Boost Your Business

Take your maker business to the next level.

Applied Arts Scotland’s (AAS) ‘Boost Your Business’ 6-week course is a focused opportunity for makers living and working in Scotland to systematically think about how to take their business to the next level.

Centred around AAS’s Craft Toolkit, the course is for makers based in Scotland who want to:

• make a start on a business plan for their new business
• explore a new strand to their existing business
• pivot their current business.

The course is for you if you are:

• a recent graduate preparing to get your practice off the ground
• embarking on a second career in craft and want to earn an income from your making
• an established / mid-career practitioner wanting to explore a specific creative, professional or business challenge
• an experienced professional considering a change in your business and / or personal circumstances
• looking for a supported process to help you to reflect and re-energise
• seeking help to clarify your business goals so you can plan ahead
• gain confidence in planning, goal setting and decision making
• deciding how best to consolidate, expand or diversity your business
• exploring how to balance creative and business activities and ambitions
• considering how to be more sustainable in your practice choices.

In addition, the course is for those exploring those big, difficult values-based questions such as ‘Why do I do what I do?’, ‘Who do I do it for?’, or considering the purpose of their business relative to ethical, societal or environmental factors.

Perhaps you have one key creative, professional or business challenge or a number of different parts of your practice that you are trying to align. Whatever your specific needs are, Boost Your Business will help you with guided session using the CraftToolkit’s five modules and 13 exercises. You'll explore and create a simple plan tohelp you consider your values and goals, and use this as the foundation to establish, diversify, consolidate or expand your business. And becoming familiar with a range of new planning tools will give you the confidence, understanding and processes to support you in the months and years ahead.

Schedule

10:00 - 16:00, weekly on Tuesdays 24 February – 24 March 2026 (online)
In the first five sessions, we are building in a 2-hour break from 12:00 - 14:00 to give participants time to look after business and / or personal stuff, have lunch and take time to gather information or reflect. We rarely award ourselves time to just sit and think, so we want to encourage participants to do that even if it’s just for a short time.

Time TBC, Tuesday 14 April 2026 (hybrid)
The sixth and final session is an opportunity for participants to collectively reflect on their journeys, developments, draft business plans and next steps. The hybrid (venue, location and timing TBC) session is an opportunity for participants to gather to reflect on how they have identified ways to boost their businesses and to support each other to take their next steps / actions. AAS will make a financial contribution to in-person attendees’ return public transport costs for this session (details TBC).

Cost

Free for AAS Members - using the code shared in Members Bulletins

£50 for non-Members - who can benefit from one year free AAS Membership (Professional or Associate).

Facilitators

The course will be facilitated by Carol Sinclair and Helen Voce, experienced independently and collaboratively experienced in supporting makers with the creative, professional and business development of their craft practices. Carol and Helen co-led on the development of the Craft Toolkit with the support of the British Council (see Background).

Participant Information

Participants must be a maker / craftsperson / designer maker / artisan living and working in Scotland, and:

• have registered for a free, individual Craft Toolkit user account (you need a name, a valid email address and a password)
• have access to a laptop, desktop computer, tablet or smartphone connected to the internet
• be committed to attending the six half day sessions (online and hybrid) detailed in the schedule
• be willing to allocate additional time for preparation (e.g. gathering information about existing customers or new markets you wish to reach) and reflection (e.g. research further pricing of competitors / allies or contact prospective retailers) to optimise their business development
• be willing to share their learning, reflections, outcomes, experience with fellow participants in support of individuals’ and collective progress
• be respectful of participants’ confidentiality at all times
• have completed and submitted an anonymous Equality & Diversity Monitoring Form
• be willing to evaluate their participation in and progress on the course for the purposes of AAS developing the course in the future and our reporting to Creative Scotland as a Multi-Year Funded Organisation

During the course, the Craft Toolkit will capture and support your steady and considered progress as you go:

• Exploring a module per week for five weeks, a summary of key module outcomes will be accessible in your individual user account.
• You can create a to-do list with detailed reminders and tasks to explore matters beyond the course schedule.
• An extensive list of further resources per exercise supports you to explore identified business issues from other perspectives and with additional tools and knowledge.

Registration

• 50 places are available on the course
• 50% of places will be initially reserved for AAS Members
• Places are available to those who fulfil the criteria above
• Places are offered on a first come first served basis
• The online registration form must be completed in full
• Non-Members course registration will be confirmed once AAS has received their payment in full
• Registration closes 23:59, 16 February 2026

AAS reserve the right to refuse participants registration on the course.