[Russ]

Hey everyone,

My name is Russ and I am in the startup stages of opening a musical rehearsal/recording studio and I would appreciate some advise. These are my basic plans:

I am looking to have a 5-6000 sq.ft facility broken up into 5 rehearsal spaces(all soundproofed properly) with one room having a partition for the control room of the recording studio. The area I am looking in has 2-3 rehearsal studios that are not sound-proofed, and basically are small run down rooms with blown out amps, pa speakers, drum heads that have not been changed in years, and an apparent unwillingness by the staff of these facilities to make better of any of these problems.

I want to open a studio where musicians(myself and my partner musicians ourselves) can come rehearse in a CLEAN, sound proofed facility with quality equipment. We will be opening in an area with a huge music scene and a huge demand for rehearsal space when the supply is virually non- existant. Business relationships have been established with local venues to hold showcases for bands that rehearse at the studio in order to regenerate and promote this music scene.

So far I have:
-obtained my LLC., tax id, etc.
-worked up a pretty solid business plan
-created a rough budget consisting of rent, utilities, building costs inside the space(creating rooms and soundproofing), insurance, internet/tv/phone, musical equipment, furniture, office supplies, etc.
-set up a meeting with a (trusted) guitar center rep to help pick out equipment for budgeting purposes.
-spoken to an owner of another (amazing) rehearsal studio who has been helping me out a lot and given a lot of advice.
-other small things such as purchasing domain name/setting up myspace page and contacting many many local bands to see what their thoughts are on their rehearsal space and if another one opened, would they switch if the facility was state-of-the-art but still affordable.

The one thing I am having serious issues and obviously the one determining factor whether this is a reality or not - MONEY. I have calculated that I need approximately $6-700,000 to start(rent, contractors, equipment etc).
Myself and my partner both have decent credit but have no collateral to put up for a loan other than our cars, so getting a loan in the amount of $600,000 seems unlikely. I may however have someone to co-sign a loan but Im not sure if even then, we will get enough money. I have searched through many government grant databases and it seems that there just aren't any grants out there that apply to what I am trying to accomplish and I am unfamiliar how to look for investors.

I guess after all of this ranting, my main questions are- How can I go about getting such a large amount of money with no collateral and no apparent grants to apply for? How can I find investors with that kind of money that are willing to invest? What am I missing in any aspect of this endeavor? HELP!!!

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You can look into VC. Some, especially in large music areas, specialize in the music industry.

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Also, although it's never pleasant to think about bringing someone else on board, in order to get financing (with the added bonus of running the business more efficiently), it is often a good idea to include someone, whether as an advisor or consultant or manager, who has some business credentials. As my business partner and I are looking into VC funding of about $10 million for a project we're working on, we've found that our credentials will play huge roles in getting the financing. Good luck.

[Allurre]

Expand your connection; rub elbows with someone loaded and are open to new business opportunities, I'm sure they'll be able to supply you financially, just know where to meet them in your area =)

[Russ]

Thanks again for the help everyone. This forum is really great. I'm glad I found it.