Not Your Traditional Entrepreneur: Comparing Artistic Creative Archetypes to Artistic Creative Entrepreneurial Profiles

The purpose of this paper is to present the change in the identity of artists, crafters and designers from Artistic Creative to Artistic Creative Entrepreneurial. The findings are presented as Artistic Creative Archetypes and Artistic Creative Entrepreneurial Profiles. As such the motivation for the study is to investigate the Artistic Creatives’ typical experienced tension between their creative identity and potential entrepreneurial roles. This research documented the change in values experienced by Artistic Creatives when becoming Entrepreneurs. This forms part of a Grounded Theory study where the research design, approach and method employs a Straussian-grounded theory method with data from interviews with 32 Artistic Creative Entrepreneurs from the Border Kei area of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The main findings present the shift and change in the values of Artistic Creatives when becoming Artistic Creative Entrepreneurs. Considering these values when making entrepreneurial decisions may alleviate the tension between their Artistic Creative identity and their Entrepreneurial identity. The practical implications show that as Artistic Creatives become entrepreneurs they experience a change in their basic identity. This research practically indicates how the Artistic Creative Entrepreneur may embrace this changed identity without perceiving it as a sacrifice but as an extension of their creative identity. This study contributes to knowledge concerning adopting artistic creative entrepreneur identities, and how values guide this transition.