Balancing the creative business model

Entrepreneurship within the creative industries is said to adhere to specific circumstances, rules and norms. This article takes on an exploration into the specific context of these industries as it investigates how the environment surrounding a creative organisation can create opposing demands on the organisation, leading to issues in long-term sustainability. The specific environment is operationalised by the creative biotope, which is composed of four spheres that influence a sustainable artistic practice, with each domain containing its own norms for legitimacy. Correspondingly, each domain exudes its own influences and pressures on the creative organisation on how to behave. This article postulates that the business model, defined as the active operationalisation of an organisation's strategy, can be used as a balancing mechanism to mitigate these tensions. This leads to eight theoretically derived propositions on the relationship between the business model and tensions resulting from the creative environment.