Need 20-50k for DJ Start Up

[doubleInfinity]

My proposed start-up is a Mobile / Club Disc Jokey business.

Looking for an investor to loan me $20,000 - $50,000 USD for my start up business. I have a comprehensive idea, am an American Disc Jokey Association member, know my start up costs and opportunities in my local area (more depending on the amount of equipment I can get, hence the start up range).

Willing to work with investors, have completed NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship) courses, won 1st place in Co-op BizTeam contest through the 4-H Council while in the Young Entrepreneurs Society '01, won other business plan competitions as a member of Business Professionals of America.

I live close to the largest club in the United States, in Panama City Beach, FL. Also known as 'spring break' town. I have many opportunities as a new start up including:

School Dance Gigs (dj income / retail sales of light-fare and novelty items; such as chips and glow sticks)
Wedding Gigs (dj income)
House Parties (dj income)
Beach Parties (dj income)
Public Beach Space for Rent as event organizer & dj (ticket/cover charge income)
MixTapes (retail income)
Gigs on Local Radio Stations (advertising income)
Internet Radio (web advertising income)

Music imported directly from New York City, fresh to the beaches of Panama City through my personal professional connections. My competitive edge is my ability to blend all current 'hip' genres for the given crowd. With a solid background as a Web Applications Developer I have the ability to use the cutting edge advancements of technology to develop my business, and apply both computer and audiophile solutions to gigs. An example of equipment that a more generous loan would grant are hi-def video projectors (or lcd panels) that allow me to display and remix video streams, a hi-def video camera for recording the crowd and remixing / displaying on the big screen. A larger investment would allow me to purchase redundant systems for fail-safe gigs, since the whole operation depends on a hi-quality laptop.

That's the basics, I have more information, idea, and realistic day-to-day operations and growth of the business strategies. I don't have credit, need an investor.

Examples of long-term equipment I'd be buying:
Controllers, amplifiers, speakers (all kinds), mixers, record players (including cartridges), cables, redundant (fail safe) storage system for digital tracks, microphones, pa system, basic club lighting and effects kits, transport cases for all these items, high quality printer for advertising material

Examples of renewable equipment:
Blank cd's / dvd's
Office Supplies
Promotional card stock
Subscriptions to several music magazines
About $100 / week for the latest music released (both official & underground)
On line Advertising


Any interest? Again, I don't have any credit, but have a clear vision and some previous business experience, need some help getting my first prodigy off the ground.

Thanks.

[Encrypted]

Whaaaat? Are you crazy? My brother and his friend started up their DJ business with about $2,000 they made from mowing lawns. That's all you need to get going.. and then you build up your setup and you go.

[doubleInfinity]

Encrypted, not looking to start with the 2k kit, not sure if you have been in my local area, but you need a bit more money to get something going on the white beaches in Florida. I'm in Spring Break central, along with local residents, there's a good amount of competition in the form of clubs and bars, as well as existing disc jokey, to try to start up without the proper equipment would be a mistake, as would purchasing non-professional equipment.

Again, not looking to start a small, part time, weekly gigs set up, but a more professional disc jokey service with many business faucets as I've outlined. 20k for a start-up, on the beach is not a huge amount. I really thought about getting the 2k set-up and realized for my start up it's just not doable... my business would fail. I wouldn't have enough equipment for the gigs that I do. (a controller costs about $600. a mixer $900. an interface program $200. an amplifier $1200. speakers, 8 x $500 - $1200. computer equipment, promotional materials, back-up systems, insurance, lighting systems, camera systems, wireless microphone systems, are all expensive. Not sure what kind of equipment your brother got, but I can assure you it's not capable of doing what my start up intends to accomplish. Just the computer technology involved is 2k.

There are other aspects of my business, as a partner business with an established Hallmark Institute of Photography graduate. I have resources for each of the aspects of the business, through my professional memberships and personal connections, and technological background, and just need some capital.

Thanks for the reply, thought that I would clarify this is a professional start up, not two guys who mix after mowing lawns.

(Think about it, I couldn't even rent the beach for a night with just 2k)

[Encrypted]

I see where you're going; I just don't think you're going to find anyone willing to loan 20k. So it'd be better to start off doing birthday parties or something until you can come up with enough money to do professional events.

[wavemakersdj]

It seems to me that starting out on the lower tier private events and then working your way up to the larger events would be much more prosperous then trying to find a loan that size for a DJ business. If you are going to be beach parties, house parties, and weddings, you are not going to need the extremely large setup you are speaking of, in fact I regularly do events between 400-500 people using no more than $5000 worth of equipment, all of which I aquired in build up through smaller gigs first. I have used double this same equipment (which also acts as my backup) to run multi day large sound festivals with up to 1000 people, costing no more than $10,000 split between two people.

I understand the price of DJ service, equipment, and startup costs, but you are talking going from nothing to an established business without making a name for yourself. Why would I want to hire you to do my wedding with your large equipment but little experience as a wedding DJ? You could be a very great business person, but without many years experience as a wedding DJ, I would look for the next person that knows how to go with a crowd and keep the party going.

Not trying to be a downer on your idea, as I am in the same kind of boat at the moment looking to start my own DJ and Entertainment company, but you gotta be realistic. Start from the base and work your way up instead of going for broke all at once. I promise you that if you have the ear to make it sound good, clients won't care in the least if you were running sound craft equipment or Behringer, as long as they get exactly what they want. Once you are able to upgrade, then do so and build from there.