Let’s be honest, creative people don’t go freelance or decide to start their own agency because they want to spend most of their time up to their eyes in boring business admin. Yawn.

It’s a must do, when you’d much rather be creating or doing other things you love. Some business admin is inevitable, of course, but many creative people have their spare time stolen, whether during the day, at night or the weekend, as they try to catch up on admin. A new government-funded programme is seeking to change all that.

Reclaim your creative time  

“Tech Adoption for Growth is a new fully government-funded programme that’s helping businesses make better use of digital technology, so they can save time, cut costs and increase their income,” explains programme manager Ben Masheder of Business West. “It’s available – completely free – to creative-sector businesses in Bristol and North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

“Many Bristol-based creative business owners have already gone through the programme. They’ve learned how digital technology can be better used to make significant time and cost savings, as well as raise their profile and generate more sales.”

One example is Amie Nowlan of Cut Film, which provides motion design and video-editing services. “I know how to use the design software I use for my work, but other than that, my digital technology knowledge is slim,” she admits. Amie says she isn’t very AI savvy, and like many other creative-sector businesses, she struggles to market her business.

Digital marketing support

“A peer from a business cohort told me about Tech Adoption for Growth,” Amie recalls. “I was struggling with SEO for my website and thought it sounded helpful.” She was delighted with the one-to-one consultancy she received from Dale Graham, marketing and SEO consultant at Bristol-based consultancy Total Reach.

“We discussed my business marketing challenges and what would help me address them, with Dale setting out a plan. For example, I needed to improve my LinkedIn profile, so he went through it and gave some useful recommendations. Dale then set up an account with Dripify [a LinkedIn automation and lead generation tool] and talked me through everything, helping me to explore the software.

“The advice I received was very valuable. It’s wonderful that creative businesses can access such support for free. I’m really grateful – I’d definitely recommend Tech Adoption for Growth to other creative-sector businesses.”

Two tech support routes

So, what happens after you apply? Freelancers and small agencies are randomly assigned either one-to-one consultancy with an experienced expert to address a specific business challenge, or the opportunity to take part in four expert-led, peer-group workshops, covering AI, digital marketing, selling online and other key tech topics. “The workshops address real–world business challenges, while providing the ​opportunity to learn from other businesses and share your own knowledge. The feedback we’ve had so far has been excellent.”

Almost 300 sole trader, freelance and small businesses in the region have already signed up for Tech Adoption for Growth, and several workshops have been held in Bristol, with more planned. Many more spaces are available, and Ben is calling on creative businesses in Bristol to sign up now. “It’s a great opportunity for creative-sector freelancers and business owners to learn from leading experts how to get much more from digital technology. Gaining that knowledge could make a big difference to your success – and mean you’re not having so much of your valuable time taken up by business admin,” he concludes.

Business West and TechSPARK are delivering Tech Adoption for Growth, in partnership with the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (WECA), funded by UK Government. Bristol and North East Somerset creative freelancers and agencies can apply for Tech Adoption for Growth here

About Business West

We’re Business West and we exist to create long-term prosperity for our businesses and our region. We enable companies to start, grow, innovate and export. We build professional communities and tackle challenging business issues on behalf of organisations