How many gigs do you do?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Some members are seriously working too hard with 120 gigs a year. Time to review your pricing structures.......

Work smarter not harder

I understand the 'work smarter' comment and that's what I have been going on by making things a lot easier for myself regarding set ups etc.

However, the first comment is again aimed at pricing isn't it?

If you can do 50 gigs a year at £1000.00 a booking then great.
If you can do 50 gigs a year at £150.00 then that's not really a business is it? (unless you have absolutely no bills and overheads etc.).

I do around 120 gigs a year and don't need to review my pricing as I am more than happy with it.

Strangely (thought I'd mention it), I have a fair few midweek gigs this year and as it stands at the moment, the last week in April sees me doing weddings on Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sunday. Not sure how it happened but I'm not complaining.

[paulg]

102 according to last years tax return.

I tended to work last year on the premise that you take work when you can. You never know when it might all go pear shaped - downturn, illness etc.

I'm getting more worn out lately so this year 70-80 or even less would be OK. As for working smarter, I turned down an enquiry last night for a gig that was to finish at 1.30 in the morning. What's the matter with people these days? Don't they need sleep? Easier jobs for a bit less money are becoming so attractive these days.

[Spirits High]

I understand the 'work smarter' comment and that's what I have been going on by making things a lot easier for myself regarding set ups etc.

However, the first comment is again aimed at pricing isn't it?

It's aimed at the overall concept of working smarter be that getting easier / quicker set ups or charging more for your services

If you can do 50 gigs a year at £1000.00 a booking then great.
If you can do 50 gigs a year at £150.00 then that's not really a business is it? (unless you have absolutely no bills and overheads etc.).

I do around 120 gigs a year and don't need to review my pricing as I am more than happy with it.

If you're happy with what your doing then that's fine. From what I read on here some members are doing alot of work and IMO not getting the full worth of the service they provide.

For the likes of Darren doing 112 I'm pretty sure these will be decent payers and for someone that's been in the business over 25 years I'd expect him to be demanding a "fair" price.

But, everyone has different ways of doing things and if they're happy then they're happy. For me around 75ish gigs a year I'm happy with that and the way I operate.

[NKR]

60 last year and would hope to do the same again this year.

Its about the maximum numberI think we can service professionally as a part timer. Any more than that and I literally would be working none stop with the day job and I think service would start to slip.

[DAVESOUNDS SERVICES]

Every Sunday Tuesday abd Thursday nights at residencies
Thats 156 PLUS
odd monday each month open mike night Indian Restaurant
odd friday each month open mike nights Local Pub
mobile most fridays
mobile most saturdays.
I ticked More than 208
Sunday Residency plug amp into wall socket for room Loudspeakers
Tues and Thursday all gear in pub turn up with flask and laptop.

[boomerangdiscos]

i did about 70 discos last year which with a full time job is more than enough it would of been more but i do turn down a fair amount of work i dont enjoy kids discos so i turn down 90% of the enquiries i get for these plus theres a few venues i will not work at, this year partly due to the economic climate and the fact that i have just started to train as a driving instructor means i will probably end up doing about 50 discos, with at least 10-15 being xmas partys means i will have a few weekends to spend with the family.

[NKR]

Angela this is a very useful piece of research and something I had been indirectly trying to draw out of people.

What I now know is that we do more jobs a year than just under half the respondents and are at the top end of the group that quarter of respondents reside in. That means there are only 30% of the respondents doing more gigs per annum than my little operation and with the number of full time organisations on here that is reassuring. It gives us a benchmark of what the norm is and where the market currently is.