My Trajectory...

SWOT Analysis

 A SWOT analysis can be an important way of clearly framing and establishing your trajectory as a creative, below I have provided an example of a SWOT for myself as an individual, and for my companies LATE ARRIVAL ARTS and MINDSCAPE

SWOT analysis Personal:

Strengths- Interdisciplinary, with experience working across different mediums, Can create in a manner that is research oriented, and have existed within a wide range of spaces before and worked with a diverse group of people.

Weaknesses: Engaging with and driving engagement on social media, have only created work so far in the UK, not able to drive.

Opportunities: Wide base of options and opportunities for development because of the multiplicity of my practice, collaboration with connections made on MA and in various pieces of work across the country. Space, facilities and equipment available through MA course at MMU. 

Threats: Unstable funding/economic climate for continuing to work in/collaborate within, not yet an established audience built up to the extent to which regional touring is viable

Personal 2025 plan: By the end of 2025, I will have: Filmed an articulation of my practice through the means of a lecture performance, performed my one-to-one piece Jean Vigo’s Pool at a practice research symposium in Manchester, developed an established portfolio and website + professional social media presence. Written a play of approx. 1 hour in duration to submit to playwrighting prizes. Developed, produced and performed a performance of approx. 1 hour in length in collaboration with artist Gin Niemtus.

Personal 2028 plan: By 2028, I should be working towards producing and creating touring work both in the UK and internationally.

SWOT analysis Mindscape Arts:

Strengths: Diverse company formed of members with different backgrounds and perspectives. New and Exciting contemporary work that has been performed across the UK. International perspective on making work. Complimentary skillsets within the running of the company, established audience base in certain areas of the UK. Small company, making it easy to organise/distribute payment. 

Weaknesses: Geographically divided company, making it difficult to organise work financially and time wise. The company is worked on amongst other projects making it difficult to prioritise time in the development stages of work. 

Opportunities: Further touring opportunities stemming from the network of organizations the company has already created work for. Interdisciplinary work allows for more collaboration with different artists and mediums. Multi-lingual work broadens to the potential audience base. Threats: Potential of becoming stuck as ‘Emerging Artists’, unpredictable funding and economic climate

Threats: Geographical divide makes it difficult to organise rehearsal time in terms of location and transport. Reliance on small grant funding opportunities is not a viable long-term financial model, and makes it difficult to pay a fair fee to collaborators and cover costs.

Mindscape 2025 plan: By the end of 2025, Mindscape will have established a more substantial online/social media presence using money from the University of Lincoln Enterprise Grant + have developed a new and accessible website + register as a company. Mindscape will explore options for making video content of previous work accessible to a wider online audience. The company will begin Research and Development for their next performance piece.

Mindscape 2028 plan: By 2028, Mindscape should be producing work on an international scale, touring work that has already been developed and creating new work with a wider base of artists (continuing to align with their current ethos around diversity of perspectives). We should be working towards creating more sustainable work in line with the intermediate guidance in the Theatre Green Book and creating work that is viable on a financial level.

SWOT analysis Late Arrival Arts: 

Strengths: Interdisciplinary company with a wide range of skills. Geographically close members. New and Exciting work being created across the UK. 

Weaknesses: Transport capabilities are not strong; the core of the company tends to rely on public transport/lifts. The company does not yet have a strong enough established audience/social media presence to make touring work viable. 

Opportunities: Interdisciplinary work allows for a broad scope for collaboration, connections with venues across the UK allows for further opportunities for collaboration. 

Threats: Manchester based location and lack of transport capabilities makes it hard to tour certain work. Reliance on small grant funding and ‘emerging artist support’ makes it difficult to create and develop work in an unstable funding/economic climate, making it difficult to pay collaborators a fair fee.

Late Arrival 2025 plan: By the end of 2025, Late Arrival will have developed and produced A Utopia Story in two formats, as a performance piece and interactive audio experience at Buxton Fringe, and as a community-oriented gallery exhibition piece at PINK MCR in Stockport. We will have improved our social media presence/ output and established a website cataloguing and making our work more accessible to a wider audience/promoter base. We will have developed our newest show VAMPYR ready to be toured in nationally in the UK in early 2026, this production will have a focus on being economically and ecologically sustainable. We will have filmed one half an hour film for distribution online/to various film festivals.

Late Arrival 2028 plan: By 2028, Late Arrival will be creating work for an international audience, working with a wide range of creatives and communities, and working towards the intermediate guidance in the Theatre Green Book for creating work sustainable. The company should be operating on a sustainable economic model also by this point, and have moved away from the emerging artist label/reliance on small grant funding

In Short: