Starting a business plan for actors, musicians, singers, and artists.

Note: This article is the first in a series which will discuss making a business plan that applies to musicians, singers, actors, et al. Links to future articles will be added here as they’re written.

“Failing to plan = Planning to fail.”

Yes, this is something that every high school English teacher says about 12 times per semester, but that doesn’t mean it ain’t so. More than anyone else, we in the arts and those starting their own business need to have a plan or we’re dead in the water. Business people are more accustomed to this, but we artists and musicians seem to confuse plans with dreams — they are not the same thing. The plan is what makes the dream into reality…well, that or a winning lottery ticket, but short of that a plan is the time-tested way to achieve our goals.

Planning ahead and sound financial management is not contrary to art; in fact, it makes your art possible! Don’t think that talent alone will preclude you from having to deal with money. Mozart may have been the most brilliant composer in history and well regarded in his time, but he died penniless and was buried in a mass pauper’s grave because he was stupid with his money.

Yes my friends, we need a plan, a business plan, if we’re going to be successful and make a living as artists. My laid-back brethren probably shun planning because feel that it hems us in and keeps us from following our impulses and our bliss. News flash: you write plans so you can CHANGE them. The business plan you write today may look nothing like the one you’ll have in 2 years or even 6 months, and herein lies the artistic benefit of the plan: without a plan, you can’t measure your progress towards success. Even worse, you might have a hard time actually measuring success when you reach it! Before he died, John D. Rockefeller was asked how much wealth was enough, and he famously replied, “Just a little bit more.”

Without a plan, you can’t measure your progress towards success. What would you measure it against?! Picture 2 aspiring actors, both still at that “starving artist” point of their careers, non-equity, waiting tables and studying their craft in between low level regional work. One has a written business plan and the other just knows he wants to be on broadway and maybe in movies. The one with the plan has mapped out his journey, and even if that map changes, he still has a rough idea of exactly where he is on his path and knows what his next steps must be to get where he wants to go. Furthermore, he’s made a sound financial plan and is avoiding bad decisions that he knows will negatively affect his business; every financial decision is rooted in seeking long term profitability for his business, his passion. And that other guy? He just knows that he’s not on Broadway yet. If he’s not careful, he might end up making poor financial decisions that end his career before it begins. He may have to turn down that low-paying gig with great connections because he can’t afford to service his debts on such a small paycheck. Is it any wonder that people give up their dreams mostly for financial reasons?!

A business plan will serve your dreams, not hinder them. It will focus your efforts into building the business side of your art and help bring legitimacy in the eyes of your friends and family…and even the IRS. Yes, when you get the dreaded audit letter and go to meet the ever-so-personable and charming auditor, convincing him that your passion is your business and not just a hobby will be infinitely easier with a written business plan and some hard numbers. Besides, it could even be a hit at parties ;)

Even a rough idea of the path toward success will give you an incredible competitive advantage over those who coast on an adolescent pipe-dream. Can you imagine how it will feel the next time mom and dad ask if you have a backup plan, and you whip out your own multi-page business plan? Once you peel your parents off the floor/ceiling, it might actually bring them comfort to see just how thoroughly you’ve thought things through. The truth is, no matter what sort of entrepreneur you are, whether in business or the arts, you’re going to meet with naysayers and “what-if”ers; a written plan will silence them, or at least show them you’re serious.

Thus begins a mutli-part series on writing your business plan where we’ll go step by step through the process and you’ll come out with a concrete plan you can tweak and refine as your business progresses. I’m not reinventing the wheel here; these concepts are derived from the same sorts of plans that every small or large business uses. What I AM doing is refining the various aspects of a business plan to suit the needs of our particular market segment. Some parts we won’t need and others we may have to approach a different way, but much of it will be the same. Your own personal goals will mean that your plan will look very different from everyone else’s, but that’s the beauty of it! Somewhere along the line, you may even come to the realization as I have, that making a plan is, in fact, art.

Bookmark It