Important steps to founding your own business

In his opinion, designers have to be able to operate economically within their professional environment – the methods for this, Prof. Dr. oec. habil. Herbert Grüner teaches at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. Besides his professorship, he dedicated his time to being a founding director of the private Berlin-based bbw Hochschule. In addition, Herbert Grüner is part of various cultural-political committees which focus on funding art and culture. His research focuses on the fields of founding, leadership and organisation of businesses in the creative industry.  We met Herbert Grüner and interviewed him to understand, what needs to be considered on the path to self-employment:

What do you have to consider when founding a business?

Designers tend to have their mindsets within their own collection. This is wonderful and part of their competence, we can only look up to them for this, but please remember that you’re in a competition arena and think about the customer.

How do I avoid difficulties for my business in the beginning?

My recommendation is to look at the market, compare prices, to make calculations based on a realistic cost structure and to finally find a price with which you can join the market. 

How do I develop a business plan?

A business plan or modern forms, are very important for founders in my opinion. Primarily, it's about reflecting what the business idea is, how to introduce such to third parties and how you can define the target audience and the market for yourself. 

Here you'll get to the YouTube-Channel of Berlin Fashion Week.

Further information about the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee you can find here.