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September 19, 2006
Pushing the Snowball
One of the difficulties of running a project studio, and depending on it as your main source of income, is the “up and down” nature of the business. When there’s a steady stream of projects coming in, things don’t look too bad. The bills get paid.
Unfortunately, if a few projects are put on hold, things get tight. It’s very much a “feast or famine” situation. It’s also very hard to get ahead. When it’s feast time, you try to set money aside for the famine, so there’s never any extra. During the famines you’re trying to reduce expenses, so there’s never any extra!
Another problem arises if you want to take a vacation. There’s no such thing as a paid vacation when you operate what is essentially a one-man service business. It’s rather like the dentist who complained that he wasn’t making any money unless he had his hand inside someone’s mouth.
It’s basically a problem with cash flow, something that nearly every business faces from time to time.
There must be something in the air. We’ve had several members of our musical family come into hard times. We’ve seen them suffer car accidents, lose the financial backers for their project, deal with unexpected major expenses, or have to work through family problems. As a result, some of them have put their projects on hold, or cancel them altogether.
This means I end up feeling bad for them, and bad for myself at the same time. I don’t like that reaction.
After years of living this way, Sheryl and I decided we needed to create a steady stream of income, without going out and getting a “real job.” Getting a real job would mean, of course, severely curtailing, if not completely shutting down, the activities of the studio, and Sheryl would not be able to do much with her music.
So, we are putting a great deal of effort into building our BurnLounge business. We have seen others do very well in creating regular income through this company, and since it revolves around music, it’s a perfect fit for us.
Of course, just like any business venture, you don’t start out making a lot of money right away. Right now we feel as though we are pushing a huge snowball up a hill. When we get to the top of the hill and start down the other side, we will be glad we made the effort.
Another reason we are excited about our BurnLounge business is that as we build it, we are creating a team made up of many of our friends, and we all have something to gain as we work together. Sheryl and I are not the only ones who want to create some steady income and help others in the process.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being the PSG, and I want to be able to keep going for a long time. There’s a lot of great music and musicians out there waiting to be recorded, and I want to be able to help them without worrying about my next mortgage payment.
Posted by leon at September 19, 2006 07:40 AM
Comments
Alot of us can identify with the snowball theory.
You're following your passion and that is admirable. There are so many people in this world who are miserable doing what they dislike.
If we all get behind the same snowball and push it up the hill, it makes it alot easier, and look at the fun we'll have on the way up the hill! One big snowball party!
Posted by: Sandy at September 19, 2006 09:57 PM