Venture capital can be the way to grow

Growing a consultancy through outside finance, or venture capital, should be a valid option for entrepreneurial design managers, according to chief executive of the Centre for Creative Business Greg Orme.

In part two of his Business Insight for Design Week, out tomorrow, Orme introduces the idea of venture capital as a serious consideration for design managers keen to secure future capital value from their business.

Persuading financiers­ that investing in a creative business is a good bet can often be difficult, given the inherent risk of human capital (skills, knowledge and talent) typically associated with ‘people businesses’, says Orme.

He cites Loewy as a particularly successful recent example of growth using backing from venture capital and advises other businesses of the best way to approach this kind of expansion.

Last week, Orme argued the case for the growth of small consultancies, despite a prevalent view within the design community that smaller consultancies tend to be more creative.