Had a long meeting at work yesterday. A group was pulled together to determine if we should handle the business of a potential Client. We’re a service business and there were several points to our debate:
1.) The Client doesn’t have much work.
2.) It will require a large amount of manual work on our part (we are very high tech).
3.) It may lead to other work.
4.) What should we charge?
I thought to myself how often I had had the same choices as a musician and yet I never debated a thing — I just TOOK THE WORK! I wish I had thought more like this:
1.) The Client doesn’t have much work.
As I look back on my music career, I’ve realized that I spent an awful lot of time working with Clients like this. Certainly there were times when I was starving and ANY work was welcomed, but in reality, this was rarely the case. I now know that this work usually took me away from my career goals. If you truly NEED the work, take it. But otherwise, stick to your goals.
2.) It will require a large amount of manual work on our part (we are very high tech).
I can confidently say that without exception, every “little bit” of work I took as a musician took TWICE the effort of normal work and the business world has only confirmed this understanding. True professionals — serious people — work, and they work a lot. Less professional people work less. They also know less, and/or have less capable equipment than the busy folks. Therefore it’s often painful working with them, and I do mean painful. No matter what you do in music, or what your goal is, keep this in mind. It will help you make sure you understand the short term AND long term ramifications of what you’re deciding.
3.) It MAY lead to other work.
I emphasize may because this is always a part of every low end deal you’ll be offered. I guarantee it! Without fail, every lousy gig I had offered to me had this as the promise. Now, I ask you, if the work is lousy, or the person unprofessional and unskilled, why would you want MORE of it?
4.) What should we charge?
This is the question that gave me the most challenge as a musician. My answer now? Charge what you’re worth. Always. Especially if the work is difficult like what we’re discussing here.
In the end, my company decided to charge a premium to this Client because of all the extra work involved. Our mindset was that if we lost the business, we’d be fine without it. If we got it, we’d be paid for the extra headaches it would bring.
Make sure that as a music person, you’re thinking the same way.
(p.s. Before my company spoke to the Client about our decision, something came up internally and they backed out of discussions. This is also typical–Clients like this are often unstable. This is a headache worth avoiding too…)
