The growth of enterprises in the creative industries: the tricky world of ambitions

Abstract

Abstract
The cultural and creative industries have been shown to have a considerable share of the
economy in recent decades, and therefore creative enterprises are often considered carriers
of economic development that will drive growth and jobs in cities and regions. However, it
is often confusing which business growth expectations should be considered in the context
of creative companies. Do the creative companies themselves value growth, and what is
meant by that growth? The objective of this article is to find an analysis model to describe
the willingness of these companies to grow and the differences in growth orientations
among creative companies? The article makes use of an empirical study among incubator
tenants in Estonia and reveals the motivation for starting their business alongside their
growth orientations. The results show that creative enterprises are established based on selfactualisation
endeavours, but this does not distinguish their ambitions toward growing
their companies. The study describes three different types of creative companies in their
relation to growth.

Jel classification: D22, O38
Keywords: creative industries, creative entrepreneurship, company growth, analysis model