Hi I need some advice on how i would go about starting a lighting and sound company which would also have photography and video included with it. I was hoping on having a small business someday and i was wondering what is all involved? I am hopping on going to collage soon and wanted some advice from some experts?
I know I'm several years late responding to this post..... but.... I'm sure people interested in the topic still read it. So many people have mentioned having a business plan... some have joked about the expense...
etc. In reality to start a business of this sort you must have experience in the field... enough to have made contacts and be entrenched in the who's and what's of your region. I have small sound rental company that I started only after being a sound engineer for over a quarter of a century. I worked for big sound company's, all manor of venues, toured the world with bands,
etc... Only after I decided to retire from touring did I start a small rental operation. I had anticipated doing it and began buying gear one piece at a time years ago. I also have a full-time "
house gig" that pays very well, has benefits and a retirement plan. My little sound company is just a supplemental income. I rely on my connections and relationships that I have developed over the last few decades. The most important advice I can impart on someone wishing to start such an operation... is to not
chase flavor of the day trends with technology. Much of the gear I own is 20 to 30 years old. I have refurbished everything. It all looks brand new. I keep everything well maintained. I have enough gear to do a small/medium festival
stage.... but I have designed my rig to completely breakdown into numerous smaller systems. I make sure everything kinda works with everything else. That is the real key to my success. My gear is capable of being configured many different ways. I
build my own
speaker cabinets. The most popular being a
trap shaped 12"x2" box. It can be crossed-over passively or actively. They can be stacked up into a decent sized club rock PA, they be rigged and flown easily, they can be mounted on stands, turned on their sides with a custom wood
block and be a
stage monitor. I package the rest of my gear.... amps, eq's, wireless,
etc... to be very versatile. I don't have big main amp racks, and big
monitor amp racks. All amps are racked individually in molded cases that be stacked or spread around an event space. same with eq's, wireless,
etc... I keep cable trunks and the like small and easy to transport. I don't use big heavy cases or trunks for anything. Even my full rig is broken into enough reasonably sized pieces, to where I can just about load it all in/out by myself.
Point being, is my gear is suited to my criteria first... secondly variety is very important. And thirdly the service I offer is very unique. I don't have a big
line-array to cater to the big concert world. And I do not own plastic self powered speakers on a stick.
Line-array is not the answer to every gig, neither is a plastic powered
speaker. And unfortunately there is a huge valley of quality available products between those two options. I even do things like make my own sub-snakes that are break-away and flow through. Through the whole chain of gear I try to make sure everything has multiple uses. Therefore I create a niche for myself. The service I offer is more important than the gear I have, although the gear is obviously important too. When my gear is combined into it's largest "rock rig" format it looks like a smaller version of a big touring rig. My cabling, patch, and packaging all have that appearance. When broken into smaller rigs, or flown all over a
truss in a large event space, it tends to look nicer than your average off the shelf gear. I do not recommend buying the latest flavor of the day crap.... and make no mistake... it is mostly crap. If you get into that
trap you will constantly be chasing gear. Take time, spend money on quality, don't be afraid to
build cables, and other helpful items yourself. Be prepared to spend a good two or three years building up any kind of clientele. Do not cater to one section of the business. I'm just a good ol' boy from Texas, but my clientele is wide and varied. I work with numerous ethnic, and religious groups, all kinds of music, weddings, business events, seminars,
etc. It would not be uncommon in the span of a week to do an insurance seminar in a hotel
meeting room, a Vietnamese cultural event at some strip mall banquet
hall, and a blue-grass festival at the local fairgrounds. You have to be prepared and able to service that kind of variety. You can't just assume because you hang around a lot of bands or DJ's that you can make a living and pay for all your gear just off of your circle of people. It's good to have an "In" in those sorts of circles, but you will sink if you think you can depend on just that. Start out small. Don't rent a shop or storage space right off the bat. Pay cash for gear, do not finance. Keep your overhead at zero if possible. When my gear sits it does not cost me money. I have a small shop here at my
house. All my gear is paid for. I find gear in some very unlikely places. Garage sales, thrift stores, on-line classifieds. I've even been given a ton of gear that was about to be thrown out by some of the big sound company's I work for. I have traded work for gear. I make a
point to invest in my gear with every paycheck from my day job. Even if I can only afford $20 bucks that week, I will still buy a
connector of some sort, or a
roll of
gaff tape, or batteries or something useful. My goal is long term. I hope to continue working this rig when I retire. I'd like to have enough regular clientele to
send other people out to operate the gear, and just have a steady cash flow coming in. It will never be bigger than it is now. I'm not trying to
build up to something bigger. It's important to choose a lane and stay there. If your goal is to be the next Clair Brothers, then start with that goal in mind. My goal now is to educate my clientele as to the variety of audio services I can provide. Many hire me for one type of thing, and think thats all I do. So it takes effort to create that awareness among your customers. Pricing is also very important. Many people price themselves right out of business. Some price too low and spend their way out of business. Others use pricing like they are a premium AV rental
house, and their gear just sits there waiting for work. A good rule of thumb to start is look at what it will cost you to do they gig. Do you have to rent a truck? Do you need labor or additional technicians, are you responsible for parking, feeding your guys, a hotel room, do you need to rent a specific piece of gear from another company for your gig? Add up all the real cost of doing the gig and then double it. See how reasonable that is for the gig you're doing. Make adjustments from there. Some clients will
flat out tell me what kind of budget they have and we start from there. I never take the cheap gig with the promise of bigger gigs to come. I've been doing this for nearly 30 years, and I have yet to see the bigger gig come from those kind of clients. Keep your gear well maintained and clean at all times. It looks bad when you
roll into the hotel
ballroom and all your gear is covered in cow poop, beer and mud from last weekends Tejano gig in the rodeo
arena. Try to
network with other companies that are your size. Make friends with those people. Give them work when you can, and they will do the same. Don't ever
play the territorial game and make enemies. Loan a piece of gear now and then to your buddy's, chances are you will need a favor at some
point too. Do the occasional free gig for charitable events, and make sure to get the write off. When you do free or reduced rate work, ask for permission to hang a sponsor banner or advertise in some way. Make sure you are listed as a donor to whatever charity it may be. Always pay your help on time. Get shirts and hats made with your company
logo. I rarely give them to clients. I usually distribute the to stagehands and laborers that I work with. They will be wearing your stuff at other gigs and your name gets around that way. Never say no to client. Always respond with an "I'll see what I can do". Gigs can be very stressful at times. Always maintain your cool. At least have a DBA and a separate bank account for your business income. Pay your taxes. Be aware that when buying gear.... you will spend nearly as much on cabling and packaging (cases,
etc) as you will on the gear itself. Always have expendables.... tape, batteries, sharpies, a labeler,
etc.. Always have spares.... mics,
speaker drivers, cables, connectors,
etc. If your gear is ever staying over night anywhere... make sure security is being provided.... do not leave until you verify they are there, and have a word with them about what exactly they are guarding. Leave your number with the guard. Verify what time he is leaving and make sure you are there by that time. Always get as much information as you can about the
venue....
power,
load in/out specifics, parking,
etc.... Get information about the actual event..... a
stage plot for the band, a
layout for the space, clarify where you're gear is going (it sucks to move things twice!). Be prepared for the "Oh by the ways!". Have an extra wireless handheld for an MC. Be ready to record the event if asked. Be prepared for crowd control measures. Protect your gear and yourself with barricades if you feel it may be necessary. Have some rain gear to
cover up your stuff in case of rain. Be prepared for a blistering 17 hour day in 100 degree heat. If you can kinda think and work along those lines, you should be fine.
Scott R.