Maintaining a sustainable creative business can be stressful even at the best of times. As creatives, we often have to learn the finer details of running a business like finance, insurance, contracting and funding as we go.
In this article, Colour Box Studio has curated a helpful list of invaluable resources to get your business or arts practice running like a well-oiled machine.
From financial literacy and legal advice to looking after your mental health, we’ve included all the tools you need so you can feel empowered to move forward with your creative aspirations.
Money Girl
Money Girl is a financial literacy social enterprise founded by Melissa Ma and Mariam Mohammed.
Did you know that only 35% of women currently feel confident about their money? Well, Money Girl is on a mission to change that. They offer an array of live and on-demand online courses covering everything from tax and superannuation to investing and everyday money management.
Money Girl’s offerings are open to anyone who identifies as a woman, is gender non-conforming, non-binary or trans. They even offer scholarships and subsidised places through the Money Girl Pay It Forward Fund.
More info here
The Arts Wellbeing Collective
The Arts Wellbeing Collective promotes mental health and wellbeing in the performing arts industry.
The organisation provides many free resources including a podcast, webinars and guided meditations. They also offer Mental Health First Aid Training for leaders in the industry and a dedicated helpline.
Many of the above resources are free and you do not need to be a member or even work in the performing arts to access them.
More info here
Arts Law Centre of Australia
The Arts Law Centre of Australia is a not-for-profit artist advocacy organisation.
They offer a huge collection of free and low cost resources such as seminars/webinars, workshops and sample legal agreements for everything from copyright and collaboration to licensing and sponsorship. You can also access free or low cost personal legal advice and document reviews.
The Arts Law Centre for Australia is an invaluable resource to empower you to take control of your creative rights and protect your work.
More info here
Arts Access Victoria
Arts Access Victoria is the beak body for the arts and disability in Victoria. The organisation is disbility-led and strives to transform the way the creative industries engage with Deaf and Disabled people.
Arts Access Victoria offers a wide variety of programs to artists with disability of all levels, including studios, mentorships, professional development programs, awards and scholarships, grants and networking events. As a NDIS provider, artists with disability can use their NDIS plan to fund their participation.
They also offer consultations for those producing arts events and projects in terms of planning around accessibility.
More info here
For nation-wide arts and disability opportunities visit Arts Access Australia
Auspicious Arts Projects
Auspicious Arts Projects is a not-for-profit organisation that works with a range of arts organisations and local councils to provide administration and financial support for independent arts projects.
They can assist with grant management and reporting, budgeting and financial management, insurance, legal agreements, payroll, superannuation and workcover. Auspicious Arts charges 5% of the total project expenditure for their services and do not take any commission of profits.
They offer workshops on grant-writing and budgeting and there is a wide range of free resources available on their website including templates and insurance plans.
More info here
ArtsPay
ArtsPay is a payment processing company with a difference.
ArtsPay offers comprehensive POS and online payment systems at low rates for arts organisations. In collaboration with The Australia Council for the Arts and City of Melbourne, ArtsPay aims to support a stable arts ecosystem. Over 50% of their profits go directly to The ArtsPay Foundation, an independent, artist-led charitable foundation that supports independent artists and small arts organisations.
They also offer 24/7 customer support, so if you’re starting your creative business consider ArtsPay and support the arts with every purchase.
More info here
Looking for more creative resources? Check out our website here.
Want to learn more about your creative community? Sign up to the Colour Box Studio Newsletter here.
Showcasing and supporting local creatives, organisations and businesses is top priority to the Colour Box Studio team. Any businesses mentioned above are curated to provide information and resources for our creative community. This post is not sponsored and not part of affiliated marketing in any way.