Are you looking to start a music business? Don’t do anything until you learn how to write a music business plan to guide you and your decisions.
A business plan is a super helpful document for new and long-time business owners. Keep reading to learn how to write this critical document.
What Is a Music Business Plan?
A business plan is a document you create to help guide you and your business. It works for any type of business, music-related or not.
Like any business plan, your music business plan should cover things like your mission, financials, and marketing plan. You can write the document and keep a copy of it on your computer or iPad.
That way, you can reference it as you work. And if anything changes in your business, you can update the plan to reflect that.
Why You Need a Music Business Plan
If you’re just starting your biz, you may wonder why you even need a business plan. Having this document will help you tremendously in a few ways.
Put Your Thoughts on Paper
It’s one thing to have what you believe is a great business idea. But that doesn’t mean it will work out how you think, and it can be easy to forget your plans.
When you get an idea for a business, draft a business plan. This will give you the opportunity to put all of your thoughts on paper and make sure you can make money from your idea.
If you ever forget what you planned, you can look back on your business plan. That way, you’ll know what to do to grow your business if you can’t think of anything to do.
Hold Yourself Accountable
An important part of writing a music business plan is including some goals. That could be a number of students you want or a revenue goal.
Whatever it is, having those goals on paper can hold you accountable. Once you determine your goals, you can make a plan for how to reach them.
As you start your business, keep those goals in mind. Use them to prioritize your tasks so that you can start to get results.
Get Funding
A lot of musicians will start sole proprietorships, meaning they work as freelancers or contractors. In those cases, you’re probably going to be funding your business yourself.
However, you may want to get outside funding from investors one day. When that time comes, you’ll need to present a business plan to potential investors.
They can look at the document to see your finances and your plan to help them make their money back. If you can’t show those plans, you’ll struggle to get anyone to take you seriously.
How to Write a Music Business Plan
As you look into starting a business, it can be easy to skip over writing a business plan. But please don’t skip this step.
I didn’t do this when I first started, and I’ve struggled longer than I otherwise needed to.
To avoid making that same mistake, here are some tips to help write your music business plan.
Decide What Business to Start
Most businesses can follow the same business plan template. But of course, you can only write so much of your plan if you don’t know what you want to do.
Maybe you want to teach private lessons and start a lesson studio. Or perhaps you want to take on gigs and start a wedding band.
Think about some different music business ideas that you can start. Then, choose one for this business plan; you can always write more business plans for other ventures.
Build Your Brand
As you draft your business plan, you’ll want to think about the branding for your business. This is a crucial aspect to include in the document.
Consider what colors and fonts you want to use as well as the overall mood you want to convey. Add these details to the brand section of your music business plan.
For one, this will help you make sure your branding makes sense for the idea you have. It will also serve as a good cheatsheet for when you need to create brand elements down the line.
Analyze the Competition
Another standard section of business plans is a competitor analysis. Once you figure out what business you want to start, look at your main competitors.
You should be able to find them on Google and/or social media. Do some research into what exactly each business does and how it operates.
Take note of this for both your competitor analysis section but also your business overall. That way, you can build your business so that it stands out from the rest.
Niche Down
Researching your competition can also help you choose the right niche for you. A niche is another word for specialization or focus.
It explains what you do and who you help. For example, my niche is modern music careers, and I help musicians build their careers to work in the 21st century.
You can get as specific as you want. It may sound counterintuitive, but niching down can help you attract more of your ideal clients than if you were a generalist.
Add Your Marketing Strategy
You’ll also want to add your marketing strategy to your business plan. Most businesses, especially smaller ones, rely on the internet to spread the word.
But if you teach private lessons, you may also use emails to connect with band directors. You could also look into local business directories or put up your posters in local cafes.
No two businesses will have identical marketing strategies, and that’s okay. Use your competitor research to inform your marketing strategy. Just make sure it’s something you can keep up with.
Don’t Forget to Implement
Once you’ve written your music business plan, it’s time to put it to use! Keep the plan in mind when creating content, marketing yourself, and creating new paid offers.
Your biz plan is supposed to be a tool to help you succeed in your business. Let it do its job, and refer to it whenever you’re unsure of how to proceed with something.
Tips to Write a Good Music Business Plan
As you write your business plan, keep the following tips in mind to make it useful. Then, you can have a greater chance at seeing results from your efforts.
Start With One Business
A lot of us musicians do multiple things, and that’s great. However, you should start with just one business idea and one business plan.
You can always write another business plan for your next thing. But it’s best to focus on one thing when you first start running a business.
That way, you won’t get pulled in multiple directions. Instead, you can dedicate all of your energy to this one thing, which can help you see success much sooner.
Be Specific
Not only should you choose a niche for your business, but you should also get specific in other ways. Instead of saying your goal is to make money, put a number to it.
Maybe you want to make $3,000 per month to start. Or instead of setting a goal to have a full private studio, figure out how many students that would be for you.
If you don’t know what to write for a goal, that’s okay. You can do some research to determine what sounds realistic for you and your situation.
Be Realistic
While it’s great to set a goal to earn $10,000 per month within a year, consider that the goal may be a little too high. This is particularly true if you’re starting from zero.
Sure, some people can reach that sort of revenue goal, but not everyone can. That’s totally okay, but you want to set goals you’re pretty sure you can reach.
They can be a little difficult to hit, but don’t make them astronomical. You can always edit your goals as you go.
Remember It’s a Living Document
Don’t put too much pressure on your music business plan. It can have errors, and it can have goals that you don’t end up hitting when you hoped to.
You can always go back in and edit your business plan to reflect changes in your business or life. The nice thing about computers is it’s super easy to change things like business plans.
Make time to review your business plan at least once per quarter. Change anything that needs it, and follow any plans you’ve neglected.
Keep It Simple
Another thing that can help you get your music business plan written is to not think too much. Keep it as simple as possible.
You don’t need to spend a ton of time formatting the document to look pretty. Focus on the text, and make sure it’s easy for you to read.
That’s all that really matters right now.
Write a Music Business Plan Today
Knowing how to write a music business plan is vital when starting a business. You can use the document to set goals and plan for your future.
If you don’t know where to start, subscribe for access to a music business plan template!
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