160331195413-trump-quote-2-exlarge-169

The news arrived this morning that Donald Trump will be the president of the United States for the next four years. This news has rocked the internet and world. I have struggled to find a post within my facebook news feed that doesn’t relate to the American presidency result.

A similar wave of shock was presented with the Brexit vote where the British public voted out of the EU. Both votes were incredibly close and no large majority was presented. In my eyes this means that both countries were undecided on how to progress. Do they push forward into an unknown future or retreat backwards to known territory? Regardless these results will effect us all in some way or another. As Britain negotiates trade deals with America and other countries, these new political tries could have drastic affects for our future (Giannangeli, 2016). This includes the creative industries which operates worldwide.

Throughout the election people, newspapers and experts discussed the affects of a Trump presidency on the economy. The majority showed a poor outcome and clearly supported Hillary. Such as ‘How a Trump presidency would ruin the long-term future’ by Adele Peters (Peters, 2016) and ‘How to Trump-proof your small business’ by Scott Yates (Yates, 2016). However, Trump is a business man and we therefore expect him to have an understanding of the economy but previous ventures suggest otherwise (Eichenwald, 2016). In August 2016 Trump announced plans to change trading across America and to other countries which contradicted previous Republican beliefs. These changes could have a direct effect on jobs but Greg Wright, Merced and Emily Blanchard state “The simple truth is that trade agreements change the composition of jobs in the economy. Some workers will be happier with their new jobs, and others will not. Whatever the job losses from the TPP, a roughly equal number will be created.” (Keogh and Costello, 2016). If done correctly these new trade agreements could benefit the UK or potentially isolate it further. An article by David Barstow suggests that’Trump’s deals rely on being creative with the truth, therefore we may not be getting exactly what is stated or available (Barstow, 2016).

The creative economy targets alternate areas of a market to fill a need. It adapts and follows consumer wants and needs. Due to this shock result, buyers traits and expectations may change and business must prepare to adapt to this. Trump may make changes which will directly affect creative business which may make trading more difficult however it is important for us to research the market and find the consumers that are buying. This may mean a geographical change.

For the moment my business is focused within the UK and has not yet been affected but with all the economic change on it’s way I will prepare as best I can. I am unsure on how the UK’s vote for EU freedom will affect me and I struggle to see how the American election will affect a tiny UK business but I still need to realistic and prepare for ripple effects of change. These may include:

  • Limited Trade in the USA
  • Higher prices to trade aboard
  • New avenues of trade opening up
  • Higher or lower taxes
  • A larger or smaller market

At the moment I can only control the things close to me and what I own. So it is important to reel in the shock and fear from these votes which I can not directly control and instead focus on the things that I can. I believe we have some interesting years ahead which could see the creative markets flourish or shrink and all we can do is make preparations to overcome these obstacles.

References: