Help, I'm a part time DJ, get me out of here

[Corabar Steve]

I'm wondering if it's a regional thing? Some areas inhabitants are more prone to going out on Fridays than others.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

The way I put it across to the venues I do was that friday is THE night to go out as most people work all week and can't wait to get home, showered and out the door to go pubbing and clubbing etc with saturdays being the day for private functions etc... The answers I received were along the lines of "We're busy anyway before everyone nicks off and goes clubbing so what's the point?"...My answer was "Well why not have something that keeps the people in here all night or for as long as possible?" - I offered my services at a discounted price at first to see how things went and when they went well (which I knew they would), the price was the usual price. Obviously pub and bar work is cheaper than private work but it is still money and over the month it all adds up. One of the places I do has extended it's hours from 12.30am to 2.00am because it is popular.

Maybe it's different where I am? Basingstoke is full of bars and pubs etc but there is only one club and that is Liquid which caters for the usual...you know what I mean. It's all about doing something different in my view. The main bar that I do is a student orientated place and I play anything and everything...I call it REQUEST FEST and it works really well.

Another thing I do is hire a small venue twice a month and put on a specific genre of music, my choice is at the beginning of the month 'Indie & Alternative' and at the end of the month 'Retro'. Both nights are full (200 capacity) and all I have to do is charge on the door and hire the place. I advertise on my website and the local press as I know someone who works at the local paper and I also make up flyers and have posters in the venue and at some of my other venues. I stagger the door prices and more often than not, after I have paid for the hire of the place I can walk away with quite a nice profit (usually double what I charge for a private function).

It may well be another way to look at things if your area is the same as mine. Maybe look at hiring somewhere and doing something?
It sounds a lot of work but it's not and it's very profitable. I also think that if you look at the venues around you and most of them are playing the usual Dance/Chart/Rnb/Hip Hop etc then approach somewhere and suggest something totally different. You'd be surprised how many bar owners get stuck in a rut thinking that by doing what everyone else is doing and by being relatively busy that they are doing well...You go in there ultra confident telling them your ideas and knowing that they will work....just talking to people on the streets helps too. I was asked to DJ at a venue in the centre of town a few weeks back on a friday. The owner said that I could do what i wanted so I played Indie and Alternative and Retro all night from 9pm - 2am. The takings were great, I got paid well but more importantly, the place was busy because the people in the town liked the fact that something different was being played and not the usual.

Go on...do it!

[funkymike]

What a interesting topic. I myself have done djing full time and there are so many doors that open, and getting up late in the morning is great However I was also a house husband, I taught myself how to cook (daytime tv) made light boxes and some for mates, even growing veg in the garden, and look after the kids and teaching them things like cooking and gardening, still cant work the washing machine though Anyway A year ago I decided to go back to work full time and have a rest, but after a year, naaa it just not for me, your boss whoever you work for are alwayscomplete *EXPLETIVE REMOVED* and they expect you stay late when it suits them, even if you booked for a wedding reception, so cut a long story short I got sacked for not being committed to the job, I think they where jealous because my outside interests where more fun and far better paid than a full time job (and yer I have bragged about how much I can earn on a good weekend and they dont like it) So Iam now back to were I was a yr ago and again its the school holidays so I can look after the kids, I dont feel tried after working allday and having the disco paid for my bike test and motorbike I got all the time in the world to enjoy life and put 110% into the disco's and get more bookings as there is more time in the day and one can perform better.

So go for it Rice, you wont regret it

[Thames Valley Discos]

I'd just say Rice that with a baby on the way if you do decide to quit work, just make sure your finances are good enough should things be slow.
Believe me Babies are not cheap!!
I myself prever to have my fingers in more than one pie so to speak.

[CRAZY K]

I know and now I'm nearly a dad too!

You know what I would really like. I would love to be able to work **** hard at the DJing business over the next 12 months to get myself to a position where I could take the plunge. Is that unrealistic? I get enough work for a part timer right now - mainly just Saturday nights and I'm fairly well booked up, but I'm not getting calls everyday and turning work away left right and center. I am starting to pick up a few Friday nights (which I started doing more because I felt I might need a bit of extra when the baby is here), which I historically chose not to do because of the day job. Would the lots of hard work and a goal to leave the day job in 12 months be realisic and achievable (although I'm sure if you want something enough it'll always be achievable)

I dont know as much about Discos these days as Barn Dancing but it still seems to me that apart from Xmas the big money is at the Weekends.

You would have to ask people on here.

That suggests as you cant be in 4 places at once--the bugbear of this business--- you need more units to make more money--or do you want to work 5 or 6 nights a week---if you can find the work?

Doing that could be as physically demanding as a full time job!!!!!!!!

It also depends what nett take you need monthly to fund the lifestyle you choose to have--

I think personally the best bet would be to get another unit going asap and see what happens.

If it goes well-get another--finding a decent DJ who is interested is the hard bit---finding the equipment and work is much easier, also often DJs come with their own Contacts for work

I ran 3 many years ago although I must admit equipment was a lot less.

I think you have to accept you couldnt do all the bookings yourself personally and make sure your DJs or subcontactors are up to the job.

I was always pretty happy in my day time jobs, troulbe was I got happier as I kept changing jobs and earning more money--so you can be happy earning small money and happy earning more money--you have to decide where you fit. Richard Branson doesnt look unhappy does he?

As I said Business Link are worth a go= their guy said to me years ago--the key to it is getting people to cover the bookings you cant do--I really didnt take that on board at the time--but actually he was totally right as I am now reaping the rewards--well my wife is as she runs it.

regards

CRAZY K

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

No more having to work 40+ hours a week to earn £300...I now earn that from one 4 hour disco.

So apart from the already mentioned expenses, you don't put any preparation into your 4 hour disco?

Who does your accounts, paperwork, banking, dry cleaning etc etc?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Crazy K, that's what I meant by myself having the bigger picture in mind. I haven't been buying and building up 4 rigs for nothing. Only 2 (myself and my mate) are out regularly and sometimes I worry that I have spent money on an extra 2 rigs that aren't getting used at the moment but I am sure that if my plans work out then they will all be out in the future.
I don't make loads out of having both out but enough to make it worthwhile.

[pagan_flame]

Now of course you could, like me, have 2 businesses... I DJ part-time, Saturdays in the main... and am a driving instructor in the daytime.

I worked for a local driving school for 3 1/2 years, but took the plunge and started my own school in February this year - had all I needed to get started already, pretty much, and am using the existing DJing work to supplement my income.

Despite the fact that I had money in the bank to cover a total no-work situation for 6 months, I still did a business plan, consulted financial advisers - and after 6 months it's paying what I got before for about half the hours per week.

Now if, for example, you had other areas that you could develop further, that might bridge the gap --- such as...

Chocolate fountains? PA Hire?!?

Or even someone fairly local who also DJ's - and is an ex-musician who could help with the PA hire side of things - who is also starting up their own fulltime business ATM...?!?

We need to do that curry night soon mate...

[rob1963]

So apart from the already mentioned expenses, you don't put any preparation into your 4 hour disco?

Who does your accounts, paperwork, banking, dry cleaning etc etc?

Of course I put preparation into a 4 hour disco, and the answer to your other questions is ME, of course...but it doesnt take 40+ hours a week (that's how long I worked in my daytime job)...and it's hardly as stressful!

There's simply no comparison. Compared to before, it almost feels like I've retired!

I'm still curious to know more about the DJs you know who would not enjoy doing discos as much if they didn't have a daytime job, as nobody so far has made the same point in this thread.

I'd just like to know why...because for me the opposite is true.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Other things that don't appear to have been mentioned yet, are not relying on your daytime job to finacnce disco gear, and yes I know there's a lot of people who run their 'business' this way.

If you take a day off, you won't get paid. If you can afford to go on holiday, you won't get paid and may struggle to catch up if you go for more than a couple of days.

If you are ill, you can't phone in with a weak excuse- you have to be there.

You need to chase work if you want to get anywhere at all.

You need to do little cheap jobs during the week to get the cash in.

Personally, I have never been so enthusiastic about the business, but I haven't always. I have been doing this for a living for 17 years now and I think you need to be doing this a long while full time before you can start passing judgement on how great it is, 'cos sometimes it isn't.

An example when it's not great to be self employed....When my daughter was born 10 years ago, she was 5 weeks premature, and I had 5 bookings that I got covered (just), but lost around £700 at the time, which was a lot of money to lose.

It can be and is very rewarding to work for yourself, but there is a lot more to think about than getting up at 10am and being less stressed than you were before. I don't count them as good reasons to be self employed and give up a perfectly good other income.