Building a Business Base for Creative Entrepreneurs One Seattle organization provides back-office guidance and services to artists short on business savvy.

In the drizzly Pacific Northwest, Andy Fife is a rainmaker for the region's thriving arts community. Through Shunpike, a Seattle-based arts organization, he has helped nurture more than 2,500 creative enterprises across Washington, providing a solid financial foundation for the region's most prominent entrepreneurial artists.

So what's his big secret? "We mostly focus on writing a business plan, creating a marketing plan, securing funding, establishing lines of credit," Fife says. "That, itself, could be considered innovative in the art world, where most people aren't trained in the business fundamentals."