What I Learned from Turning My Band into a Business

In my first blog post, I talked about how my first business was a success. If you haven’t read it you can click here to read it. 

Now I want to talk about my first business failure. But I don't really see it as a failure. As Nelson Mandela said: "I either win or learn". So at the end of the story, I want to share what I learned. 

My early twenties was a time of many late drunk nights and playing music in various bands. Yet somehow I also managed to finish a university degree AND start two businesses on the side. 

At the time I played in two bands. One of these bands would be a success, unlike anything I could have imagined at the time. It would also be my next business venture that later would fail spectacularly. 

The band I’m talking about was called The Luxe. It started as a collaboration between me and a guy I met online named Timmie. It wasn’t love at first sight. Timmie was into Coldplay and mainstream pop. I was more into The Smiths and indie type of pop. 

However, after playing together a few times we both realized we complimented each other pretty well. Timmie had a unique voice and style that I came to appreciate. After a few months of writing songs together, we decided to form a band. Timmie knew a bass player and a drummer. 

I vividly remember the first rehearsal session with the band. We were a mix of 4 very different personalities. My initial thoughts were that things wouldn’t work out. 

However, one thing we did have in common was the desire to become successful and "make it" in the music industry. 

Within 3-4 months of rehearsing, we had 4 songs ready for recording. We decided we would release our first EP. None of us had ever been in a studio before. 

When we arrived at the studio, we were greeted by a tired audio engineer who seemed like he would rather be anywhere else but there. Being complete novices in the studio we had no idea how the whole process would work. 

We followed along with what the audio engineer suggested and managed to finish the EP. Most of what we recorded sounded pretty awful. Despite that we still released it and the EP can still be found online to this day (check it out here if you are interested). 

However, one song stood out and didn't sound terrible! It was a duet we recorded with the drummer's girlfriend called “An Untitled Situation”.

Our drummer found an online competition, hosted by Warner Music and MySpace. We saw it as an opportunity to kickstart our careers. 

We signed up for the competition along with 2000 other contestants. We submitted "An Untitled Situation" since this was our best-sounding song by far. We had our eyes on 1st price, which meant signing a single contract with Warner Music. It also meant MySpace would promote the release (this was back when MySpace was still a huge platform).

To get considered by the judges of the competition we needed to get into the top 10. We would need a lot of votes to get there. We launched a massive campaign to get friends and family onboard to vote for us. We used any tactic we could think of to get our vote count up. It worked! We got into the top 10. 

The contest would then be settled at a live event in Stockholm. 5 bands would be selected by Warner Music to compete. To our surprise, we were one of the bands selected. 

We had never played live together at this point. I remember doing our last rehearsal before going to Stockholm feeling really nervous. We definitely didn't feel ready to play live yet! Especially not in front of a crowd of important people from the music industry. I prayed for a miracle and that we wouldn’t suck too bad on the day of the competition. 

We made our live debut in the same venue the Foo Fighters had played a few weeks earlier. We had only existed as a band for less than a year and here we had the opportunity of a lifetime. 

We played our song live and somehow managed to perform it somewhat decently. After our performance, we went to celebrate. Not because we had won, but because we played our first gig successfully at a prestigious venue in front of some of the most influential people in the music industry.

In our eyes, that in itself was a victory. But then came the biggest shock of our lives. We actually won the entire contest. In just a few months, we had gone from forming a band to being signed to release a single through one of the world's biggest record labels. 

Our dream of "making it" in the music industry all of the sudden seemed very real. Everything happened so fast, and I started to freak out. What would happen next? Would I have to quit university to pursue a career in music full-time? 

But soon reality hit us. Warner Music didn't want to renew our contract and decided to drop us. Also, despite having a massive promotion campaign behind us, we got very little attention. Soon most people had forgotten about us.

Despite this disappointment, we were still determined to reach the top and realize our dreams of becoming a world-famous band.

We had a desire to go out and play as many gigs as we possibly could! By putting ourselves out there as much as possible, our hope was that we would catch the attention of someone important in the music industry. 

There was only one problem: we were broke. To play the number of gigs we wanted, we needed our own tour bus. We also needed the ability to pay for hotel, gasoline, and food. Most venues were not willing to sponsor an unknown band to perform at their venue. 

This all was about to change one fateful night.

We were at a party, and a friend of a friend approached us. She said she liked our band. This girl had money she was looking to invest in various companies, and for some reason, she had decided she wanted to invest in us!

We didn't take the offer seriously and just assumed it was the booze talking. To our great surprise, she contacted us a couple of days later to let us know the offer was still standing. It was too good of an opportunity to turn down, so we said yes. 

Within a few weeks, we set up our first limited company, which sole purpose was to finance any endeavors The Luxe wanted to undertake. And just like that, we had access to a substantial amount of money that would last us at least a couple of years.

We now had the budget to buy a cheap bus. We also had the budget to take any gig, paid or not. The following year we played over 40 gigs all over Sweden, as well as some gigs outside of Sweden. All thanks to the investment our friend made. 

But there was soon to be trouble in paradise. After a while, we started to become incredibly careless with our money. Most of us were broke students and the fact that we now had a business debit card loaded with cash was often very tempting. When we played gigs and wanted a boozy night out afterward, the company often paid for that. 

Soon this type of spending became a habit. We also decided to print t-shirts and stock up on other merch that didn't sell very well. We were bleeding money, and very little or nearly no money came into the company. You don't have to be a business expert to see where this was heading. 

However, as a consequence of us being able to put ourselves out there more, we did gain more and more attention. As a result, we got more fans, and more opportunities coming our way.  

We played festivals, many more venues on our bucket list and we won a few more competitions. From the outside things seemed to go really well. But within the band tensions were rising. 

Our different personalities became a bigger and bigger hindrance in the creative writing process. We produced very few songs. In one year, we would usually only write 1 or 2 new songs. 

Things were not looking bright. Also, our money from our company was starting to run out. Timmie and I had conversations about maybe ending it all. And soon, we did. 

We all felt that the passion that had been there, in the beginning, was no longer there. Going to rehearsals now just felt like showing up to a job we didn't feel like doing. 

The band ended after an impromptu meeting after a band rehearsal on a late summer evening in 2012. The meeting was very short and to the point. We all agreed it was time to call it quits. 

Even if we disbanded that same evening, it would take a couple of years before our company finally filed for bankruptcy. 

We all went our separate ways. Timmie started a duo project named Kastrup 2 years later (check them out here). I took an 8-year break from music before returning as a solo artist (you can check me out here). 

There was no bad blood between any of us. The girl who invested in our band remained friends long after we split up. 

So what did I learn?

Let's start with what we did right. 

We all had a clear vision that we worked relentlessly towards. Call it the law of attraction or whatever you like, but if you have a clearly defined vision and work towards it, things will start to go your way. It's as if the universe meets you halfway. 

Hard work without a clear end goal is like trying to navigate a map without knowing where you want to go.

Another thing that we had going for us was the environment we created. I'm sure you have heard the expression, "you are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with". In my case, I surrounded myself with 3 other success-hungry and hard-working individuals. 

It was hard to NOT stay motivated in their company. This created enormous momentum. If you want to succeed, surround yourself with other people that are either striving for success or has already accomplished success. You won't accomplish anything of significance on your own.

Now let's look at what we could have done better.

When that investment opportunity came our way it was like our prayers had been answered. However, we soon started to take the money for granted and we began to spend money like there was no tomorrow. 

We didn't create a budget and just spent money without much thought. We should have created a budget and carefully spent money only on things we needed. 

I would also advise anyone considering going into business with a friend to reconsider. When money gets involved things can get complicated and sour the friendship. 

Going into a business partnership I would select someone to compliment me. In our case, we were 4 creative young and careless musicians who knew very little about business, budgeting etc. Ideally, we should have involved someone with at least some business experience. 

And those were the key lessons I learned from turning my band into a business.

My First Business was Wild, Sweaty and Exciting

When you hear the word business most of us think suits, meetings, budgeting, tech startups and so on. It has a very serious ring to it. 

My first business was anything BUT serious. It was the most fun I ever had in my life (up until that point) and I didn't even realize I had started my first business at the time. 

But let's back up a bit. Back when I was 22 I had no desire to start a business. I've only heard about other people starting businesses... and failing. This aspect of business had put me off big time from ever attempting to start a business of my own. 

So how did a guy, who had no interest in business, unknowingly start a successful business?

It all started on a warm summer afternoon. My friend, Johannes, and I sat outside in a park enjoying the sun and a couple of lukewarm beers. 

We eventually started talking about our favorite nightclub, KB. Or it had been our favorite place... 

KB had been around for ages. My mom used to go there when she was young. That's how old the club was! It proudly announced, "Rock n' Roll Club" at the entrance of the club. 

Me and Johannes had enjoyed many late nights there. One of the reasons we loved going there was because of the music! They used to play all the indie rock hits and classics all night. It was the only nightclub in town that was all about indie rock!

But things took a turn for the worse... as the club gained in popularity the music slowly started to change. To appeal to the "new crowd" more mainstream music was played! KB slowly started to feel like all the other clubs in town. 

As we talked about KB one of us uttered: "Somebody should start a new club. A real indie rock club"...

Johannes jokingly said: "Maybe we should do it..." 

I sat quietly for a few seconds thinking about what he had just said:

"Why not. Think about it... how much would it actually cost to arrange something ourselves". 

Johannes knew a guy who could rent us a space in a basement. The guy also had a permit to serve alcohol. All we now needed was a sound system and nightclub lighting. 

We told friends about our project and the response was overwhelmingly positive. 

Now we HAD to do it! We decided on a date and booked the space. We found the equipment we needed but it would cost us all the money we had. At the time I was taking a sabbatical year from university and was working a minimum wage job i.e. I was broke.

I was so excited about turning this idea into a reality that I didn't care about the risk! I was willing to gamble it all. 

I announced that I would be the DJ, despite the fact that I'd never DJed in my life! I started training at home during the weeks leading up to the opening night.

We named the club "Le Fou". It's French, meaning the fool or madman. Which would turn out to be a fitting name for how the club turned out. 

We emailed every newspaper in town about our event. We printed hundreds of flyers and put them up all over town. We told all our friends about the event. Heck, we told anyone we would meet about the event!

We managed to convince two friends to volunteer (since we had no money to pay them). One as a bartender and the other working in the wardrobe. 

Weeks passed and the night finally arrived. I will never forget sitting in the middle of the dance floor eating pizza (which I had bought with my very last money) across from Johannes. I can't remember being so nervous up until this point in my life. But at the same time excited. 

"The calm before the storm"

I couldn't believe what was about to happen as the opening hour approached. I took my position in the DJ both. I started blasting out the finest indie rock music across the dance floor in preparation for the doors to be opened. 

The countdown had begun. We were minutes away from executing our dreams of running our very own indie rock nightclub! The excitement in the room was tangible. 

The door opened AND....nothing. There was nobody waiting outside. 

I was playing the setlist that I had rehearsed for weeks to an empty dancefloor. 

30 minutes passed and 3 of my friends stumbled onto the dancefloor... drunk out of their minds. 

"Great party Nic", they shouted at me as they laughed and walked over to the bar. 

My heart sank. I had spent all my money to basically entertain my 3 friends. 

BUT THEN, what seemed like a miracle at the time happened!

"You won't believe this", Johannes shouted at me. 

"There is cue forming outside", he continued.

"Guests finally arriving!"

Just as he finished his sentence the first few people started coming into the dancefloor. Soon a steady stream of people made their way into the club.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing! 

The dance floor filled up within the next hour, and soon, people were queuing to get in. We had reached the full capacity of the space. 

I remember the vibe of that night was unlike any other nightclub. People really let loose! People took off their shirts on the dancefloor, drinks were spilled everywhere, and the energy was through the roof. 

People kept coming up to me and making requests. At some points during the night, it got a bit overwhelming. I felt exhausted dealing with my DJ set and all the drunk people constantly coming up to me. 

Some girls even made their way into the DJ booth wanting to "hang out." It was wild! 

"Me trying to DJ while being pestered by girls... ugh"

"Success!"

At the night's end, we knew we had created something special and that the club had to go on! 

Once we closed down the club, we quickly cleaned out the place. Then, we sat down and counted the money from the register. We had made a profit! It wasn't huge, but non the less we had more money than we had before the event. 

We wasted no time and took a cab to the nearest club that was still open and splashed most of our profits on cheap beers and ciders. 

I remember feeling high from the experience that night. It was a rush to experience success like that on our first event, especially after weeks of anticipation and doubt about whether anyone would even show up. 

After our initial success, more people wanted to work with us. We now split the costs between 6 people instead of 2 for the coming events making it easier for us financially. 

We continued running the club successfully for 6 months straight before we decided to take a break! Unfortunately, the club is on a break to this very day. 

At the time I didn't realize it. I had successfully started my first business. Little did I know it was one of many to come. 

The point of the story is to illustrate what starting a business can look like! 

Many people don't think they are cut out for business. I was one of those people. At the time, I didn't see what value I could bring through a business. All I liked to do was go out clubbing and listening to music. 

The two advantages I had here were:

1. I liked going out clubbing; hence I knew the local club scene very well in my town
2. I loved listening to music. Not only that, but I also composed music. I was immersed in music every single day. Music was my life, and I knew which bands were hot on the indie music scene. 

Ask yourself, what am I good at? What do I like? 

Is there something you are missing that you would like to see? 

Why not create it yourself?

Tim Ferriss talks about the concept of "scratching your own itch". This means that you create something YOU want, something you feel is missing.

Most likely, there will be other people feeling the same way. 

Business doesn't have to be scary. On the contrary, it can be a lot of fun! 

For my next blog post, I will tell you about my second business which taught me why you should never let any of your friends invest money in your business. Let's just say things got pretty crazy... Stay tuned for that.