This little piece of advice I got from Mike Walter and Joe Bunn when I took their PHDJ workshop. It is so simple, yet so true. It’s important to be clear on where you want to go with your business as well as why that is your goal. Are you wanting to make more money?
Do you want to serve more people? Do you want to be a resource to other upcoming DJs? Do you want to build a company that you will eventually be able to step away from that will fund your retirement? Know where you want to go with your business.
Once that is decided, structure everything you do to align with your end goals. For example, if you are planning on expanding and eventually want to step away from DJing, ‘Your First and Last Name Entertainment’ might not be the best choice of business name. You could use a more generic brand, like my ‘Life Of The Party’ , or you could use your last name but think a little bigger. For example, my friend Joe Bunn’s business ‘Bunn DJ Co’ or my friend Jason Klock’s ‘Klock Entertainment’; both catchy names that represent a whole group, not just one single DJ.
I know the first place you may want to go for DJs is your pool of friends. That may be a good way to find talented performers, but letting business get in the way of your friendships can prove tricky. Further down the line if you have to let them go, or when they want to start their own business in competition, you may find yourself regretting the decision. I’ve had friends bail out on me at the last minute and assume it would be ok because, "you know, we’re friends!” If you do decide to hire a friend, be sure to have your roles clearly defined in a contract ( just as you should with each of your DJs).
You will now be managing your friend, but it’s also important to mentor them. I’m still friends with most of the DJs who have at one point managed me, but they all approached me first as a manager, then as a mentor and last a friend. So where should you look to recruit DJs? I have found talent organically and I work with DJs that have already established themselves and would like more work.
I have also trained DJs from the ground up, recruiting people with a love of music and the right kind of personality but no previous DJ experience. Both models work, but be careful with friends. 1. Have the end in mind .
2. Don’t hire your friends . 3. Have a defined pay structure .
Here in the States I can either hire DJs as hourly part-time employees, salaried employees or as sub-contractors. My preferred model is for my team members to be sub-contracted, but I know of other multi-op company owners who prefer the other routes – and they work for them. The important thing is that, no matter what the model you use, your DJs MUST KNOW how much they are getting paid. It can’t be ambiguous.
At first I paid my guys what I thought was ‘fair’ , based on the work they did and their past experience, but that was not consistent across all my DJs and caused a few conflicts. I now have a clear formula, that everyone understands. Pay is worked out based on the gig fee, the DJ’s experience, their time with my company and what they provide; but the way this is calculated is fully transparent and the same for all of my guys. Creating a clear pay structure from the start will not only keep your employees happy but make life easier as your business continues to grow.
Sometimes there are inevitably times you over extend yourself or even double book yourself. Double bookings are a huge faux pas, but I must admit that I have done it myself in the early years of my business. A good CRM system will help you manage bookings, but you also need to know when to say no. It’s important not to oversell your service if you do not have the inventory (in terms of both equipment and staff).
You must know if you have a DJ available to take on the job otherwise you might find yourself scrambling to find one at the last minute or sending the client someone who is under qualified to the do the job or, even worse, having to say, “Sorry we have no DJs available to do your event this weekend. Good luck!” Don’t be that DJ! Don’t ever leave a client in a lurch. Don’t ever let down a client for a higher paying event.
Word gets around and eventually your reputation takes a hit and your business suffers. Passing on an event that you could’ve made some money on is much better than bad reviews in the future that will have potential clients passing on you! When I started out I had many mentors who showed me the way and helped me with my business. But I never sought out training or mentorship from a successfully established multi-op that wasn’t in my market.
It is hard to ask the guy you are competing against to give guidance as you work to grow your business! I wish I had met Mike Walter and Joe Bunn 10 years ago and completed their PHDJ workshop then. These are seasoned veterans who have done it all before. Their workshop was amazing and Mike’s book, ‘How to Run Your Multi-Op’ , has also proved very useful.
Having Mike and Joe as a resource has helped my business immensely. I suggest you invest in their training as well as a local business coach. Your business will thank you for it! The mentorship of someone outside your company and area, but who knows the business, really is essential.
4. Use a reliable CRM. 5. Seek a Mentor .
6. Know When to Say No . A robust Customer Relationship Management system like DJ Event Planner will take the stress out of managing your bookings and help with getting the information they need to each of your team members. DJs need to know where they are going, when they need to arrive, who they are playing for, the music they need, the event timeline, etc.
A CRM will help you to collect this information, store it and make it available to the DJ. This then helps you to focus on your own event and not have to worry about the ones covered by your team members. It also helps your team members to be more autonomous and pro-active. You don’t want to have to handhold every DJ along every step of the way.
You want them to be empowered to have ownership of their events. Giving your DJs the information they need to be successful is key. What's even better than a CRM is to hire an Office Manager; that's what I did and my business is thriving because of it. She takes on a lot of tasks that I used to have to do but could easily be done by someone else.
This frees up a lot of time for me to focus on my performance and events as well as the more strategic management of the business. Early in my career I worked under a multi-op for a summer and learned valuable lessons on how I don’t like to be managed. I’d regularly be provided with very little information, leaving me to figure things out on my own and this often led to the client being disappointed by my lack of preparation. I never want any of my team members or customers to experience this, so central to my management ethos is the principle that I should always be setting up my DJs to succeed.
