How many of you are quitting the business and if so why?

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MIXMASTERMACHOM

DJ Extraordinaire
ODJT Supporter
Oct 16, 2011
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I guess people already know on here I'm not quitting the business just yet. Things will have to get a lot worse for me to quit this business. Just a simple question to all.
 
I guess people already know on here I'm not quitting the business just yet. Things will have to get a lot worse for me to quit this business. Just a simple question to all.
Well if you’re not getting any gigs... you kinda sorta have already quit... just this time others chose for you.
 
I found out today based on a new Virginia Governor's order that my last two gigs of the year just got blown out. Next weekend was my highest booking of the year at $3,050. Frustrating news.

But no, I'm not quitting. I have a very profitable business with exceptionally low overhead.

If I were full time reliant on the entertainment business, I think I'd have a very different attitude. I would at the very least be looking for a side hustle if this was my main source of income.
 
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I found out today based on a new Virginia Governor's order that my last two gigs of the year just got blown out. Next weekend was my highest booking of the year at $3,050. Frustrating news.

But not, I'm not quitting. I have a very profitable business with exceptionally low overhead.

If I were full time reliant on the entertainment business, I think I'd have a very different attitude. I would at the very least be looking for a side hustle if this was my main source of income.

I lost my Full Time Job, and the DJ Business is finished for 2020, and was down 82% for the year. Covid and the Shut downs Screwed my financial stability up pretty good.

I am now actively doing a couple little side hustles. Post Mates and Amazon Flex. Waiting on a card to do Door Dash. Not much money, but better than sitting at home earning zero.

I still have a New Year's Day wedding scheduled in Maryland, BUT it is not looking good with the way things are going. I have a feeling it might get post poned as I am positive new event restrictions or a lock down will be mandated in the coming weeks. I don't think we can make it to 1/1/21 before that happens.
 
I lost my Full Time Job, and the DJ Business is finished for 2020, and was down 82% for the year. Covid and the Shut downs Screwed my financial stability up pretty good.

I am now actively doing a couple little side hustles. Post Mates and Amazon Flex. Waiting on a card to do Door Dash. Not much money, but better than sitting at home earning zero.

I still have a New Year's Day wedding scheduled in Maryland, BUT it is not looking good with the way things are going. I have a feeling it might get post poned as I am positive new event restrictions or a lock down will be mandated in the coming weeks. I don't think we can make it to 1/1/21 before that happens.

I feel for you, bud. The situation sucks. You and I disagree on a lot, but I think you're a good guy, and I hope it turns around for you quick.
 
Using Dramachoman's "logic", as it may be, I am announcing here that I am not closing my Neurosurgery practice nor am I quitting my part time works as a Gigolo for obscenely wealthy female fashion models.

Carry on Ladies & Gentlemen.....& Cisgenders, Dead namers, Gender dysphoria, Gender fluid, Gender non-conforming, Gender questioning, Genderqueers, Misgenders, Non-binary, Passing, Queers, Transgenders, Transitioning, Transsexuals, Two-spiriters, etc., etc., etc.
 
I've been taking less events over the last few years and decided to do very little DJing this year. That decision was made before the pandemic put things to a halt.

I bought a small car with good gas mileage in February and sold my Van a week later. I'm still able to do small events but due to health issues 6+ hour weddings are out for good.

I've been working with and learning more about my DAW lately, so we'll see if that leads to another source of income. If not, some type of driving job may be in my future.
 
For me, the challenge is that, being newer to the biz, I was just starting to ramp up before all of this hit so, unfortunately, I don't have the advantage of many years of referral business to help maintain some momentum. So it's been a bit tricky to know how much to invest in time, energy (money - to some degree). Our Gov just restricted events again even more which stuns me....We keep using the same "mask-wearing, social distancing, stay away from one another , decimate the economy by shutting everything down" strategy when clearly this strategy does not work. The numbers are still there and increasing. There's no evidence that our strategy is being successful. So lets move on to another strategy. Anyway, a bit challenging because, heck, you have to have some sort of expenses to keep things going but no real, consistent profit/income coming in to offset that. Seems like for those who've been able to maintain some semblance of forward momentum in their events, it's mainly due to having had significant time to build your clientele and your name/quality is already known. My strategy has been to try and simply focus on using the time to perfect my skills, work on my presentation etc and maybe when things relax a bit I will have used my time wisely.
 
My business is doing well. I didn't think I would be doing any more gigs for the rest of the year and ultimately I felt like the initial lockdown was the end for my DJ business. Surprisingly though, my rentals increased and became a new stream of income. I secured a government grant for teaching DJing online and I've returned to a couple of my restaurant/bar gigs and I am getting more requests through online DJ sites like Gig Salad although I haven't booked anything through them yet. In all honesty, my DJ related income has increased since March. I just needed to pivot and adjust my services. I could probably book more gigs but I don't like DJing in a mask so I have been turning down some gigs.
 
I am, sort of. I am no longer marketing, and only have two on the books. I no longer need the money and love my time with my wife on weekends. I might do some local jobs or donate some community stuff, but pretty sure I'm done.
 
My number of events toppled from around a hundred a year to about 25 for 2020. Yes, it was a stinger....a real difficult time. And yes, the thought of quitting all together has been talked about with my family. But no firm decision on what is the best move yet. I'm in year number 43 and have been very successful, making hundreds of thousands of dollars... (My only full time job through these years). With that being what it has been, I should be able to weather a bad year or maybe even two. Although I didn't create this profit only to use it to survive the lean times. I am nearing the retirement age and had plans to live somewhat comfortably when I did quit, and as of now I'm not in a position to premature my retirement.

Our state doesn't look to be any where close to returning to "normal" for at least another 12 months. So does it make any sense to support a business with such a poor economic future...or get out now?

Great question....wish I had a perfect answer.