A little over 5 years ago, I decided to stop being an employee for a large regional corporation and start being... broke.
Well not quite.
I decided to start a business. It's similar, but not the same.
I decided, out of all things, to start a recording studio.
Why? because I'm a little bit crazy.
Also, because I thought there was an underserved market for audio production and I wanted to serve that hole in the market with top quality service.
The early years
The very first thing to do was to start a proof of concept. I signed a lease in an office building downtown and bought some wood, rockwool, paint, and hired some help to get to working on my studio.
I made the sound panels myself...
I painted the walls myself...
And I was damn proud of it.
My studio was up and running.
Next thing to do was to put the word out.
So I got myself some business cards and hit the streets. I went to bars, clubs, open mic night, chamber of commerce events, startup events, everything.
I offered free advertising to friends and family and scoured the internet for potential clients.
This is a photoshoot I did for my cousin's shoe store. I rented the equipment because I didn't own any and I didn't charge a cent, even though we had to pay the model.
I used that single ad as my "portfolio" and went door to door in search for business. I was determined to find some paying customers and I wasn't about to give up any time soon.
Slowly but surely, clients starting coming in asking for voiceover work, jingles, dubbing, audiobooks, etcetera. Recording Box was in business.
I produced a bunch of bands. I must say I'm rather proud of quarterbacking @wrongband 's album Liber Al Ver Legis as well as Oricalkos (@bexe)'s second album, Tártaro, which I'm very happy to say, came out yesterday!
We worked hard and grew.
We fine tuned our business model in order to figure out who our target market really was and what unique value proposition we had to offer
We even celebrated our 3 year anniversary here on HIVE
And eventually, we even had to move into a bigger studio because we no longer fit in previous studios.
I guess you can say business was good.
The birth of our second business unit
Our business was growing, and clients kept coming in asking if we produced podcasts. The answer was, of course, YES! after all, all we really needed was a couple of microphones and a coffee table, right?
We put together a podcast room in one of the recording areas and clients kept coming in.
Eventually, we figured why not make it it's own business unit focused on podcast production. So that's exactly what we did.
We created Podcast House.
A podcast studio that worked out of Recording Box. We offered a particular solution to a particular niche: we would help you produce, edit, upload your podcast and even introduce you to potential guests and sponsors. We would make your show notes, time stamps, social media clips and even episode thumbnails so you wouldn't have to.
We are the experts in the podcasting ecosystem.
We hired an editor, paid for a domain and website, had a CRM and a landline.
Two different business units for two different customer segments.
Hive Podcast anyone?
Double trouble
Now, what happens when you have two of everything? Well, things start to get expensive. You need to pay for domains, hosting, adsense, employees, CRM software, logo design, and expenses start piling up before you can snap the clapper.
On top of that, you have double the business processes: invoicing, accounting, studio booking and social media accounts.
Piled on top of THAT.... ask yourself this: what do you think happens with clients that want to produce a podcast AND also want a jingle produced for their brand? What about clients who have been with us since day one doing voiceovers and all of a sudden want a podcast? We started getting phone calls to Podcast House asking for voiceovers and emails directed towards Recording Box staff and Podcast House staff in CC.
Things started to get messy (and expensive).
Missed opportunities
Our main business unit, @recording-box already has lots of Google reviews and good SEO. If you search for "recording studio" in my city, Our website, Facebook, Instagram, and maybe even YouTube channel will show up first. We're also the highest ranked recording studio in my city and we do pretty well with word of mouth.
So why the hell should I start building SEO for a brand nobody knows?
Answer: because I'm dumb.
Good SEO means incoming emails, messages and phone calls.
By spreading ourself thin, we were missing opportunities to close deals by harnessing the brand recognition we'd already created with Recording Box.
A brand recognition that has taken years (literally) to build.
Learning to let go
After a year of spending twice as much money and time as we reasonably should on something that is barely impacting the bottom line, we decided it's time to cut the crap and focus. We don't really need another business unit. We need to double down on marketing and choosing the right channels to use in order to reach the intended audience.
We're keeping the domains and website, but we're moving our clients to one business unit with the same people, name, CRM, calendar and physical space.
Sure, some clients will whine and ask how come we're restructuring again. I get it. It's a bit annoying. But we're still small and ripping off the band-aid now will speed up the process of getting aligned and working like a well-oiled machine once again.
We live, we learn and we grow.
Podcast House is currently SISTASOD for business; indefinitely.
(lol. AI thinks it says "closed")
Posted Using LeoFinance Alpha
Because you are a freaking genius , and dont say me not =D
The truth is that you saw opportunities where others saw problems, and my friend, I believe that in life that is the solution to most issues.
We must approach things as they are presented to us, and most of the time we will be able to overcome them.
With this publication, you show how little by little you have been evolving, and I know that you will reach more.
It really surprises me because so few people interact with your posts, and it even worries me, because I know that your content is excellent (at least you know that I enjoy it a lot, and I'm being honest, I come here because I enjoy what you do, because I learn when you share your processes), and I learn a lot from them.
Keep going bud, you're doing great!
!LADY
!HUG
!PIZZA
I sent 1.0 HUG on behalf of @manclar.
(1/3)
Hey fren!
Haha, not by a long shot! But I appreciate the kind words.
I love what I do for a living and I plan on doing it for a long time. In fact, I really hope to involve my business more with the HIVE ecosystem. It's my home here and I'll keep trying to bring value to the community.
Thanks for interacting with me. This is what being a Hivean is all about :)
!BEER
It is obvious that you loves what you do, the truth is that I think we need many more people like you and your group to make the world a better place.
I really believe that Hive can improve a lot if everyone contributes a little to its good vibes, it is no longer about money, but about working for the common good. Many hivers go unnoticed, with big projects and adventures like yours, they honestly should be taken into account, they seem very cool to me.
In future posts I am going to tag people I know in the comments and I think they would like to know what you do Alex, I hope that doesn't bother you.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @manclar, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @alex-rourke for you. Enjoy it!We love your support by voting @detlev.witness on HIVE .
View or trade
LOHtokens.@manclar, you successfully shared 0.1000 LOH with @alex-rourke and you earned 0.1000 LOH as tips. (2/2 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.
View or trade
LOHtokens.@manclar, you successfully shared 0.1000 LOH with @alex-rourke and you earned 0.1000 LOH as tips. (2/2 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.
Congratulations dear @alex-rourke for unleashing your true business passions, for this anniversary and for those to come no doubt.
"A little over 5 years ago was a small step of bravery, but a giant leap of optimism for the future!"!
Wow! thank you so much!
This project means the world to me. It's my first "successful" business endeavor and a huge leap into the unknown for me.
I don't want praise or fame, but words of encouragement are appreciated by anyone. Thank you so much my friend 🙏
You have already taken the most "difficult" step. Now what remains is disciplined work, perseverance, learning from your mistakes and enjoying to the fullest everything that comes your way in this fabulous journey.
Dear @alex-rourke you don't know how much these "small" but wonderful stories of entrepreneurship make me happy and excited!
Good read. That's a lot of work.
You put a lot of sweat into that first studio.
Branding really takes years, man. First you are known locally and then you have to do your best to be known across the country. What happens when you get distracted? Everything can go to shit. I'm glad you're getting your affairs in order. I hope things are better this way.
I got ahead of myself and wrote this on my business plan last year:
We're still a small business, so we can backpedal without much collateral damage. But yeah, definitely a lesson learned.
I don't have a business, but I did want to start one before. Seeing your journey how you started small, and eventually grew your business is very satisfying. You took a risk and your hard work was rewarded.
As I was reading the post, I thought the recording studio and podcast studio should work seamlessly, but I didn't realize there were other aspects to consider like auditing, scheduling and other things.
I understand how difficult stopping the podcast house is, but I hope your business continues to thrive.
Nothing is in a state of stasis. Everything is in constant change. This is just part of business. We'll keep operating, just under one, unified brand.
That makes sense. Kind of like merging two companies so they'll share a lot of things like accounting and stuff. Good luck with it, and I hope your business continues to grow.
Thanks my friend! I'll post some live sessions from the studio soon in @recording-box :)
Looking forward to it. :)
Aww
Your studio setting makes so much sense
It looks good!
The first one in blue is the one I started with 5 years ago. We've now moved into a larger building since then. You can check out some of our stuff here. It's way different than when I first started :)
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@manclar(2/5) tipped @alex-rourke
The studio set is dope even though I know it must have been upgraded now. You definitely must have been running on a big scale. I am inspired by this. I feel I need to start doing something also from somewhere
Congratulations @alex-rourke! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 8000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out our last posts:
Congratulations @alex-rourke! You received a personal badge!
Wait until the end of Power Up Day to find out the size of your Power-Bee.
May the Hive Power be with you!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Check out our last posts:
Keep imagining how far you've come! That's quite impressive. Why do I enjoy the last line "we live, we learn and we grow". As long as you know that you'll keep getting the most beautiful out of all.
I have always learned that no matter what life brings my way or the circumstances even the little wins might be seen. I will keep building! Keep getting better!! And Keep gaining mastery!!!
You can do better than before dear Alex.
That´s a pretty impressive and inspiring business journey! Thanks for sharing it with us and good luck with your future endeavors :)