2026 Dream Plan Do festival incl. business planner handbook
2026 dream plan do festival, incl. business planner handbook
Kickstart 2026 with clarity, focus, and a mapped out plan that actually works for YOUR creative business. The Dream Plan Do Festival (13 – 15 January 2026) is a short, interactive online business planning experience, designed especially for creative businesses, where you will turn your big ideas into action, get back in charge and take your business to the next level.
Over three mornings, award-winning creative business adviser Patricia van den Akker will guide you through practical exercises in planning, marketing and finance – so you’ll leave with a clear roadmap to make 2026 your most productive and profitable year yet.
This is NOT another boring business course or generic planner! The Dream Plan Do Festival is interactive, reflective, and inspiring, blending solo work, group discussions, and expert guidance. Designed for professional creatives to stop winging it, prioritise what matters, and move your business forward in 2026.
At its heart is our 110-page Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook, your guide during the Festival and throughout 2026 to capture all your ideas, plans, and actions in one place. With annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly action plans, as well as marketing and financial trackers, it will help you to stay organised, focused and accountable – so you can achieve what truly matters.
This year marks our 10th anniversary of our signature business planner. Over the past decade, we’ve trained thousands of creative professionals to strengthen their business foundations, improve their financial and marketing skills, and build a business that works for them.
Can’t make it live on 13, 14 & 15 January from 10am – 1pm UK time? No problem at all! All 3 online workshops will be recorded, and you will have access till 31 December 2026.
But … planning is easy, right? It’s the implementation that’s hard! Yes, we know!! That’s why we introduced last year our Dream Plan Do 2026 VIP Club here. It’s only £100,- more to get 12 months of support with 8 monthly check-ins + 4 quarterly strategy workshops!
Join the 2026 Dream Plan Do Festival below and kickstart the year with a plan, more energy & focus! Deadline to join for non-UK clients: Monday 1 December. For UK clients: 31 December, but please join asap so we can have a Christmas break too.
Money a bit tight? Select Paypal Later or Klarna at the checkout to pay in 3 monthly instalments.
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the key facts
- 3 x 3 hours of live, interactive creative business planning experience from Tue 13 – Thu 15 January 2025 (10am – 1pm UK)
- Get organised + kickstart the year with a proper plan! Throughout the Festival you will be working ON your own creative business + plan, incl. you, creative production, finance, marketing.
- Includes the 108+ page 2026 Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook (to be sent end of November)
- Join live to make the most of this interactive + collaborative experience. Learn + work with other creative professionals and tap into their wisdom, energy + support.
When it’s such a mehhh time of the year, it’s great to know everyone else is in the same boat and planning together. It felt like we were all doing it together rather than feeling alone and daunted about it.
Eloisa Henderson-Figueroa – Mural Artist
I hear Patricia in my head saying I should only spend 40% of my week making. This has changed my approach a lot. I am also really on top of my numbers.
Kate Dare – Jeweller
Dream Plan Do has helped me to become more confident and strategic in my business. I know this will only develop more as I continue with DPD next year.
Fiona Gall – Emerald Faerie – Lighting designer maker artist
Peer support. Just talking to others in the same boat has been really valuable to me.
Rosanna Gethin – Leather Worker
Partly as a result of Dream Plan Do, I ended up applying to and being accepted to the MA Textiles at the Royal College of Art.
Pia Östlund – Designer & Printmaker
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why dream plan do exists
Managing a small creative business is complex and overwhelming. It’s not just about making your work – you also have to manage marketing, sales, finances and client relationships. Too often, creatives feel pulled in all directions, without the time, tools or clarity to make the big decisions that will grow their business.
The Dream Plan Do Festival exists to help you …
- Clarify your business vision: Define why your business exists, your bigger goals, and what makes you unique.
- Focus your energy: Stop scattering your attention on too many tasks and concentrate on what matters and drives results.
- Plan strategically & practically: Set annual business goals, map quarterly strategic & marketing projects, and break them down into actionable monthly and weekly steps.
- Build confidence in your finance & marketing skills & knowledge: Understand your numbers, create realistic budgets, price your work effectively, and plan marketing activities that actually sell.
- Overcome what stops you: From procrastination to perfectionism, distractions to overwhelm – identify obstacles and create personalised solutions.
Can’t make it live? No worries at all … all 3 online Dream Plan Do Festival workshops are recorded and you will get access to the recordings, presentations & downloadable resources in our private course hub till 31 December 2026. PLUS you can ask us any business, planning + financial + marketing questions there too!
WHO IS THE DREAM PLAN DO FESTIVAL FOR?
The Dream Plan Do Festival is designed for ambitious, independent creative professionals – designer makers, crafts people, designers, artists, photographers, illustrators and more – you want to get organised, more profitable and take your business to the next level! You sell online or at events, maybe even in some galleries or shops, or work on commissions or teach workshops. You work fulltime or part-time in your business.
The Dream Plan Do Festival is perfect if you …
- Most of our Festival participants have been in business 2 – 10 years, and are ready to work more strategically, not just reactively. You want to get your work, marketing & finances organised!
- Struggle to manage ALL parts of your business … creativity, finance, marketing, and yourself! You want to learn how to work with the seasonal nature of your business, rather than feeling ‘behind’ all the time.
- You have big ideas, but slightly overwhelmed. You know you need to prioritise, map out a clearer path to action, and commit more deeply to what you want to achieve and do.
- You’re feeling at cross roads … life and business has changed a lot in the last few years! You want to review what you do and why, what your best talents are, who your dream clients are, and what marketing works best.
- You want to professionalise your business, charge appropriately, and grow sustainably in a way that works for you.
- Enjoy learning from and with other creative professionals in a supportive, collaborative environment.
Dream Plan Do is not for hobbyists or those not yet selling their creative products or services yet. This online programme assumes an existing business foundation. If structure feels stifling or sharing your plans is uncomfortable, then Dream Plan Do may not be for you.
what YOU WILL do during the ‘2026 Dream Plan Do festival’
YES! This is about you doing the dreaming, planning and doing …
By the end of the Festival you will have created a strong foundation to start the year with a plan for your work, finances & marketing.
The Dream Plan Do Festival takes place online, from Tuesday 13 January till Thursday 15 January 2026, from 10am – 1pm UK time. Each day focuses on a specific theme, with a mixture of solo exercises, group discussions and expert guidance from Patricia van den Akker.
Day 1: You: Dream & Reflect (13 January)
- Explore your vision, purpose and motivations.
- Identify what makes you uniquely ‘you’.
- Map creative, personal, financial & marketing goals for 2026
- Start breaking down goals into actionable steps.
Day 2: Plan: Finance & Marketing (14 January)
- Assess your financial viability and create a forecast for multiple income streams
- Set realistic financial targets, including what you pay yourself
- Create a simple, 3-step marketing plan for Quarter One that aligns with your goals and sales channels
- Identify your strategic quarterly marketing projects
Day 3: Do: Overcome & Execute ( 15 January)
- Review what’s already working with the Wheel of Business exercise
- Create a 90-day Action Plan for Quarter One
- Identify and tackle personal barriers, such as procrastination, perfectionism and distractions
- Leave with clarity, focus and a practical roadmap for executing your plans.
All 3 Festival workshops are recorded, with the recordings, presentations and all resources available until 31 December 2026 in our private course hub, where you can also ask us any questions throughout the year!
HOW IT WORKS
Throughout the Dream Plan Do Festival, you’ll use our specially created Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook, combining practical exercises with strategic planning tools:
- Set annual goals and identify quarterly strategic projects, such as your website, improving the marketing or management of your commissions, creating & launching new collections or workshops
- Turn your big ideas into monthly & weekly goals and action plans.
- Use the financial trackers and marketing planners to stay on track
- Every quarter make time to reflect & replan the next 90 days
During the Festival you will work alongside other creative professionals, tapping into peer support, inspiration and accountability. The combination of solo reflection and collaborative energy is designed to create momentum and clarity that lasts beyond the Festival.
Sounds good? Join our Dream Plan Do Festival today, or find out more about our Dream Plan Do VIP Club for even more expert guidance, accountability and a community of peers to inspire you throughout the year.
Make time and space to reflect and plan at the start of the year
what our clients say …
Participants from last year’s Festival report:
- More clarity & focus: From feeling overwhelmed to structured, achievable steps
- Confidence in business skills: Marketing, finance & planning become more manageable
- Stronger foundations: Set realistic targets, track progress & cash flow, plan collections & marketing more strategically.
- Make full use of the quiet & busy times: Be aware of the seasonality of your business and get ready when your clients want to buy and work ON your business in the quieter months.
- Professional mindset shift: Planning becomes enjoyable & energising!
- Motivation & progress: Quarterly reviews and goal tracking help to stay on target.
“Dream Plan Do has made me believe I can achieve more – and I have! It helped me break down big ideas into achievable steps”
“I now feel confident pricing my work and managing my finances – it’s been a real eye opener”
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want even more expert advice, peer group support & accountability?
upgrade to the 2026 dream plan do vip club!
You can find all the details and upgrade to our 2026 Dream Plan Do VIP Club here to get so much extra support throughout 2026. It’s only £100,- more for the entire year!
more about your facilitator … patricia van den akker
Patricia van den Akker is the Director of The Design Trust, the online business school for designers, makers & creative professionals, based in London. With over 25 years experience, she has trained thousands of makers, designers, and artists to build profitable, strategic and purposeful businesses.
This is the 10th consecutive year (!) that Patricia has created an annual planner for creatives, in which she shares many of her favourite and most useful creative business planning tools, time management and productivity tips, but also to help you to dig deeper into what makes you ‘you’ and what’s important to you, as well as making marketing & financial planning do-able for creatives!
Over the last 9 years she sold nearly 8,000 planners to 34 different countries!
She is known for her practical, no-nonsense approach, inspiring energy, and action-orientated guidance.
Don’t expect to get ‘the’ answers from her … but use her focus on the important questions, decisions and actions to find your own solutions to create a better and easier business, a business you are proud of!
included in the price … 2026 dream plan do business planner handbook
Last year we launched a brand new Business Planner Handbook – with a larger A4 landscape format to put all your ideas, actions and notes in one place! This year we have kept many of your favourite exercises and tools but also added some new ones …
- It’s partly a business planner, and partly a handbook! It’s 108+ pages, in a larger format (A4 horizontal, 29.7 cm x 21cm), with a softback full colour cover and full colour design. Printed on high quality recycled paper that doesn’t bleed. It’s perfectly bound like a book, and you can lay it flat. Great quality to use your business planner regularly at home, in your workspace or when you are on the move.
- Starting with 40 pages of ‘The Business Handbook’ to boost your business, strategy & planning, finance & marketing knowledge: Organised in handy chapters around You, Your Creativity & Production, Your Marketing & Your Finance. It’s packed full with Patricia’s favourite ‘coach-like’ exercises, planning tools and expert tips to work on your business growth and direction. It’s like having a creative business adviser on call at any time you need it (at a fraction of the cost of hiring a business coach)!
- 60 pages Business Planner – It’s a complete planning framework, especially created for creative professionals – to focus, get clarity and turn big ideas into action. To work on yourself, your creativity, finance & marketing. To turn your big ideas into annual goals, strategic quarterly projects, monthly & weekly actions to achieve what you want. All together in one place. To come back to again and again throughout the year! To deliberately make time to dream, reflect and plan whenever you want to get focused and into action to move your business forward in the right direction for you.
- Are you doing the right things at the right time? Many creative businesses are seasonal, with very busy & very quiet times, with loads of sales opportunities or crickets … are you using the quiet times to get ready for the busy times? Do you use the seasonal energy to your advantage?
- Each quarter review & plan the next 90 days with two visual Wheel exercises, the 90-day Juicy Goal and action plan, and Quarterly Marketing & Content planners – with our timely topic suggestions! Update our trackers for your finance & marketing each quarter or month to stay on top of the facts and numbers in your small creative business.
- Each month review & plan the next 30 days with our top tips of what to focus on that month across your business, space for your monthly goals & actions, and a one-page calendar overview for each month.
- End of Year Review: At the end of the year reflect on the highs and the lows, the learnings and the wins to start planning for the next year.
*** PLEASE NOTE: Our Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook is not a dated diary. It does not have weekly or daily pages. Between 2020 and 2024 we produced a diary which included the business planner and handbook, but due to increasing paper prices and more creatives using electronic or paper diaries we decided to discontinue the diary. For more details see the FAQ below.
And no, you can not ‘just’ get the Business Planner on it’s own … see the FAQ below for details.
The price of the Dream Plan Do Festival includes:
- The 3 x 3 hour online Festival business planning workshops from 13 – 15 January 2026 + access to the 3 workshop recordings + presentations + additional resources (e.g. Excel sheet for your financial forecast) till 31 December 2026 in our private course hub.
- The 108-page Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook – which will be send to you in mid/end of November in the post.
- First class Royal Mail P&P in the UK. International fees and duties might apply. Please see the FAQ for important notes for our clients in the US and EU.
whY join the dream plan do festival?
The Dream Plan Do Festival together with our Business Planner Handbook combines structure, strategy & inspiration. You’ll finish the Festival with …
- a clear direction and roadmap for your creative business throughout 2026 and beyond
- Defined annual goals and quarterly strategic projects to focus on
- Monthly and weekly actions to ensure consistent progress
- Confidence in marketing, finance and planning
- Motivation, energy and connections with like-minded creatives
Stop winging it in 2026 … plan strategically, act confidently, and create the business you want.
Join the 2026 Dream Plan Do Festival today, and start your year with more focus, clarity and actionable plans.
KICKSTART THE YEAR WITH A PLAN
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Your questions answered …
When is the Dream Plan Do Festival happening?
The 2026 Dream Plan Do Festival will take place on Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 January 2026 from 10am – 1pm (UK time).
It’s an online event using Zoom. We highly recommend that you join live as we believe that working together at the same time on your creative business plans will give you energy and inspire you to actually DO the planning.
You will also be invited to work with other creatives on the live call, to learn from each other; support & inspire each other. This is part of a very powerful collaborative process to generate new ideas, overcome challenges and improve accountability to turn your ideas into action.
However, if you are not able to join us live (for all sessions) that’s not an issue as the 3 Festival workshops will be recorded and made available to you till 31 December 2026.
Please note that the VIP Club sessions are NOT recorded to encourage you to commit to joining live and be part of the community to share!
I haven’t started my creative business yet. Is the Dream Plan DO Festival for me??
The Dream Plan Do Festival with Business Planner Handbook is aimed at a broad range of creative professionals .. from recent startups and graduates, to creatives who have been going for 30 years or more.
Most of our current Dream Plan Do members have been in business for 5 – 10 years.
But this means that we recommend that you do have products or services to sell, priced them and have a website or at least a strong online presence.
Most of our Dream Plan Do VIP Club members have been in business for 5 – 10 years, and many for many more years than that!
If you are in the ‘thinking-pre-sell-space’ and haven’t started your business yet then it’s likely that the Dream Plan Do Festival is too advanced. If you want a personal answer then do email us on [email protected] with more details so we can honestly inform you.
I have been a creative business for a long time. Is the Dream Plan Do Festival + Business Planner Handbook just for new creatives?
No not at all! Quite the contrary!
Most of our Dream Plan Do VIP members have been in business between 5 – 10 years, and several have been working for 2 decades or more.
If you want to re-evaluate what you are doing, what’s important to you, what your strengths and dream clients are … and you want a proven planning framework + the group energy then we would love to welcome you to the 2026 Dream Plan Do Festival in January! Or upgrade to the VIP Club!
IMPORTANT FOR OUR CLIENTS BASED IN EU AND US -I am not based in the UK. Can I join get the Business Planner Handbook send to me?
We are passionate about creating an international community and very much welcome creative professionals from across the world to join us! It’s one of the beautiful aspects of teaching online!!
We very much believe that we have more in common than what makes us different, and we love learning from different cultures and languages. Patricia is Dutch and English is her 2nd language, so she should be easier to understand!
We also provide English subtitles if that’s easier for you.
Many of our clients are overseas, and in the last 10 years we have sent our planners, diaries or journals to 34 countries.
IMPORTANT FOR OUR US CLIENTS Due to Mr Trump’s introduction of extra tariffs the postal fee has gone up slightly. We will do all the right paperwork and payments for you in advance to avoid any nasty surprises. PLEASE ORDER BY 1 DECEMBER AT THE LATEST to ensure that your business planner handbook can be delivered on time with all the Christmas post.
IMPORTANT INFO FOR OUR CLIENTS IN THE EU As you will know it’s become harder to send products from the UK to the EU since the introduction of the GPSR rules last year. My plan is to visit the Netherlands in early December, and to send your planners then to you without the need for an Authorised Person and you will not be charged any additional duties. (Please do not tell the authorities!) PLEASE ORDER BY 1 DECEMBER.
We highly recommend that you try to join the Dream Plan Do Festival live, so make sure that the times work for you in your time zone.
You get the most out of the Dream Plan Do Festival if you join in with the conversations, so you do need to be able to speak and comprehend basic English.
Unfortunately post Brexit there might be an additional charge or customs or other duties for international clients, and you are responsible for paying those, not us.
I have ADHD. Will this planner or training work for me?
Many of our creative clients have ADHD.
Many creatives with ADHD (diagnosed or self-diagnoses) have been particularly interested in our planners, diaries and journals over the years as they are often desperate for ‘the’ solution to deal with …time blindness, being easily distracted, very low self-esteem, Executive Functioning and the ability to prioritise and make decisions, challenges to create a plan + then stick to it (and then rebel against yourself and the plan you created!). Trouble with costing and pricing, numbers, Excel and the like, but also a tendency to overspend … More likely to dislike online training that’s too boring and too long. Use of Post It notes and colour coding can really help. (As you hopefully can see I kind of know what the various issues are when you are dealing with ADHD!)
But, I will be really honest. Every creative person with ADHD is different. We have had some of our clients who absolutely love the Business Planner and others who rally can’t make it work.
We try to be ADHD-friendly e.g. we will have more regular breaks during the Festival, and use different ways to help you plan (not just a-typical!) which we find often helps EVERYBODY on the call!
But, I do not want to promise that this going to be ‘THE’ solution for you. You will have to adapt it to your personal preferences and challenges. We will introduce different ways of time management, planning etc that you might find useful too. We will try to match you with others with ADHD to support you and learn from each other (in the VIP Club).
It’s about you finding what works for YOU.
Can I join the Festival with more people? I want to order in bulk, do you give a discount?
No, you can’t.
You are purchasing one ticket to the Festival and access to the recordings, and you will get one Business Planner Handbook per order.
Good news: If you work in a partnership or with one employee/freelancer then you can join together and share the online access.
But, you can not invite a team of 3 or more, or your mates to join the Festival, or share the recordings with people who have not paid. If we find out then we will immediately stop your access, and might bar you from future events. If you want to order in bulk (to access with more than 3 people or to get more Business Planner Handbooks for your team, organisation, tenants, studio or friends) then email us asap on [email protected] as we will give you a group discount!
We are also planning to run some live, one-day organisational business planning workshops for membership organisations, studios, incubation etc. If you are interested in that then please email us asap on [email protected]
When will I get my business planner handbook?
We will start sending the 2026 Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook in mid/end of November 2025.
Is the Dream Plan Do Business Planner Handbook available as a digital download or ebook?
The simple answer is: No.
And for the last 10 years since we started producing planners, diaries or journals for creative professionals we have NEVER offered a download … and that’s very deliberate!
Of course (!) we have considered this option, but we strongly (!) believe that it would really change your business planning experience – because you deserve to have a specially designed planner, that’s colourful, beautiful, nice paper quality that you can take with you!
We want to give you a really great planning experience … with a beautifully perfectly bound full colour book with recycled pages that do not bleed. That you can happily come back to again and again throughout the year.
And even in years to come, to reflect and remember your ideas, and see your own progress.
With its larger A4 horizontal size it’s like a generous sketch book … to sketch out your ideas into goals, into plans and actions!
Did you know that it’s proven that handwriting your goals has a much more positive impact on you, and makes it more likely that you will achieve them?
We hope that our beautiful but functional Business Planner Handbook will become your treasure, and part of your habits or rituals to make much needed time and space in your life. To deliberately get away from your computer and let your positive ideas & energy flow!
To work ON your creative business in your garden or local cafe, with a glass of wine on your sofa, on the train or on your holidays.
I studied Graphic Design and love paper! And it’s that tactile, quiet experience I want to give to you.
Is the planner dated? Has it got dates in?
No, it’s a business planner handbook, not a diary.
Although it has got a two-page spread for each month, with a one page overview calendar (see images above on the sales page) In the past we have created diaries but since last year we produce a Business Planner Handbook and it does NOT include weekly/daily/hourly overviews.
What about refunds or cancellations?
PLEASE make sure that you check if the Festival and the Business Planner Handbook are right for you before you order.
We are a very small business, and increasingly find that people order and return too easily which really is a big financial & time waste for us! We are not a big online retail, and don’t just order ‘to check it out’ just like you would when you order several sizes of clothing from a big online retailer!
Returns of the business planner handbook are a real issue for us, as we rely on the pre-orders for our cash flow but also to predict how many sales we might get. And it adds to our admin, and very rarely can we use the returned planner so that’s an additional loss for us.
So please think carefully before you order! If you have any questions or concerns then do email us on [email protected]
If you decide to cancel then please do so BEFORE we send you your Business Planner Handbook at the end of November, as this saves us a lot of time and effort with the returns!
If we have send you your Business Planner Handbook and you decide it really is not right for you (and do not have a creative colleague to pass it on to or sell to), then please return your order within 14 days of receiving it (We do not accept returns after that deadline). You are responsible for postage. Please send in the original packaging and ensure it’s properly packed so it’s in salleable condition. If it’s damaged in any way when returned then we have the right to deduct £35,- of your the refund to compensate for the loss of the planner and additional admin costs.
We do not accept cancellations after 15 December 2025 (unless for very personal circumstances).
Remember that the Dream Plan Do Festival sessions will be recorded so if you are unable to make them you can watch the recordings till 31 December 2026.
Times are tough, have you got any discounts or payment plans?
We have now got the option to pay in 3 monthly instalments with Klarna, if your credit score with PayPal is good, then PayPal will offer you the option to ‘Pay In Three’. When you are at the checkout you will notice the PayPal or Klarna icon below the amount to pay, and you can then use this to pay in 3 monthly instalments directly.
PLEASE do not spend money that you do not have or get into debt unnecessarily.
We think that the Dream Plan Do Festival with the Business Planner Handbook is extremely good value for money.
We really want you to see this as an investment in yourself and your business, and that you will save a lot of money, time & energy because of what you will learn and do as a result of Dream Plan Do in 2026 and beyond. If you do more marketing as a result that it’s very likely your sales, commissions and bookings will improve and you will get your money back very soon!