Diversification

[Tommo55 0]

Evening all

 

Now before evryone starts I know there have been several disscussions in the past about what makes a good Dj / service provider / USP etc etc etc but...........

 

The question I now am asking with the current climate and as it seems that nearly every potential customer is shopping on price (without the opportunity to tell them what you can offer over the next chap) and given that the majority of us have our own sound / lighting gear etc and do the same sort of gigs....

 

Apologies for the VERY broad generalisations but I hope you can see where I'm going with this

 

I have been racking my brains to try to come up with alternative services we can provide using our existing equipment and not having to diversify too greatly or take what could be a very expensive punt on a whim, and by a whim I mean into areas already covered by other local guys & Girls such as Video DJ / kareoke etc

 

So I would be very interested to hear anyones comments or suggestions that may well get the old grey matter spinning

 

I for one will start ------- a seperate hire service for mood / up lighting aimed at clients such as local car dealerships etc for new car launches and such like...I'm sure we could undercut the larger event management companies for gigs like these (could'nt we?)

 

I leave it to you

[Dukesy 0]

I'm sure we could undercut the larger event management companies for gigs like these (could'nt we?)

 

No idea. Have you found out how much they actually charge, as well as how much it would effectively cost for you to set up in this business and offer an exact like-for-like service?. Don't just look at the obvious costs like buying the lights, also look at the extra book-keeping, invoicing, paperwork, buying different lengths of link cables to suit different sizes of venues and marquees, spares, maintenance, insurance etc etc.

 

Then work out how soon you want to pay back this outlay as well as making a bit of profit along the way for your efforts.

 

Only then when you have this information to hand, will you know whether you can undercut any competition and whether the business is viable.

 

Have you also found out how many similar operators there are in the area, and how saturated it is in relation to actual client demand? - in other words, have you researched how many people go looking for this service and how many businesses suppling this service are already established with firm word of mouth reputation securing them repeat work?. Its not much good starting a business in an area, where the existing, long established businesses have got empty diaries....

 

When starting a brand new business, its easy to just compete on price and just assume that people will be looking for something cheaper. This isn't always the case!. If you happen to find yourself competing with some well known local figure or businessman, who has been offering the service already for several years, has got close ties with and is well 'in' with all of the local wedding firms and venues and is already automatically recommended by everybody who has previously booked him, then it won't matter how cheap you are, because everybody will still be booking the other guy from word of mouth recommendations and loyalties and the client simply won't be looking for anybody else, so you will be largely overlooked, and may not get a look in. So its wise to know WHO your competitors are, and how many of them exist, rather than just what they charge.

 

With the Wedding and Entertainment industry largely stagnant, I think any diversity into the same industry with an uplighting business will be risky if your existing DJ business in the same market is already suffering. Like I said on another thread, things like booking a DJ for a party, or hiring some nice lights for marquee are a luxury over paying the mortgage or paying the gas bill and in a recession, people automatically cut back on luxuries. Also event uplighting services of this type are largely related to weddings - which we've already seen on the other thread, are in a decline.

 

In relation to corporate lighting - using your example of lighting at car dealerships, what would happen if the dealer was paying one company to supply all of their requirements for the open day - i.e catering, billboards, exhibition trussing, display projectors, dancing girls, light trussing M.C - all from one company?. Lots of corporate clients these days, make one phone call to a touring event company and get everything they need from the one place, then on the day of the event a 50ft HGV turns up with all of the stuff and a load of people run around setting it all up. In a lot of cases its also the head office of the dealer who makes the call on who to book, rather than the local manager.

 

The other area's of corporate event lighting hire can be specialised, go well beyond a roadtrunk full of LED parcans and also require expensive equipment. For example, a Barclays Bank corporate event may require several moving heads to rotate a 'Barclays' logo around the room along with followspots to light the person speaking on stage - the local Ford dealer may want 'Ford' or the name of their new launch car projected onto several walls. Buying the equipment to do this, may easily require an outlay of £10k - £20k or more.

 

Personally, I think Spinners' advice the other day was probably the best. Have a business or a diversity which is in a totally different area and market to the other. This way, if the market goes quiet, you only get one business suffering...not both, and you can effectively live off the proceeds of the other.

[spinner 0]

Personally, I think Spinners' advice the other day was probably the best. Have a business or a diversity which is in a totally different area and market to the other. This way, if the market goes quiet, you only get one business suffering...not both, and you can effectively live off the proceeds of the other.

 

 

Unfortunately very few markets are unaffected by the current economic situation.

 

One of my other occupations is management headhunting (recruitment) in construction and housebuilding.

 

It's dead!

 

The other is advertisement sales in a specialist bioscience journal.

 

I lost the contract a year ago and I've just got it back so there will be a gap in income!

 

However, all is not lost since I can always look for other ad sales contracts.

[Andy ramone 0]

Hello people

This is an interesting topic. I DJ and i also work for an events company. Last year was bad for both of us but some companies seem to be working well in this industry. I think a lot is down to marketing as im not a salesman but ive now been doing research and looking in to actually marketing and sales to promote my DJ work and the events company. There seems to be work around and a lot of large corporate events but its just getting them.

 

I also spent a few years living in Spain a while back and a tip i picked up there as most of the EX pats have 'lots of fingers in lots of pies' as i was told so Spinners advice isnt too bad. If your a DJ do you have a van? if you use a van then theres often some work with vans (courier etc) you would presumably have business insurance so you would probably need GIT (goods in transit) insurance which is a small outlay.

Do you have a 4x4 (i do) i found out recently that some companies need 4x4 drivers to take carers around in the snow when its bad. Iknow it may only be a week or 2 in the year but its better than sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

 

I also know a company that hires out PA systems and every DJ must have a PA system (amp,speakers and mic) Obviously you have to weigh up the pros and cons of cost and possible damage etc.

 

or just actually getting a PT job somewhere. there are different options without spending loads of money. Its gotta be worth looking into surely.

 

happy new year everyone and lets hope 2011 will be better

 

Andy