Why’s it called the Greenhouse? Click to find out.
The Greenhouse is a six-month entrepreneurship and business development program which offers artists and creatives extended training, coaching, and mentoring specific to their work, at no charge to participants, with the possibility of receiving funding to build their creative business at the end of the program.
Interested in being in the Spring/Summer 2021 cohort of the Greenhouse? Register for Entrepreneurship Essentials for Artists and Creatives, our free eight-week introductory course in arts business, beginning February 1. Those who complete the course, which is the first component of the Greenhouse program, may apply for the Greenhouse program which will continue from April through July 2021. Register here.
The Greenhouse has three parts:
Planting: Entrepreneurship Essentials for Artists and Creatives
This free course introduces students to arts business development and coaches them in best practices. Participants watch approx. 20 hours of videos on topics ranging from planning, strategy, customer development, marketing, financial management, legal issues for artists, fundraising, and more; and use writing exercises to explore their unique offers. They collaborate with the instructor and other class members in weekly “Working Sessions” to apply what they’ve learned to developing their business plan.
Tending: Coaching and Mentoring
Participants who are accepted into the Greenhouse after completing the Entrepreneurship Essentials course move on to weekly coaching and mentoring with Program Manager Luann Jennings, outside experts, and other Greenhouse participants in “Mastermind” groups. They continue to develop and test their business model and get valuable guidance from professionals in their own industry and those providing needed services to them. We are please to partner with We Grow the Co for individual coaching in digital marketing and web design.
Harvesting: Money and Marketing
Greenhouse participants who are ready to raise money for their businesses will be invited to the third and final stage of the program. Working with marketing and social media experts, they will create and implement a marketing plan for their business and begin developing their customer base. Working with experienced finance and fundraising professionals, they will develop a crowdfunding campaign, written application, and in-person pitch about their projects which they will present to a panel of experts to compete for up to $3,000 in funding for their projects.
Questions? See FAQ below or contact Luann Jennings at [email protected]
The Greenhouse is sponsored the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, TFNB, and Start Up Waco.
Through these sponsorships, participants receive scholarships to all program components.
FAQ
How much time will be involved?
3-5 hours per week for watching videos, attending meetings (online will always be an option as long as we’re dealing with a pandemic), doing research, and developing your business plan; plus time for developing your product or service.
The work I do isn’t really “art.” Can I still apply?
Our approach is based on theory and practices that have been developed for those working in the visual, performing, and literary arts. If your work doesn’t fall within those areas, it might be hard to apply what we talk about to your work and you would probably be a better candidate for a more traditional small business/entrepreneurship program.
I just want to make more money doing what I’m already doing. Will the Greenhouse help me?
Any arts business would benefit from the first two segments of the Greenhouse program, (1) the course and related working sessions, and (2) coaching and mentoring. You might even find that you come up with a new project through those processes. But to participate in the business plan competition and receive funding, you have to have a specific, fully developed, new product or service “pitch.”
What can the grant be used for?
The grant is specifically a business development grant. It cannot be used to cover the cost of production, including paying yourself or purchasing supplies to make your product. These costs should be paid for by sales. The grant should help you make sales, expand your business, and get you on a more sustainable footing. It can be used for purchases like equipment, websites, training, consulting, computer hardware and software, marketing, etc.