Business owners thread

[The Biznut]

I've been spending more and more time on this site in the last few months and thought I might as well see what sort of beneficial information comes out of a business thread. Basically, if you are into business, especially if you own your own business, feel free to join the discussion. I would be interested in hearing what sort of business you run/are involved in, what your goals/challenges are with it, etc. Business questions or advice is welcome!

Here's my deal.

In addition to finishing up my education degree, I also run a small business which I started in Dec 2008, a mobile DJ company that takes on school dances and weddings mainly. It has been profitable enough that I have pretty much paid off all of my equipment, etc. The summer ahead will be a good one or the business, with a wedding happening most every weekend right through till mid September. Some of the weekends I've double booked; I have brought in someone who is keen to DJ and is really good with music, but doesn't have much experience. The goal is to have him comfortable enough with my equipment set up and a mic in his hand to solo a full wedding by next month.

Looking ahead to the future, in Sept. I'll be back in school for my 4th and final year of my Ed Degree, after which I'll almost certainly find work teaching locally. I'm obligated to teach in this area for 3 years in leu of a bursary contract, for school. I'll be able to DJ personally through my 4th year, and somewhat into next summer, but by this time next year I hope to have others doing the DJing more or less. I'd run the business, advertise, book clients, and have things set up in such a way that I can survive first year of teaching while keeping a business up and running. In other words, streamline/simplify it as much as possible.

If anyone else here has made the transition from "doing it" to "having others do it for you", I'd like to hear what that was like for you. I'm a bit of a hands on guy, and I can already see it's going to be a challenge stepping back and letting others do the frontline work, at least at first. I'm sure it will be quite nice once I get used to it

[Toadofsky]

While I am not a business owner at all, I will say this when it comes to it all,

Do what you love and make sure you have employees that love what they do. Always keep your customer in mind, never forget it. If you have that, you'll have little turn around, and will have a pleasant environment, with employees giving a 100% of effort.

That's something seriously missing from the games industry these days....

[zircon]

Ha, cool - was hoping for a thread like this someday!

I'm involved in three small businesses. However, none of them have any employees. One is a sole proprietorship involving just me (www.zirconmusic.com). Another is a partnership (two people) that does involve contractors, but nobody salaried or on staff (www.impactsoundworks.com). The third is another partnership involving five people, again making use of contractors but no full-time employees (www.spacewhalestudios.com).

It might seem like I'm doing a lot but they're actually all pretty intertwined.

[Toadofsky]

Ha, cool - was hoping for a thread like this someday!

I'm involved in three small businesses. However, none of them have any employees. One is a sole proprietorship involving just me (www.zirconmusic.com). Another is a partnership (two people) that does involve contractors, but nobody salaried or on staff (www.impactsoundworks.com). The third is another partnership involving five people, again making use of contractors but no full-time employees (www.spacewhalestudios.com).

It might seem like I'm doing a lot but they're actually all pretty intertwined.

I was about to ask what you're business was, until I read they were music businesses, I swear I can't comprehend what I read...

[zircon]

Actually, Space Whale Studios is a video game developer

[Toadofsky]

Actually, Space Whale Studios is a video game developer

(facepalm) sorry...

And I hope you didn't take my comments personal in the other thread...

[The Biznut]

I was aware of you're involvement in Impact Soundworks and Zirconmusic (obviously ) but i didn't know about SpaceWhaleStudios. Great name, lol.

wait.

Nevermind, I did know about SpaceWhaleStudios, i forgot I knew, lol...

Having businesses intertwined / overlap is pretty great. Since weddings are by far the most profitable sort of work I get, I am exploring the possibilities of expanding my company to include wedding Photography and Videography. Being able to offer more in one place will be a big draw, and If I can present the photography well enough, it will definitely pull more DJ business because people usually look for a Photographer before a DJ.

I've been in contact with a local up and coming wedding photographer who is super stoked to possibly work with me. I just grabbed a web domain for her today actually. I have been mulling over the best way to set up this side of the business a LOT. I think Ideally, I would like to have one website that is at the top of Google for wedding photography, wedding dj, wedding services searches, bring as much traffic through that site first...

Navigating the web side of business has been fun, haha, I have felt differing degrees of lost most of the time, haha. I think I'm slowly getting better at it; it is a REALLY important part of business for sure. I'm going to assume web stuff is no issue for you Zircon, would that be correct?

[zircon]

You're absolutely right that a web presence is extremely important (along with proper search engine optimization.) However, I'm not really much of a web designer myself. Other people have to do the heavy lifting before I can really do much. With Jill's help I'm capable of making color alterations, basic layout tweaks, and certainly content management, but in terms of doing things from scratch, I have to look to others for help.

Luckily I do know a lot about web design 'theory' if you will, as I've taken some classes on the topic. There's a lot to know, though a lot of it is common sense, and I'd be happy to give you some advice when you get to the stage where a design is being created.

[prophetik music]

i'm working with three indie game studios - Novo Interactive (profit-sharing), Rogue Pirate Ninja Interactive (some up-front, mostly profit-sharing), and Arc (out of UCSC, profit-sharing). i'm also working for an indie film studio called Spark-Flow Studios (contract work).

of course, i run prophetik computing, but that's not an official business right now. single employee, minimal cash-flow since everyone has even less money than me

[Ramaniscence]

I think Ideally, I would like to have one website that is at the top of Google for wedding photography, wedding dj, wedding services searches, bring as much traffic through that site first...

Without giving too much away (I work at at a web-design/web marketing company and my boss would probably kill me if I went around telling ALL the secrets) what you want to do is target, what they call, "long tail searches."

A short tail search is something like... "wedding dj" a long tail search is something like "wedding dj in whatever city that plays a lot of country music" or something along those lines. Short tail searches are very specific, and at first you'll only see like 1 or 2 searches for them, but those people know exactly what they want, and they're more likely to convert. So you might see people searching for "wedding dj in orlando that plays a lot of country music", "country wedding dj in orlando", "country music orland wedding planner" and then you'd know that you want to target this long tail search.

All of this while you're still optimizing for your "level A service", which is your prime service, and the most competitive. As well as your level A geography. Both are going to be VERY hard to get to the #1 spot in google, BUTTTTTtttttttttttttt...

That's why you also make, and be active with, a Facebook profile, and twitter profile, and YouTube (yes YouTube) profile that're all also optimized. So then you might not be #1 on google for any given service, but you'll be 3, 4, 7, and the video on the bottom of the page.

(Do not discount social media, and social marketing, and Facebook especially. People are a lot more apt to trust something that has a ton of fans/likes, plus has an active presence and ESPECIALLY if they have people within their own social circle who already like/fan it). There's actually huge conversations going on about this because google doesn't index facebook, but facebook is becoming a much better way for people to get recommendations that'll actually convert but.........totally different discussion.

Having a blog really helps with keywords/ranking as well as how often you get indexed.

AND, if you can get the page rank high enough, having multiple sites that feed into 1 site can actually be beneficial, but you have to know what you're doing.

Anyway, like I said. Basics. Can't given away too much >_>.

[Sole Signal]

I have the day job working in accounts receivable, and then am involved with several things on the side.

My brother and I freelance video/DVD production for businesses in the area, and I do music production though not as much as I used to. I've also done freelance financial consulting/analysis work for a school system in the area.

My artist name change really hurt me a lot and it's hard to recapture a lot of the fans I lost when I don't have as much new music coming out. There's still "Audix" stuff all over youtube that I'm trying to get changed. Then Disney cut my rights to sell my Pirates remix, which was really driving album sales. I want to release a vocal/electro album but need a consistent vocalist (and lyricist) first. I've got some track WIPs that have some great potential.

But anyway, I like the mix of the steady income with the other creative stuff that I also enjoy doing. Getting married in six months and I'm certainly blessed.

[The Biznut]

Luckily I do know a lot about web design 'theory' if you will, as I've taken some classes on the topic. There's a lot to know, though a lot of it is common sense, and I'd be happy to give you some advice when you get to the stage where a design is being created.

That's awesome Zircon. I'll post more when I get to that point for sure, any help or advice is totally welcomed and appreciated.

Without giving too much away (I work at at a web-design/web marketing company and my boss would probably kill me if I went around telling ALL the secrets) what you want to do is target, what they call, "long tail searches."

A short tail search is something like... "wedding dj" a long tail search is something like "wedding dj in whatever city that plays a lot of country music" or something along those lines. Short tail searches are very specific, and at first you'll only see like 1 or 2 searches for them, but those people know exactly what they want, and they're more likely to convert. So you might see people searching for "wedding dj in orlando that plays a lot of country music", "country wedding dj in orlando", "country music orland wedding planner" and then you'd know that you want to target this long tail search.

All of this while you're still optimizing for your "level A service", which is your prime service, and the most competitive. As well as your level A geography. Both are going to be VERY hard to get to the #1 spot in google, BUTTTTTtttttttttttttt...

That's why you also make, and be active with, a Facebook profile, and twitter profile, and YouTube (yes YouTube) profile that're all also optimized. So then you might not be #1 on google for any given service, but you'll be 3, 4, 7, and the video on the bottom of the page.

(Do not discount social media, and social marketing, and Facebook especially. People are a lot more apt to trust something that has a ton of fans/likes, plus has an active presence and ESPECIALLY if they have people within their own social circle who already like/fan it). There's actually huge conversations going on about this because google doesn't index facebook, but facebook is becoming a much better way for people to get recommendations that'll actually convert but.........totally different discussion.

Having a blog really helps with keywords/ranking as well as how often you get indexed.

AND, if you can get the page rank high enough, having multiple sites that feed into 1 site can actually be beneficial, but you have to know what you're doing.

Anyway, like I said. Basics. Can't given away too much >_>.

Very helpful post Rama, thanks for sharing. I won't tell your boss

Currently, if you google "Grande Prairie DJ" (the city I operate in, around) Absolute Entertainment is the 3rd listing, the first two are from an event directory service, so the website is the first actual DJ service website. I've gotten a good deal of business through there, which is good. I'm gonna register it with google maps soon so it comes up there too.

With gpdj.ca, (my website) I got a call from Orange Soda out of the blue, they do web optimization stuff, and I signed up for a low end package. I ended up canceling my service with them after 3 months, but during that time I moved to the up of Grande Prairie DJ web searches, and I have stayed there for over a year now without any optimization service.

What is the best way to get a site optimized? Ramaniscence, you know your stuff, but I don't know how much you can say, lol.

Is going through an optimization service the best way to get your website up there? Are there even any other options?

Also next week I'm gonna spend some time on google finding out what sort of web presence other wedding dj/photographers have, as well as wedding service directories. A really slick and functional wedding service hub could be a great opportunity, especially if I also own some of those services. I have no idea whats out there for that though.

But anyway, I like the mix of the steady income with the other creative stuff that I also enjoy doing. Getting married in six months and I'm certainly blessed.

That is the situation I look forward to in sept of 2011. Being able to suppliment a teachers low starting salary with business on the side that is pretty enjoyable is a blessing for sure; and so is marriage! Congrats there man, that's good news!

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

I'm the Kitchen Manager at the restaurant I work at. It means I've got 2 lunch cooks, 3 dinner cooks, 1 late-night cook & 1 dishwasher under my direction. In the front I share command with my front of house manager over 3 or 4 bussers, 3 or 4 servers, & 2 bartenders.

It's not MY business but there's more people below me than above... it's also MY kitchen.

On the side I'm looking into food photography as a potential side business, as well as djing for our evening bar crowd.

That's all for now, but business ideas are always popping in my head.

Cool to hear about your work Biznut. Why are Canadians so awesome?

[analoq]

I don't like to share too much about my personal life but I've been self-employed most of my career as a software development contractor / IT consultant. It ranges from:

a) good - Interesting work, good money

bad - No work, no money

c) ugly - Having to sue clients who try to screw me

So yeah, it has ups and downs but I prefer it to being yet another cubicle monkey.

cheers.

[Arcana]

In addition to finishing up my education degree, I also run a small business which I started in Dec 2008, a mobile DJ company that takes on school dances and weddings mainly.

How'd you get started? Did you approach it with the mindset of, "I want to start a business, I like DJing, and I've identified a need in the market" or was it more like some buddies going to you and saying, "Hey Biznut you know a lot about music and have gear right? Think you can do this for us? We'll even pay you" and then the light went off in your head? Or is there a third and fourth and fifth option that I haven't thought of?

[Ramaniscence]

What is the best way to get a site optimized? Ramaniscence, you know your stuff, but I don't know how much you can say, lol.

Is going through an optimization service the best way to get your website up there? Are there even any other options?

Good optimization requires pretty constant upkeep. Finding out what keywords you're going for, targeting them, optimizing for them, watching what works and what doesn't, changing the system, seeing what people are searching for, deciding if you want to target that, shifting the whole site toward those changes, etc etc etc. I can tell you it's always something you absolutely don't expect, too.

Actual SEO services do this stuff pretty much the whole time, which is why they're nice, but they can be REALLY expensive.

Some reallyyy helpful tools are Google Analytics and Google Web Master tools. They REALLY help out if you know how o use them. There's also a link on mashable that'll really help out if I can find it.

And it's very important to remember you're not just optimizing your "site" you're optimizing everthing. Every page, every post, everything. Title tags, title description, content, links, the whole deal.

Edit:

http://mashable.com/2010/05/21/surprising-social-media-business-success/ <-- this. Specifically the video.

[The Biznut]

Good optimization requires pretty constant upkeep. Finding out what keywords you're going for, targeting them, optimizing for them, watching what works and what doesn't, changing the system, seeing what people are searching for, deciding if you want to target that, shifting the whole site toward those changes, etc etc etc. I can tell you it's always something you absolutely don't expect, too.

Actual SEO services do this stuff pretty much the whole time, which is why they're nice, but they can be REALLY expensive.

Some reallyyy helpful tools are Google Analytics and Google Web Master tools. They REALLY help out if you know how o use them. There's also a link on mashable that'll really help out if I can find it.

And it's very important to remember you're not just optimizing your "site" you're optimizing everthing. Every page, every post, everything. Title tags, title description, content, links, the whole deal.

Edit:

http://mashable.com/2010/05/21/surprising-social-media-business-success/ <-- this. Specifically the video.

I'll have to check out Google Analytics and Google Web Master tools and see what they are all about. I still feel a bit like a foreigner to this, although your posts have been supremely informative, Rama. I didn't even know what this was about and where to start learning; you are really pointing me in some good directions here. You rock mang!

How'd you get started? Did you approach it with the mindset of, "I want to start a business, I like DJing, and I've identified a need in the market" or was it more like some buddies going to you and saying, "Hey Biznut you know a lot about music and have gear right? Think you can do this for us? We'll even pay you" and then the light went off in your head? Or is there a third and fourth and fifth option that I haven't thought of?

That's a good question. I really don't know how to answer but to tell the story, if you'll indulge me...

The summer before I started the business, I worked a full season as heavy equipment operator driving buggy. I took the job for the money, It paid well and there were long hours; and I had student loans to pay off. I worked 6 days a week for 12 hours a day for 8 months. It was a great opportunity, but not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life at all. The more 12 hour days I worked, the more appealing going back to school and finishing my Ed degree was looking.

In september I was browsing some local classified ads and I saw an ad about a local Mobile DJ company for sale. I was curious about it and so I went and met with the guy. We talked and talked and he showed me all his gear and lights and I played with them a bit. I ended up going back with my younger brother to talk it over with him again, and lil bro said that he could totally see me doing that and loving it. That stuck with me.

I almost bought the business from that guy, but I didn't. (Thank heavens, he was asking WAY too much as I found out later) I drove buggy until the ground froze in mid November, and the DJ thing was in the back of my mind the whole time. When the season was done, all my debts were gone and I had saved up a few thousand bucks, so I started looking through the classifieds for more DJ stuff, and I found another mobile DJ business that was available for nearly one tenth the price of the first business I had looked at. I purchased it, chose a name and registered the business that December 2008, and the first wedding I did was on May 4th of 2009 and business has been steady enough to keep me happy ever since.

So I guess to sum it up, I sort of stumbled across the idea at just the right time; I was motivated by my 70+ hour work weeks to find a more enjoyable and flexible way of creating income and I had enough money to make an initial investment. I never did any research into if there was a need for another mobile DJ service in my area, I just sort of jumped into it, and the opportunities kept coming up. I didn't always make the best decisions off the bat, but I have sure learned a lot and have found it to be a pretty great match for my abilities and personality. It's been a fantastic investment so far and, as I found out when I returned to school, It's probably the best job a student could ask for!

[The Biznut]

So I was in a parade a few hours ago!

My DJ company (me) got a float together for a town fair in the area. The float consisted of a 30 foot flatbed trailer equipped with some 10 foot corral panels as railings, a small table, my laptop, a mixer, a mic, and some speakers. Basically, a dance party on a trailer. It barely came together on time, and I didn't have anyone to dance on it until the 5 minutes before the parade started. I was very happy to see it fill up before we started passing the crowds.

The only thing that didn't come together was my business sign. It somehow didn't make it to the parade, so apart from the kids who collected the Reese peanut butter cups with business cards taped to them that were thrown from the float, nobody knew who we were or what we were advertising! They'll have to wait till next year to find out, haha. Good thing I have steady work throughout the summer.

Anyway, it was a massively stressful event to make it happen, but it was worth it for sure,even with the missed publicity! Lots of people in the town know me so maybe word will get out that it was us. Heck it was worth it just to see my bet friends kid dance up a storm!

I'll post some pics once I get my hands on them.