What We Do
About us 
Creative Business Associates was founded by Mollie Dodd who has been working as a freelance consultant for over 10 years with a wide variety of clients and venues, including visitor attractions, museums, art centres and restaurants. Mollie often works with partner consultants to ensure expertise in the relevant area and to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to projects, as well as objective and varying viewpoints to ensure work is not complacent and is continually challenged to develop the best outcome for the client. Have a look at our 'Who We Are' page for more details of Mollie's background and the consultants she works with.

Why choose a consultant?

Using a consultant isn't always the best way to solve a problem or work on a project or development, so do consider it carefully and think about the following criteria:
  1. Does the work require specialist knowledge and expertise that you don't have in your organisation (or not to the level or time commitment required)?
  2. Will you struggle with capacity trying to achieve the work in house?
  3. Can the work be delivered in a set amount of time and are you happy for someone to manage their own time and workload within the time frame?
  4. Does the work require impartial external advice or recommendations on options?
  5. Do you want to facilitate new ways of thinking and look at practical ways of sustaining any progress? 
If your answer to any of these questions is 'yes' then a consultant could be the way forward...

What we can provide...

Specific experience and support in master-planning, business plans, budgets, new developments, strategies, advocacy, trouble-shooting and...
  • The visitor experience as a whole; website, promotion, signage, welcome, admissions, engagement, interpretation, wayfinding, layout, visitor flow, child friendly aspects, general facilities, catering, retail. Etc.
  • Visitor welcome; signage, admissions operation, staffing, admission prices, gift aid, donations. Etc.
  • The 'offer'; what are visitors seeing and doing at your venue?, how can it be brought to life? What will help visitors engage with the offer?
  • Exhibition; all aspects including exhibition design, layout, interpretation, signage, temporary exhibitions and programming, creative design. Etc. 
  • Catering; all aspects including front of house customer service, layout, equipment, menus, pricing. Etc. and back of house efficiencies such as staffing, cost management (GP & sales mix) kitchen equipment and layout. Etc.
  • Retail; all aspects including new developments, layout and design, merchandising, staffing, suppliers, promotions, margin, stock systems. Etc.
  • Events; public activities, pre-booked public and private events, conferencing, room hire, banqueting, weddings. Etc.

Projects

Typical client projects often focus on improving and developing business aspects such as customer service and income generation as well as efficiency savings, including staffing structures. The client brief is key and projects can vary from creating high level strategy, business plans and budgets to ‘hands on’ practical advice and support with more specific areas such as the visitor welcome, catering, retail and events. 

Working with a wide variety of organisations the key commonalities often involve sustainability, particularly with smaller, charitable and volunteer led venues and finding innovative ways to support their future is essential. This development cannot be influenced by a consultant alone and therefore involvement of the relevant teams is usually crucial to achieving and maintaining any benefits. Staff and volunteer workshops are often a major part of the work and getting their input and support from the start is usually essential. 

Each project is bespoke, but we'll meet with you to determine what support you're looking for and we'll work with you to develop a brief and ensure you're happy with the way we propose to approach the work. There are many different ways of achieving the same outcomes, so for some projects staff and volunteer workshops may be a fundamental element; others could be all about offering practical and verbal advice and looking at locations and visual aspects, whilst others still will involve mainly written reports and figures. Right from the start we'll work collaboratively with you to determine the best approach for your project.   
What can we offer?

Consultants can bring many benefits and it's usually about getting the right client brief to start with and ensuring understanding between client and consultant. Clear communications and an honest and open relationship are key to creating a positive and meaningful outcome. 

Each project is bespoke, but an overview of what we can provide is:
  • An objective, fresh pair of eyes to support troubleshooting or review opportunities
  • Skills and experience that may not be available internally
  • Specialist advice in specific areas
  • Operational and practical advice and action plans
  • Support with existing plans and further advocacy
  • Access to other organisations, sharing of bench-marking, best practice and case studies
  • Exposure to the wider industry through client and networking contacts
  • Facilitation skills to support with team buy-in, engagement and problem solving
  • Training and coaching to develop internal skills and support continuity of work 
  • Change management skills to support the organisation in planning and implementing any changes
  • Business planning and recommendations for development
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