A calm, structured one-day workshop to step back, understand your business, and plan for sustainable growth with clarity and confidence.

Growth is not about doing more. It is about doing the right things, at the right time, with clarity and confidence.

This full-day, in-person workshop is for creative businesses who want to grow sustainably, without chaos, overwhelm, or burnout. It is designed to help you step back from day-to-day demands and look at your business with fresh eyes.

We are delighted to welcome Karen Williamson, a highly experienced retail expert, coach, and mentor with nearly 40 years of industry experience supporting business owners through growth and change.

Karen brings a rare blend of real-world retail leadership, strategic clarity, and calm, supportive mentoring. Her work helps business owners move away from reactive decision-making and into a clear, grounded CEO mindset, making growth feel achievable rather than overwhelming.

Karen is a Level 7 qualified coach and mentor and a member of the Institute of Leadership. She uses these skills to enhance business thinking, clarity, and confident decision-making.

This full-day session gives you the space to step back from the noise, understand how your business is really performing, and move forward with confidence and intention.

This final workshop is about stepping back and learning how to lead your business, not just work inside it.

Whether you sell products, offer creative services, work on commissions, license your work, wholesale to stockists, or combine multiple income streams, this session helps you understand where your business is now, where growth is possible, and how to focus your time and energy more intentionally.

The day is designed to feel calm, clarifying, and empowering, even if thinking like a CEO feels unfamiliar at the moment.

How the Day Will Run

1. Getting Clear on Where You Are

We begin with a simple, guided diagnostic of your business.

Karen will support you to:

Understand how your business is performing right now

Identify what is driving income and pressure

See what is working and what is not

This creates clarity and sets the focus for the rest of the day.

2. Understanding Your Business Model & Direction

Next, we step back and examine how your business actually operates.

We will explore:

How you currently make money

Product, service, wholesale, or mixed business models

Where your time and energy are best spent

What to simplify, strengthen, or stop

This helps you focus on a growth path that fits both your business and your life.

3. Planning Your Year & Cashflow (Without Overwhelm)

This part of the day helps you look ahead with more confidence.

You will:

Map out your year at a high level

Understand when income is higher or quieter

Identify pressure points before they happen

Make more intentional decisions about pricing, offers, and workload

This is not about spreadsheets. It is about seeing your year clearly.

4. CEO Mindset & Better Decision-Making

We finish by focusing on how you lead your business.

Karen will support you to:

Step into a CEO mindset, even if you work alone

Know when to push forward and when to pause

Reflect without self-criticism

Build confidence in your decisions

Karen works as a supportive critical friend, helping you challenge assumptions and move forward with clarity.

What You Will Learn

By the end of the workshop, you will:

Understand your business more clearly

Have a simple view of your year ahead

Feel more confident around money and planning

Gain clearer priorities and next steps

Develop a stronger sense of yourself as the CEO of your business

Who It Is For

This workshop is designed for:

Creative businesses

Product-based and service-based businesses

Authors, photographers, designers, and branding studios

What to Expect

You will be supported throughout the day by Karen Williamson, whose calm, experienced approach helps business owners feel both challenged and encouraged.

Expect thoughtful discussion, structured reflection, and practical frameworks that support clear thinking and confident decision-making.

Can’t Make the Date?

If you are unable to attend this session, please get in touch and we will help you explore alternative workshops and ways to engage with the Creative Enterprise Growth Programme.

The Creative Enterprise Growth Programme is a Creative Impact project, part of Creative Central NCL, funded by the North East Combined Authority and Newcastle City Council.

Description supplied by the event organiser.