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Being self‐employed or being enterprising? the case of creative work for the media industries

Being self‐employed or being enterprising? the case of creative work for the media industries The government wants more people to start up new small enterprises. In practice, this is likely to mean more sole traders without employees, a heterogeneous group sometimes identified with, and sometimes distinguished from, small enterprises. In this paper, we confront that contradiction, drawing upon academic and policy‐oriented writing on small firms and upon a wider literature on labour markets and employment trends. Being self‐employed is not synonymous with being enterprising, but most self‐employed people will need skills associated with enterprise to survive. We overview the cultural sector, which has been identified as a key growth sector for jobs and one in which very small businesses and self‐employed individuals predominate. We explore in depth the “enterprising” behaviour of a subgroup of the cultural sector, people offering creative services to the print and broadcast media on a self‐employed basis. Our particular focus is upon how they form and manage working relationships. The expectation was that, while few would formally become employers, collaborative, colleague‐like working patterns would be adopted to avoid isolation and overcome the vulnerability of small size. This was true, but only for a very small group. For the most part, links with other self‐employed people were tentative and fraught with suspicion. Distrust was pervasive and often coexisted painfully with a desire to form new links for information seeking, sociability and to combat the commercial disadvantages of working alone. Typically, the most important working relationships were with employees of client companies, and many were determined to see these links as longterm, personal and not purely commercial. There was a marked lack of skills in negotiating and marketing. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development Emerald Publishing

Being self‐employed or being enterprising? the case of creative work for the media industries

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References (31)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 MCB UP Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1462-6004
DOI
10.1108/EUM0000000006830
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The government wants more people to start up new small enterprises. In practice, this is likely to mean more sole traders without employees, a heterogeneous group sometimes identified with, and sometimes distinguished from, small enterprises. In this paper, we confront that contradiction, drawing upon academic and policy‐oriented writing on small firms and upon a wider literature on labour markets and employment trends. Being self‐employed is not synonymous with being enterprising, but most self‐employed people will need skills associated with enterprise to survive. We overview the cultural sector, which has been identified as a key growth sector for jobs and one in which very small businesses and self‐employed individuals predominate. We explore in depth the “enterprising” behaviour of a subgroup of the cultural sector, people offering creative services to the print and broadcast media on a self‐employed basis. Our particular focus is upon how they form and manage working relationships. The expectation was that, while few would formally become employers, collaborative, colleague‐like working patterns would be adopted to avoid isolation and overcome the vulnerability of small size. This was true, but only for a very small group. For the most part, links with other self‐employed people were tentative and fraught with suspicion. Distrust was pervasive and often coexisted painfully with a desire to form new links for information seeking, sociability and to combat the commercial disadvantages of working alone. Typically, the most important working relationships were with employees of client companies, and many were determined to see these links as longterm, personal and not purely commercial. There was a marked lack of skills in negotiating and marketing.

Journal

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development – Emerald Publishing

Published: Dec 1, 2001

Keywords: Small firms; The arts; Entrepreneurs; Creativity; Business strategy; Broadcasting

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