s hard to build a business on your own. And keep it going.
GROWTH is about working with others to build a business, make money, and do the work you want to do.
So what’s so good about growth?
Here are 6 things growth promotes:
- Economies of scale: Things get easier and cheaper when you do more of them.
- Economies of scope: Bigger businesses can do things smaller businesses can’t.
- Smoothing: Bigness smooths out revenues and risks.
- Resilience: Team spirit sustains the enterprise.
- Visibility: You get noticed.
- Bargaining power: Size commands respect.
GROWTH curriculum
-
Bringing people together
What is the best structure to attract and hold together a diverse group of people? We explore examples from the creative industries, the services sector, banking and finance. The goal is to find the structure that best fits your business and closely aligns the interests of everyone working in it.
-
Creating value
Where is value actually created in the value chain stretching from creator to consumer? And how is it shared? Technology is redistributing the work and rewards of the creative economy. Creators can move up the value chain and by doing so, improve the risk/reward profile of their business. We explore how.
-
Growth strategies
Growth is about focus. It is not about doing ‘more of the same’. How can you attract the projects, talent, partners and investment your business needs to grow beyond its present limits? We investigate four proven growth strategies.
-
Understanding investors
Investors are not homogenous. They differ in their attitudes to risk, their time horizons, expectations and motivations. And an investment doesn’t have to be a lucky dip – it can be ‘sliced and diced’ to match these differences. We get creative about finance.
-
The way ahead
Business planning gets a bad rap because so much can change along the way. But there’s more than one way to make a plan. In this subject, we work backwards from an imagined future, figuring out the steps in reverse. It’s called reverse business planning and will change the way you think about business.
-
The greenlight process
How do you decide which projects to back? As your business grows and more people become involved, this issue becomes complex. We draw on 100 years of accumulated Hollywood wisdom to help you design a greenlight process and make better decisions.
-
Legal instruments
We unpick the main legal instrument governing a commercial business – the shareholders’ agreement. We focus on the 7 or 8 key clauses, exploring their implications and the scope for negotiation.
GROWTH delivery
- The course will be delivered over four two-day workshops, running over a Friday and Saturday from 10am to 6pm each day.
- The workshops will combine lectures, discussions and group exercises, supported by readings.
- Participants will work in groups on a live case study that draws on elements of their own business. The case study will be the ‘stalking horse’ for the course.
- Groups are expected to meet between workshops to work on the case study.
- On the final day, the groups will pitch their work to a panel of experts who will give extensive feedback.
- There will be a maximum of 12 participants in the course.
Course leader
Course convenor
Readings
In case you want to get started, here are three texts we’ll be talking about:
- Aswath Damodaran’s Narrative and numbers: the value of stories in business (Columbia University Press, 2017)
- James Surowiecki’s The wisdom of crowds (Doubleday, 2004)
- Noam Wasserman’s The founder’s dilemmas: anticipating and avoiding the pitfalls that can sink a startup (Princeton University Press, 2012)
What you will take away:
- A blueprint for growing your business
- A worked example, developed with your group, in detail
- Expert guidance and one-on-one feedback
- A peer group with a shared understanding of GROWTH
Price
- $2950 inc GST
- Rebate: Compton School is beta-testing its curriculum and seeking feedback.
If you would like to join a focus group discussion at completion of the course, we will pay you a rebate of $300. - SCHOLARSHIPS: Participants may apply for a Compton Director’s Award of $500.
Dates
- To be advised