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How To Fund Your Business

When starting a business, trying to find funding could be the most difficult part in someone reaching his or her goal. There are many reasons why an individual may not succeed in finding an investor to invest in their company; but the main reason could be because they do not have a business plan that may catch the interest of an investor. There are many sites that could help an individual out with funding, but they will have to do a lot of research to find one that they qualify for. Some sites that can be helpful and provide grant opportunities are definitely out there, but there is a process that I hope you’re prepared to go through.

Before I started my artists management company, King’s Vision Entertainment, I always thought that the task would be easy; but there was a lot that I had to learn, before I jumped into this entertainment industry and let it eat me alive. To be honest, I thought that I could start my company with the money I had, but there was so much more to it, and that is the reason I chose to further my education, and pursue my B.S. and M.S. at Full Sail University for the Entertainment Business. After completing both programs, I now have the knowledge and resources that I need to be successful in building my company up as a dominant brand, and find the funding that I need to keep my company running.

There are some resources that I can give to you, if you want to succeed in this entertainment industry, where there is nothing but individuals that will try to get over on you if you do not have the knowledge or drive that it takes to remain an existence. One site is the U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov), which is a government website that offers loans and grants, that you may qualify for, and to be honest they will guide you in the right direction. This agency says that they can aid, counsel, assist and protect the interest of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. Another company is the National Venture Capital Association (nvca.org), this association empowers its members and the entrepreneurs they fund by advocating for policies that encourage innovation and reward long-term investment. These two sites are very informative, and are two that I believe that can help you succeed in living out your dreams as an entrepreneur who is determined to make it on their own; but do believe there are many, many more.

Any questions or advice that you may need from me about starting up or strengthening your business, feel free to comment or email me. My email is: kingsvisionent@gmail.com.

King George

Value of Business Plans

This post will cover the view by experts about the value of a business plan; and whether it’s important or not to have, when you are trying to get a business started. I examined and researched the views of (2) recognized “experts” in the field of writing and reviewing business plans; and I must say that I was totally satisfied after seeing that one of the experts was totally on the same page that I am about business plans.

The first expert that caught my attention during my research is Carl Schramm, who is a PhD economist and past President and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (2012). The reason he caught my attention when researching is because like myself, Carl believes business plans go out of date quickly. In an article I read, it said that Carl Schramm isn’t satisfied with the state of American entrepreneurship; it’s not because people aren’t getting into it, it’s because they’re not being taught correctly (Bhasin, 2012).  After reading that article, I asked myself could this be a fact or just an opinion from Carl Schramm? In that same article it states that Schramm’s theory is that leaving the education of entrepreneurs to schoolteachers is “inherently weak.” Why? Because their choice of profession shows that they don’t take risks; at least not economic ones. Schramm also states that the material taught in college-level courses doesn’t fit with what entrepreneurs need to succeed. He says, that you don’t learn what it really takes to get a business started (Bhasin, 2012).

The next expert that caught my attention during my research is Chuck Blakeman, a serial entrepreneur and business success mentor; who started and built eight businesses in the U.S., Europe and Africa. He is the founder of Crankset Group, providing business advisory for leaders and companies worldwide (Inc., 2014). The reason why Chuck Blakeman caught my attention, is because of his viewpoint about business plans; where he believes that a new company does not need a business plan to get started. Blakeman feels that preparing a business plan wastes time that could be spent actually doing the business; and I agree with him 110%.

On Chuck Blakeman’s website he states that, not a single Fortune 500 was started with a business plan. He said that, the all understood that the second worst thing someone starting a business can do is create a business plan, and the worst thing they can do is follow it. It’s said that massive pre-planning is a business disease. Blakeman said that the Industrial Age was wrong. Implement now. Perfect as you go. He says that if you do things this was, you may have a much higher chance of success than if you plan it all out before you get started (Blakeman, 2014).

After doing my research on these (2) “experts,” suggestions that I am considering from them, is to implement now and perfect as I go. I know that I have to put together a business plan for this course and for my final grade to graduate; but to be honest I most likely won’t use it. To be honest, I am not looking for any investors to invest in my company, especially while I still have student loans to pay back. Who wants to spend the rest of their lives paying people back? Not me.

Independent Artists

Is it worth the trouble to try to get a music label to sign you today? It’s really not. The digital world has become so dominant today, that you really can promote yourself; rather than having a label take a percentage from you. There are websites today like CD Baby and Tune Core, which are aggregators that allows you, the artist or group to upload your album to their site, and pay them a small fee to distribute, market, promote, and advertise, etc. you single or album. These are sites that also collect royalties for you and send your royalty check on a monthly basis.

The reason I chose to write this blog is because I am from the old school era of music, especially Hip Hop; I am talking about back when having a fan base didn’t matter to music labels, if they felt you were hot or should I say talented, they gave you an opportunity. The hottest and most legendary artists and groups was not given an opportunity or signed to a label because of their views on a video website and how many comments they had about their video; they were discovered by someone who was either in the music industry or someone who had connections to someone in the music industry. It was all about the vision someone had once they heard your voice or music back in the day. This is why it’s best to go the independent route, because if you can build your own fan base; which is what labels want you to do anyway; then what do you need them for?

Times have definitely changed in the music industry, especially digitally; so either you catch up or get left behind. Internet marketing and digital distribution have taken over the music industry, that’s why being an independent is the best option for some artists, musician, or group; it allows you to learn everything along the success of your career. It will also make you more alert about your choices throughout your career, because you are hands on with everything about it. Take advantage of the digital music world today, it’s never going to go away. Do as much research as possible about any questions you have for yourself about anything about the industry. There is no limit to the amount of knowledge one can gain about anything. Build yourself, career, and music to a success story, and you will become a brand that cannot be destroyed.

Check this video out:

This video will show all independent artists that a fan base was not necessary back in the day. Founders of Def Jam music label Rick Ruben and Russell Simmons signed artists like Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Slick Rick and LL Cool J, just to name a few, and none of them had a huge fan base, if any, but Rick and Russell was determined to get these artists names and music out the; and all those legends are now known worldwide, and also Hip Hop legends.

Will CDs Be Extinct Soon?

Will CDs be extinct soon? I believe that they will, due to the fact that the Internet and satellite radio has become the go to place for music lovers. Cars today still comes with a CD player, but they also offer you satellite radio through a subscription that a lot of individuals subscribe to. A lot of cars today are equipped with an auxiliary input for individuals to plug their phone or iPod to for music; and this is the reason why I ask, will the CDs be extinct soon?

How many people today are actually going into stores and purchasing their favorite artist or group’s CD when they are released? I bet not many. Instead people use Internet sites to stream and download the music; and there are some folks that choose to go to piracy sites and download all their music for free. With so many mobile devices today, that have access to downloading and streaming music, what do we really need a CD for? Lets be honest here.

Independent artists and groups, and even the ones signed to music labels are using digital sites to upload and sell their music, because the Internet is where an average American spends most of their day on, whether it’s on their mobile phones and computers, or on their desktops. Compared to back in the day, it’s not important at all to an artist or group to get signed to a major record label, because there are so many Print on Demand (POD) sites where they can get their music published and sold; and also earn 91% of the money that they accrue from selling their music. Dealing with POD sites are very inexpensive and less of a headache to deal with, rather than wait for your turn to be promoted and marketed by a major record label. As they say, time waits for nobody.

TuneCore, which is a POD site paid artists $32.7 million in Q3 2014 for music distribution. Those numbers have brought the total amount paid to distribution clients since TuneCore’s inception in 2006 to $471.5 million, based on 10.6 billion combined streams and downloads. How can an artist, group, or producer go wrong using these POD sites, when they are developing numbers like this? That is why I ask you the question that I ask you; and that is, will the CDs be extinct soon?