I get a lot of emails and questions regarding the business of a small studio and how to be successful.  It's a hard question to answer because these days there is a home studio of some sort on almost every block of every town.  What your focus is will greatly affect the success of your business.  I see this happen a lot, you go out and buy a couple ADATs or a hard disc recorder along with a list of very nice equipment, and then hope that the word gets around and you can start to work and pay off the gear. Well, with the outburst of all the affordable digital recording mediums today, many people have the same idea and then realize that the gear has become mostly an expensive hobby and doesn't turn into the business that they had hoped.

        When I come across someone who is successfully making a business work from a project or home studio, I find that there is some other reason than good equipment. They all have something in common that sets them apart from their competition.  Often it's not apparent immediately, but talking with their clients will reveal the answer very shortly.  They each have something that less successful businesses don't offer.  For each studio that may be something different, and if you can find that one thing that sets you apart then you're sure to find work.

       Here are some examples of things that could set you apart.

1) Having the most services in town under one roof.

2) You might be an ace studio drummer, adding that to your studio service

3) You could have the largest library of HipHop sample loops

4) Being a swim suit model on the side

5) Nobody can beat your prices on small run duplications

6) Somehow you acquired the largest selection of Vintage mics and you keep your rates low.

7) You offer some deal like "First song Free"

8) A certain style of music might be your specialty and no one in your area can match your expertise in that style.

This list can be a mile long!
       Opening a studio without some sort of niche or something unique to offer your prospective clients is sure to be a long and aggravating journey.  People have asked me how DKS Productions came to have a calendar booked months in advance and our story goes something like this.

        I started in college doing accompaniment tapes for the singers that were taking voice classes.  Since I started playing piano at age 7, I could very quickly record the piano track from the sheet music I was given.   I guess that was my niche (I think I was charging $5 or $10 a song.)  At first I used an old Roland sequencer and later I expanded by borrowing a friends 4-track.   It took a couple years before I could afford to buy my first 8-track and mixer.   By that time I was offering my services by the hour to do demos.

        Living under my parents roof in an addition on the back of their house, my expenses were almost nothing, so my rates were cheap and I always gave the client more time than they paid for.  Sometimes I would work on their songs off the clock late at night, so the next time they came in, we were further along with the production than they had expected.  I do this even today and I think your client relationships grow tremendously this way.

        Anyway, it's been 12 years since I bought that first 8 track and I'm still doing music full-time.  Probably the hardest thing has been to discipline myself to work when the client gives me the freedom to work on my own.  The only thing that has worked for me is to have a weekly "To-Do" list, and follow it daily.  I once read an article in Keyboard magazine about starting a business like this and it suggested to set hours for yourself, and even when the calendar is not booked, work anyway.  You can make demos of your work, organize your files, learn a new piece of gear, brainstorm ways of advertising. Even though it's tempting to take off to the beach on that beautiful sunny day, there is always something that can be accomplished in your studio.  Treat it as if you were working for a large corporation and wait till your day off to go to the beach.