The PUSH project (POP UP SHOP HELPER) addresses the priorities to promote entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurship among members of the creative/artistic community. The project specifically focuses on a need elaborated by creative / artistic community looking to forge a career through commercialization of their work, but lacking the core business skills to do so. A recent article in the observer captured the delima at the heart of this project well when it wrote 'Is it possible, in the current economic climate, for someone working in the creative arts to make a living from it? Unless you have the good fortune to be a Damien Hirst or a JK Rowling, the answer increasingly seems to be no. For artists who are already faced with low job security and the absence of company benefits such as pensions or paid holidays, the impact of the global financial crisis has been keenly felt.' The statistics make for uncomfortable reading. Almost a third of visual and applied artists earn less than £5,000 a year from their creative work, according to a survey conducted by Artists' Interaction and Representation (AIR); 57% of the 1,457 respondents said that less than a quarter of their total income was generated by their art practices and only 16% of them paid into a private pension fund, raising questions about how professional artists will support themselves once they reach retirement age. This course will educate and encourage creative people in the arts and crafts sector to be entrepreneurs in the creative arts. The training provided will be focused on how to set up a pop-up shop, through a step by step guide, case studies and interviews with pop-up shop creators with a forum to provide interaction with pop-up shop enthusiasts. Project outputs will be a training course uniquely tailored to the needs of the identified target group. This training course will be avaiable online in e-learning format, but also in download able book format. The training course, and its associated learning goals and objectives, will also be developed into a Game (PUSH UP SHOP HELPER) which will also be hosted on the project platform. This game will deliver the learning to those in the Logical-Mathematical -Linguistic based learning approaches that society favors. By teaching business / commercialization skills in this way It will encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the creative arts sector.
The PUSH PROJECT is designed with the aim of developing a unique innovative entrepreneurial training product to help those in the creative/artistic sector to make the transition from creativity to commercialization. Many of the participants that were interviewed by PUSH confirmed that prior education or training in their chosen art/craft did not include any components relating to how to monetize their output. The statistics within this target group make for uncomfortable reading. Almost a third of visual and applied artists earn less than €6,000 a year from their creative work, according to a survey conducted by Artists' Interaction and Representation (AIR). 57% of the 1,457 respondents said that less than a quarter of their total income was generated by their art practices.The training provided through the PUSH Project is developed around how to set up a pop-up shop, through a step by step guide, case studies and interviews with pop-up shop creators. Pop-up retail is the temporary use of physical space to create a long term, lasting impression with potential customers, offering the initiator a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to test the market, get product feedback and make some money, at the same time showcasing vacant property.The course is delivered in two complementary components available online through the specifically developed web platform (https://push-project.eu/). The PUSH e-Learning course and the PUSH game.E-learning CourseThe course has 5 sections each dealing with a different topic relating to the main points you need to know about when setting up a pop-up shop. These 5 topics were chosen based on interviews with over 100 ‘makers’ at varying stages in their career. Each section is followed by a short quiz. The questions recapping on the section to reinforce what has been learned. Additional resource with the online materials include info-graphics, videos and worksheets.•Section 1: Introduction to Pop-up shop•Section 2: Planning and Organisation•Section 3: Management and Marketing•Section 4: Evaluation of a pop-up shop•Section 5: Personal developmentGame-based platformThe Gamed-based platform is based on PUSH Training Course is available online adds a different dimension to the e-learning course, allowing the student to understand the dynamics and consequences if decisions and resource trade-offs that the entrepreneur must make. In this way a greater understanding of commercial activity and work/life balance is achieved through playing the game. For people who have different learning styles the combination of online modules and game-play offers the chance to learn in a fun and interactive way.