They "next" step. Sell small company to join larger production company.

M

Matt Vivlamore

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Jan 11, 2011
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Southern MD, USA
www.meerkatsound.com
Has any ever made the jump from a small weekend warrior/owner and joined a larger production company as an full time employee?


I am debating about doing this. But before I look into making the switch (leaving the Desk job) and picking up full time work... I want to here about some of your experiences, good or bad.


Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working production and events.
 
Re: They "next" step. Sell small company to join larger production company.

Been there; done that.

I don't see how this is any different to choosing to take any other sort of full time job with the possible exception of conflict of interest and possible loss of income from your own sound co.

I mean, it's likely that working for a production co will not be 9-5; so these out of hours times may impact your ability to make money with your own co.

And then there could be a perceived conflict of interest if you're running your own little co whilst working for a big one.

I discussed this at length and for the most part it works - the people who want me and my small rig are not the same clients who want a 10 tonne truck with line array and so forth.

So with those being the negatives, the positives are spending more time doing the work you love or, as the adage goes, if you do what you love you'll never work another day in your life ? Well whoever said that probably hasn't loaded trucks in the rain at midnight but... :)

Do you have any specific fears or concerns ? Open to a PM or private email if you don't want to discuss publicly.

HTH

Andrew
 
Re: They "next" step. Sell small company to join larger production company.

Andrew's points are spot on. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Without knowing what your goals are, the best additional advice I can offer is EVERYTHING depends on the company and individuals you will be working with, just like any job in any field.
 
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Re: They "next" step. Sell small company to join larger production company.

Whoops - just saw you wrote "sell" in the post title.

So my comments about conflict don't really apply; but bear in mind you will lose the income. sale of a small sound co is another topic entirely; how much is for the gear, how much is your client base worth; how much of your business is actually you (ie clients won't follow to new sound guy) and, is there even someone willing to buy.

Eric is also right. Do you know what jobs your future employer does; know the staff who work there ? That will be very important.

Regards,

andrew
 
Re: They "next" step. Sell small company to join larger production company.

I know that I won't be able to re-coupe all of the money that I have invested into the Business. But at the same time, when I sell the gear, I believe that I pay off majority of debt. Also, I am pretty that when I leave the day job and my sound co; I probably be making less than 'overall gross income' at the new position. But then again, I won't have those business expenses anymore.

I knwo that I will be putting in some weird hours; production is a 24-7-356 job/career. I am working about 25-40 events/gig per year with a wedding/event party band.

The type of work that most of the regional companies are doing in MD/DC is about 85% Corporate Presentations. There are only a couple companies offer Touring support.

I have worked with the production company previously and each time I have worked with them, I have enjoyed working with them and their gear. They where the production company that was hired provided the equipment for the corporate event and then the band I worked with was hired as the entertainment.
 
Re: They "next" step. Sell small company to join larger production company.

I'm in a bit of a similar situation in some regards. I had been growing my business to the point where between my gigs with other venues/companies and my own, I was getting a bit overwhelmed. Then one of my friends made a big investment into some large-scale line arrays, consoles and such, and I realize that I could only get to that point by taking on major debt. I also really hate the advertising/marketing end of things. Given that I'm working in venues with nice systems and for companies with big toys, I'm re-thinking my business. Instead of trying to get a larger box arsenal, I'm trying to focus over to things that my peer companies may need. A set of podium mics here, a few channels of RF there.

And you know what? This is the first summer in a long time where I feel like I've had enough time to myself and I'm much happier as a result.
 
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