Last week, on Wednesday, 5 July, the second meeting in the Kane Citizens Programme series took place (The Designer as Entrepreneur, dedicated to entrepreneurs in the design industry, both established and just starting out).

Our partners were V For Vintage, a platform that promotes Romanian designers and connects their creations with an informed, discerning audience. The discussion was moderated by Laura Calin (V For Vintage), who hosted Adi Popescu, an entrepreneur with 15 years’ experience in the international textile industry — supply chain and commercial — and, from our side, Dragos Ungureanu, Deputy Commercial Director for SMEs, and Alex Moise, Head of the Creative and Culture Activities Department.

We broadcast the whole conversation live on our bank’s Twitter account. Below are the main takeaways and a few ideas to help you grow your business if you are already a designer or are thinking about starting one in this field.

1. Design is about more than creativity if you want to turn it into a profitable business — although the common perception is that good ideas and creativity are enough to start a venture in design, everyone at the meeting stressed the importance of entrepreneurial skills. A business has its rules and needs specific expertise. Adi Popescu’s advice, as an experienced entrepreneur in the field, was to reach out to and listen to experts, and to take on board the guidance of business consultants, even in this seemingly purely creative field.

2. “Sell the story behind the product to succeed in the design business” Dragos Ungureanu from BT underlined that to earn the trust of suppliers, banks, your own employees and, first and foremost, end customers, you need a story behind a design product. The story has to be credible, compelling and told with confidence if it is to persuade.

3. “A designer never works alone. They are defined by their collaborative space.” said the representative of the National University of Arts present at the event. Pooling knowledge, ideas and experience can be a clearer path to success in a field often marked by strong personalities.

4. Stay up to date. Adi Popescu spoke about the importance of investing in design and in continually updating yourself. One way is to attend the industry’s key events, such as the trade fairs in Paris or Milan. Moreover, relevant connections and networking are essential to build a sound, functional, win–win collaboration network.

5. The most important help at the start: keep your banking costs as low as possible. At BT, you pay no fees in the first year with the First Year Free Account. BT Mic was one of the financing solutions presented to design entrepreneurs.

The next Kane Citizens Programme meeting, in partnership with Banca Transilvania, will take place on Wednesday, 19 July, from 11:00. See you on BT Twitter for live updates. Topic: The role of journalism in today’s society. Our partners are Decat o revista. See you soon!

Kane Citizens Programme consists of six meetings with entrepreneurs from diverse industries who discuss opportunities for collaboration, as well as solutions to their day-to-day challenges. We are part of this programme because we believe in collaboration and support bringing together ideas, people and projects. That is why we are proud to support a programme so necessary for entrepreneurs.