ART MEETS BUSINESS
Artists and the corporate world are two entities that need each other but in most cases have found it difficult to locate each other. The artists in most cases need business support to make ends meet and to finance their ideas and realise their dreams. Corporates also need artists to reach out to their markets by using an art form as a medium of communicating who they are and what they offer. Those artists who have visited corporate entities looking for deals will admit that it is not an easy task to work into an office and sell your idea to C.E.Os of different companies and organisations. And C.E.Os will also tell you how they are sometimes overcrowded and irritated by our visits. I have walked that road many times as an artist and some of the experiences have been bone crushing. In most cases I have walked out of these offices feeling belittled and insulted by the condescending attitudes from some company representatives.
First there are misconceptions that we as artists have about corporates. Some of us look at these corporates as places that are overflowing with excess cash which they don’t know what to do with it. We see spacious offices and their logos all over and conclude that these companies are loaded but that is not true for many companies operating in Zimbabwe. Some of these companies have tight budgets and are finding it difficult to keep above the economic waters. So when we walk in expecting a deal and walk out empty handed we feel hard done and unappreciated as artists.
The second mistake we commit as artists is to think we know what these companies want and we want to feed them our ideas. Sometimes we do this without even researching about the company that we are approaching. We walk into these offices and we make our irritating pitch because at that time we will be standing on the wrong ground and doing some monumental exhibition of how ignorant we are. We sometimes make fools of ourselves. I remember one time walking into an executive office of one of the biggest companies in Bulawayo, I walked like an all knowing individual. I was exuding confidence, but it was all baseless confidence. The time I walked out of the office I could feel the weight of my jacket. It was after an hour of discussions which in the end turned me into a student as the C.E.O took her time to school me on what I need to do when approaching corporates for any proposals. The lady had liked my idea but did not see where her company fitted. She felt sorry for me as I walked out. She had liked my passion as an artist but felt sorry for me because l lacked strategy. As I reflected on her words I could tell that she had been brutally honest to me.
The third mistake we make as artists is to assume wrong status. We over rate ourselves sometimes. I have walked into offices representing myself. The truth is that I have found the task of saying who I am and what I do cumbersome. Sometimes the whole thing just becomes clumsy. I have also walked into some offices representing celebrated artists in our country. The experience has been fantastic. By just mentioning the name of the artist you are representing coffee is quickly given and your proposal quickly perused through and if lucky deals sealed at once. I have walked out from such experiences feeling like a giant. From these experiences I have learnt that it is important to build your career as an artist and then use it later to reap rewards. But in most cases some artists walk in expecting to be known and are quickly deflated when they are quizzed about who they are and what they do.
The last mistake I would like to highlight is lack of clarity. In the last weeks I have been working with an organisation on a campaign project. The whole campaign thing was my brain child. Once the idea hit my mind I quickly drafted a proposal, called a friend and we approached the organisation. We were grabbing the opportunity. We pitched our idea and the Executive Officer was blown away. He quickly embraced our proposal and approved a pilot. We went on the ground and quickly put up a team and worked on the pilot. Everything appeared to be in order until time came for us to sign the final deal. Because of the excitement we had rushed in and made a rushed proposal without looking into all the logistics involved. We had not done due diligence. The team that we had put together was too big for the job to be done. We had run ahead of ourselves in excitement. The team that we had put together and working was already salivating, the prospects were sounding good. For me and my colleague we knew that the budgets that we had proposed had gone under scrutiny and were being revised downwards but the team was already on the ground working. We had to make impact within a week or two or we risked missing the opportunity. It was frustrating trying to reach an agreement over budgets with the organisation. At one point we were on the verge of losing the deal. What we finally came out with was one of the most compromised deals ever in my history in the creative sector. I was even embarrassed to present it to the team but I had to. So there is need for clarity about your proposal when pitching it, what will be done, how will it be done, who will do it and for how much?
As artists there is need to have an understanding of how the business world operate so that we tailor make our proposal with that understanding in mind. It is also important that we are viewed as serious people who will bring value to the companies that we approach. Let us know the needs and gaps of the companies that we approach. Let us also rate ourselves appropriately as artists.
Thabani H Moyo is a playwright, creative writer, theatre trainer, director and a high school teacher. You can give your feedback on th.moyo@yahoo.com.au
