M4L01: introduction, what is a business plan?

Cultural management is a profession of the future. The figures of cultural consumption endorse it, increasingly increasing. The birth of new proposals by and for culture is ever greater and more heterogeneous, whether they are business proposals, whether they are educationally oriented, whether they are initiatives in the public sphere through solo proposals by creators or entrepreneurs from the Arts.

We want to show you the dynamics of business plans. It is nothing more than a control and planning tool that will help us to make any company or cultural project that we have work. The idea of ​​using the business plan will help us generate that project.

This course gives a generic business plan vision and then, a little adapted to the cultural sector. Keep in mind that it is basic knowledge for those who do not know anything about this. Each project must adapt this generic business plan to its needs. This course does not mean that this explained business plan is valid for any project, but it does have basic aspects that should not be missing in any business plan.

This course is oriented with the objective that you have enough tools, resources, strategies, methodologies to access financing projects for your educational or cultural project. We are going to introduce different resources, different tools to make possible that project that you have in mind in the different lessons of the course.

What is a business plan?

Many times we make the mistake of saying that I have it all in my head. But your team, your investors, the public administration, your sponsors, your employees, cannot decipher what you have in your head. There is nothing better than visualizing it and from there you can make decisions so that things are concretized. The idea of ​​the business plan is that if you have a company that works and is already operating and generating resources, it will plan in the medium term so that they can generate their own resources so that the creation of their projects is not limited.

If we get resources, we will get cash flow. When a cultural project or company generates resources and enough money to pay for its expenses for five consecutive years, it will automatically be fine in the sixth year. If we go wrong, we correct what does not work to continue with the path projected in the business plan.

We believe that if you are starting out in a company, the business plan is the tool par excellence. A business plan is basically a document that reflects the strategy on the objectives of a business. The structure of the business plan consists of three main studies: the market study, the technical study and the financial study.

Business plan in the cultural/artistic sector

Cultural projects must be self-sufficient and the business plan is a tool that allows us to draw up a strategy to be successful. It includes concepts and methodologies already proven and that work. The business plan is a guide to execute an activity that generates resources in the long term with the aim of being sustainable over time. That is the main idea. It is a path to follow that will generate resources for us in the long term. What kind of resources? It can be money, other services, technology exchange, etc. because we move in an economy that is the basis of exchange and must also generate resources in the long term. What is the deadline? Well, a forecast for at least 3 years, although you can also make a business plan for 5 years.

Having a business plan will generate many advantages for us. The first advantage that we have is that it will help us determine which are the most promising business opportunities, as well as the spaces of interest, the fact that we do not have to do an investigation to be able to carry out that business plan, it will help us to find just where the opportunities are.