What is your competition like?

Re: What is your competition like?

Per Søvik said:
So now you owe $6,000 sales tax plus $4,412.50 state income tax and $18,773.25 federal income tax to the IRS? :twisted:
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No, for tax purposes, you get to deduct the Spectra, and SAC systems you bought for FOH, as well as a VRX system. After the 4th year of operating so far into the red that we would need a spectrophotometer to determine the wavelength, you shut down the LLC, and try again as a sole proprietor.

Edit- Actually I probably shouldn't joke about that end of the business, as I am perfectly happy owning minimal gear, and running others people stuff as an independent contractor, and having my pay documented on 1099's (the IRS document for miscellaneous income for our friends not in the US).
 
Re: What is your competition like?

I wish there was more competition from mid to small providers in this area. Other than the big dog, most of the little guys have MI gear at best, most of which has been beat to death over the last 25 years. Looks like hell, sounds ok, but there's a severe shortage of good, modern gear that can even be hired/rented on a given weekend. Almost every band around here with any kind of busy schedule just buys a rig and hires a tech (why I work freelance when I'm not playing) to run their rig. The bands have nicer or at least equivalent gear than smallish operators because this situation has persisted for quite. It feels like the right person could make an investment to serve middle market (small festival, corporate, street dance, etc.) and be VERY busy if they wanted. Pricing would be a challenge, but there is a distinct lack of quality in the events I've been to as a spectator. Now where's that money tree.....
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Ankle biters are thankfully rare in my local market. There are 3 kinds of services provided - live music, industry/corporate, and dj. Some providers focus on all 3, some just 2, some just one, but almost all end up cross-renting to each other at some point. Sometimes the gear is legacy era stuff from the intl brands, sometimes it is brand new. In ten years of living here, it has only been the classic crappy venues which offer MI level gear. The better music venues are serviced by national and regional level providers

However, the sound is usually mediocre, but that has most to do with the venue acoustics
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Evan Kirkendall said:
My competition comes in a few shapes and sizes.

The "annoying" competition is a bunch of Yamaha club series speakers, and a pile of mis-matched gear from the early 80's/90's. He underbids everyone, sends out crappy crews and honestly, I'm surprised his gear hasn't burned any venues down yet... He's the kind of guy that can send out 5 systems at a time, and yes, they make noise, but my god it is just not pleasant. The only reason he stays in business is because he can do so many shows at one time.

The "real" competition is a company that doesn't always underbid everyone, but rather, they just have a lot of idiot techs and poorly deploy systems all the time. They've got some big accounts in the area, and a lot of gear. I'm slowly stealing away some of their clients, but it's a big work in progress.

The "rest" all have an understanding with each other. We help each other out when needed, we stay out of each other's hair, stick to the same clients, don't try to steal anyone away from each other. It works out well- there's probably 6 other companies in my area that do a lot of the same type of gigs I do, but we just leave each other alone. We are all busy enough that we don't need anymore of those types of gigs. I'm the "largest" company in the area at this level, so people really don't mess with me.



Evan
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Hey Evan,

I guess you could say I'm one of those ankle biters in the general area. I've got a couple of bands that are keeping my weekends full. I know who it is you are referring to with the Yamaha stuff. I feel the same way you do about all that. I recently got back into the live sound biz after about a 10 year break. I'm only doing small weekend shows and making a little cash to pay for the gear I've put together. The last thing I want to do is step on anyones toes. In fact, I've been thinking about putting together some sort of network of local companies but haven't really gotten to far with that. I'm in it because I really like to mix even if it means shleping gear to do it. We should hook up sometime and trade war stories.
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Edward Lohr said:
Hey Evan,
I guess you could say I'm one of those ankle biters in the general area. I've got a couple of bands that are keeping my weekends full.
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Edward, there is a difference between an ankle biter, and a bottom feeder.
An ankle biter goes after gigs that have an established fee, and underbids to get the gig. (This can perpetuate a "race to the bottom" if he gets ankle bit.)
A bottom feeder simply has the gigs at the bottom of the totem pole. Nothing wrong with that, it is a niche that needs to be filled.
As long as you are charging the (admittedly low) fees that are the market value for those gigs.

Regards, Jack
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Jack Arnott said:
Edward, there is a difference between an ankle biter, and a bottom feeder.
An ankle biter goes after gigs that have an established fee, and underbids to get the gig. (This can perpetuate a "race to the bottom" if he gets ankle bit.)
A bottom feeder simply has the gigs at the bottom of the totem pole. Nothing wrong with that, it is a niche that needs to be filled.
As long as you are charging the (admittedly low) fees that are the market value for those gigs.

Regards, Jack
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I can agree with that. I'm charging as much as my customers can bare. With these kind of gigs, $50 one way or the other could make the difference between working or not working.
 
Re: What is your competition like?

I figured out how to beat the IRS.
I'm one step below 501(c)(3)
I'm a not-for-income-under-any-circumstances operator.
I make it up in volume, though. The more I work, the more I don't earn.
Every silver lining has a cloud around it...
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Jay Barracato said:
Estimated annual revenue calculation= 12 shows x $200 = $2400 rounded to the nearest $100,000 = $100,000
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While I am not a math expert wouldn't rounding $2400 to the nearest 100k round down to zero?

Rounding pennies to the nearest dollar do not round up 2 1/2 cents to a full dollar.

Carry on...

JR
 
Re: What is your competition like?

frank kayser said:
I figured out how to beat the IRS.
I'm one step below 501(c)(3)
I'm a not-for-income-under-any-circumstances operator.
I make it up in volume, though. The more I work, the more I don't earn.
Every silver lining has a cloud around it...
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How does this work? Someone was telling me they were going to do this. How can you legally compete with for profit companies?
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Jack Arnott said:
Edward, there is a difference between an ankle biter, and a bottom feeder.
An ankle biter goes after gigs that have an established fee, and underbids to get the gig. (This can perpetuate a "race to the bottom" if he gets ankle bit.)
A bottom feeder simply has the gigs at the bottom of the totem pole. Nothing wrong with that, it is a niche that needs to be filled.
As long as you are charging the (admittedly low) fees that are the market value for those gigs.

Regards, Jack
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This is pretty spot on Jack! Too many ankle biters in the area, they should stick to being bottom feeders.
 
Re: What is your competition like?

Spenser Hamilton said:
This is pretty spot on Jack! Too many ankle biters in the area, they should stick to being bottom feeders.
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Of course, sometimes the bottom-feeders become ankle-biters when the more advanced creatures stick their feet into the bottom-feeders feeding grounds :lol:
 
Re: What is your competition like?

John Chiara said:
But really, I have a friend who is forming a not for profit for his sound company. !
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If you looked at all my years in the rental business you would see that it was "not for profit".

But that was NOT the idea. I just kept putting the profits back into the business to make it grow-and never took anything out of it.

POOR business plan on my part--------------------------------------------------
 
John Roberts said:
While I am not a math expert wouldn't rounding $2400 to the nearest 100k round down to zero?

Rounding pennies to the nearest dollar do not round up 2 1/2 cents to a full dollar.

Carry on...

JR
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John,

I am not sure how they were doing the math. I compared the schedule of shows and the pricing page ($2400) with the estimated revenue ($100000) on a business profile page.

The numbers might actually be true if the difference was the operator putting his own money into the business with purchases.

The point was really if poor practices are in one part of a business like bidding shows, they are also likely in other parts of the business like bookkeeping.
 
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