BLOGS FOR THE SINGER/SONGWRITER AND THE INDEPENDENT ARTISTS: Part 3

STEP 4
Make a business plan
You are all equal business partners with equal responsibilities, with the attitude of "all for one, one for all". There are no split decisions. Like Congress, you lobby for your ideas, and put them to a vote, until a unanimous decision is made. Good or bad, you all must take ownership of that decision. If a decision cannot be made, respect the other members and rethink the idea. This is collaboration, and in order for a band to succeed, egos must be set aside. In order to create, you must collaborate. If by now you still feel like you have the right combination of members, you set up the business. The business plan defines the partners, their contributions, the property and the mission.


A). The property will consist of original music copyrights, the master recordings of the original music, the band's domain and name, along with merchandising rights of the band's brand and production equipment (however, I believe each member is responsible for his* own gear).

B). The band's LLC model should look something like this. Let's say there are four band members. Start with a total of 150 shares of stock. 25 shares for each member, with 50 shares in a reserve, which could be sold to raise capital for the band, add another member, or other components, such as a manager.

C). Contribution. Each member has to contribute something in return for their shares. For example, one member may have a van or trailer for transportation. One member may already own some production equipment. One member may own and operate recording equipment. One member may have already written several songs to contribute. One may have cash, or a place he can offer for rehearsal of storage space. If you are uncomfortable contributing "hard assets", then your contribution would be services and the use of those hard assets in return for your ownership. Whether you're in charge of transportation, bookings accounting, web design, art design, recording engineer, etc., each member must feel their contribution is equally matched by other members. Accountability is crucial, so everyone knows each member is pulling his* weight.

Note: The business plan will also include a marketing plan, which I will blog about in detail at a later time.

SUMMARY
You may ask the question, "Why don't we just hire someone to take care of all this stuff, so we can focus on the music only?" My answer to that is, if you are to survive as a band, you will have to learn to work together, live together, and play together. That is why so few bands stay together. You have to become a unit, a brotherhood, a family, and ultimately a BAND!

My next blog: "Thriving In Your Local Music Scene"
Topics: Marketing, Bookings, Media and Sponsorships.

*HIS...as used in this context is referring to the universal usage meaning both his and/or her. I do this only for the sake of continuity. In no way is meant to discourage women, or imply they are not in bands.