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Passion to Profits. Alice LaPlante
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isbn 9781933895703
Автор произведения Alice LaPlante
Издательство Ingram
But there was a major gotcha in all the licensing arrangements. Try as Reed might, he could not get a copyright on his arrangements—the copyright for all the music, no matter how much he changed his versions from the original, belonged to the people or businesses that held the print rights to the music. “There was no way to protect our intellectual property,” he says. “It was a hard pill to swallow.”
Despite that, Mona Lisa Sound is thriving. It has plans to release two more Hampton String Quartet CDs, and its list of sheet music arrangements keeps growing. It makes the majority of sales via its website, although it also has a catalogue that it sends out every other year to 35,000 music educators and schools.
Reed credits the firm’s ability to turn a profit on its low overhead. “We financed it all ourselves and never borrowed any money,” he says. They also chose to selfpublish the sheet music on demand rather than use an offset press, which would have been considerably more expensive. “To make offset printing cost-effective, you’d have to print thousands of copies,” he says. “But we’re always tweaking our music—fixing typos or changing a note, and so we bought our own printer and only print music when we get an order in.”
Reed believes that every classically trained musician should be thinking entrepreneurially. “The odds of making a living as a classical musician are horrendously low,” he says. Yet by being creative, musicians can come up with very viable businesses, he says. “I would absolutely encourage young musicians to try.”
■ Control. Many people start businesses because they want more control over their lives. Perhaps you want more control over the way your good ideas are implemented. Perhaps you want, or need, more control over your work hours or conditions so that you can be more involved in family, community, or hobbies. Control is a major motivation for most entrepreneurs—usually more important than money. But how much control you need—especially on a day-to-day basis—directly influences how large your company can be.
If you need or want a great deal of control over your time, you’ll most likely need to keep your company smaller. In a large company, you have less immediate control over many decisions. If you’re a person who needs control, you can still grow your business larger. You’ll simply need to structure communication and reporting systems to ensure that you have sufficient information about and direction over developments to give you personal satisfaction. If you seek outside funding in the form of investors, understand the nature of control your funders will exert and be certain you’re comfortable with these arrangements.
■ Challenge. If you’re starting or expanding a business, it’s clear you like challenge—at least to some degree. You’re likely to be a problem-solver and risk-taker, enjoying the tasks of figuring out solutions to problems or devising new undertakings. Challenge-hungry entrepreneurs can be some of the most successful businesspeople, but they can also be their own worst enemies—flitting from one thing to another, never focusing long enough to succeed.
If you have a high need for challenge in your business life, it’s important to develop positive means to meet this need, especially once your company is established and the initial challenge of starting a company is met. Otherwise, you may find yourself continually starting new projects that divert attention from your company’s main goals. As you plan your company, establish goals that not only provide you with sufficient stimulation but also advance—rather than distract from—the growth of your business.
■ Cash. Every entrepreneur wants to make money. Perhaps it’s just enough money to provide a decent income; perhaps it’s so much money you can buy a jet. How much you want or need affects how you’ll develop your business. Will you need investors and when? Will you sacrifice control to grow the business quickly?
Keep in mind there are sometimes trade-offs between personal goals. For example, wanting more cash often means having less control, while staying at the center of the creative process can necessitate having a partner or growing slowly—once again trading off control or cash.
business Buzz
words
“monetize”
Monetizing is the process of transforming something—an idea, invention, or creation; a website or software programming; or an action—into a product or service that someone else deems valuable enough to pay for. For example, writing and selling a book can be seen as monetizing one’s thoughts into a product that people will have to purchase. Accepting ads on a “free” website monetizes that website for its creators. Likewise, building a company to sell your new invention can turn an abstract idea into something that actually brings in money.
The Four Aspirations
Once you have considered the Four C’s, you must continue to define other aspects of your vision. A good way to proceed is to choose which one of the following Four Aspirations fits your personal, professional, and financial goals:
■ Actualizing Activity
■ Solo Sustainer
■ Balance Business
■ Visionary Venture
Actualizing activity
Everyone likes to make money, but for some entrepreneurs, making money is not the primary reason to start a business. Actualizing Activity businesses are those launched by entrepreneurs who are primarily interested in meeting personal interests or fulfilling personal goals. The key factor is that money made in the business is not critical for financially supporting the business owner’s lifestyle. The fortunate individuals who launch Actualizing Activity businesses already have other sources of income—for example, pensions, spouses or partners who are already bringing in sufficient revenues, or investment income. These people can choose which business to start based on how it meets their personal goals rather than their financial needs. Thus, a previously successful engineer might open a gallery to fulfill a need to be involved in the arts or a model railroad enthusiast might establish a retail hobby shop to satisfy a desire to build a local community of like-minded individuals—even if those businesses don’t make them much money.
Solo sustainer
The largest number of all businesses fit into this classification. These are one-person ventures that provide critical income for the entrepreneur—and often the only source of income for the entrepreneur’s family.
Solo Sustainer businesses represent the classic self-employment business model—frequently called “sole proprietorships” (see the Independent Consultants/Solo Practitioners Special Section at the end of the book). These businesses are owned by one person, are typically non-incorporated, and it’s not unusual (although never recommended!) for the entrepreneur to mix business and personal expenses. Self-employed accountants, physicians, and others who provide professional services fall into this category.
Businesses in this group share these characteristics:
■ Income from the business is critical to maintaining the lifestyle of the entrepreneurs and their families.
■ The entrepreneur generally works alone (or perhaps with the aid of part-time administrative assistants or independent service providers, such as attorneys and accountants).
■ The business generates current income for the entrepreneur rather than creating ongoing income streams that could continue even if the entrepreneur were to leave the business.
In other words, in Solo Sustainer businesses, the business sustains the entrepreneur, and the entrepreneur sustains the business. Once the entrepreneur stops working, the business stops—period. In essence, the entrepreneur is the “product” that the company sells, and is the sole income generator for the business. There is no “business” independent of the entrepreneur.