A third of the creative industry in the UK is made up of self-employed workers, approximately 320,000 of that portion are creative freelancers. This industry of professionals who choose to work for themselves is likely to see positive continuous growth, after rising figures since 2017.
The next generation of creatives perceive self-employment as a positive progression within their careers that provides a better work-life balance with more flexibility than a typical nine-five working day. However, they are the generation most likely to experience the side effects of burnout as a result of longer working hours and the realities of being your own boss, which can in turn have a knock-on effect on their creative output.
Loneliness and isolation are common attributes of self-employed workers. A study found that the younger generation are less likely to admit to feeling lonely and isolated whilst working in comparison to other age groups however, there is sufficient data to suggest they are one of the loneliest working generations; with several workers admitting to missing the company of others and finding their work environment challenging without bouncing ideas off of others.
The combination of loneliness, lack of work-life balance and risk of burnout can in turn have an effect on creativity, productivity and metal well-being. Admin tasks and general day-to-day business management are all challenges that can contribute to the lack of balance, longer hours and less time being spent on actually being creative. It’s important that the creative freelancers and business owners of this generation reap the rewards of being their own boss, with potential for some of the negative aspects to be eradicated or lessened to improve the experience of those who choose to work for themselves.
Bizi is a multi-touch point solution working across an app and smart-speaker integration to provide users with a virtual creative companion. The concept targets the issues of social isolation and loneliness by providing users with someone to reach out too, should they need help in their solo career.
The app focuses on the three key elements of creative self-employment - creativity, business and well-being and allows the users to visualise their day by these tasks, to promote a healthy work-life balance, reducing the risk of burnout.
