Synergy - Part Two

Hi there...

If you've browsed through the bulk of my 5 or 6 posts (humor attempt), you likely saw a post about Synergy and your business.

That relationship is still going strong. His business is doing absolutely fantastic ... to the point of his purchasing his own advertising - which brings additional customers into my studio at no cost to me.

Well, I stumbled upon another business idea that I would not have thought of had it not happened out of necessity.

My daughter turned 13 last April. Instead of having two separate parties for both sides of the family, we wanted one, big party. We decided to have it at the studio because we could crank the music for the girls, have a nice quiet area for the grandparents and plenty of room for the kids to have a great time.

Here is the interesting part ....

Even though the closed sign was up, with all the lights on and the music playing, people kept coming into the shop. When I explained we were closed due to having a party, three different customers asked how much we charged for birthday parties.

DING DING DING DING - the proverbial light bulb going off - DING DING DING

In reasearching my market, I found that private, themed birthday parties fetch $250-$500. Additionaly, there were very few choices for boys. Most themed parties were princess parties, tea parties, etc.

So, after some internet research, I developed a music themed party - One for boys built around Guitar Hero and one for Girls built around American Idol.

So, we're now doing birthday parties at the studio on Saturday's. And you know what? It is a great recruiting tool for new students. The kids come in, we have cool music going, we have Guitar Hero or Karaoke hooked up, we have the lights and the fog machine going and a cool vibe happening.

By the end of the party, most of our studio brochures are in the hands of the kids/parents for private music lessons.

So, not only am I bringing in additional revenue with the parties, I'm also keeping our teachers booked with a steady stream of new students - made even more important that we're now in our slow season, summer.

So in conclusion, keep your business radar on at all times for new ideas. You'll never know when something will come up that will take your business to the next level.

Until next time, work hard and best of luck to you!