Feeling overwhelmed

Toto

Hey Pobby, I wondered how many other noise boys and lampies would be on here lol. Business has been hit and miss this year, we have some good regular clients who keep us afloat but I am finding so many people are undercutting at the moment it is really tough to pick up new business. We are mostly rock and roll, we do the odd corporate gig here and there but we aren't really set up for the corporate market. All of our gear is EAW and Martin and we only have Midas desks and a PM5D digital so we tend to be a bit too big for the corporate market, which is a shame because that's where the money is lol. But we are musicians so that's why we are rock and roll, we do what we know.

But, I did have a client this morning say, I don't want to use your engineer because I can get one for £100. That drives me insane, why would someone go out for £100 and drive the market down again and again for everyone. I hear it all the time from the freelancers, they are all complaining that they are having to work for next to nothing these days because there is never the budget for a sound engineer anymore. I am getting tougher though, we offer a really quality product and I am prepared to stand by that, I am not putting out a 10k rig with monitor engineer and front of house 500 miles away for £500 lol We are in London, where are you? It's even worse up north!

But summer is looking ok, just hoping we can put enough in the bank to see us through the jan, feb, march killer months.

Let me know where you are, PM me with some details of your gear etc and if I get any enquiries in which we can't do in your area I will pass them on to you. Also if you freelance as eiher a lighting or sound engineer let me know we often need help there.

Toto

To update you all, never one to sit on my bum doing nothing I have been out this morning and I have looked at 4 houses to rent.

I have found one which althouh could do with a lick of paint is otherwise great. Ok, the garden is really small, basically a courtyard and my little one won't like that (she is handicapped) but other than that it's ideal. In a good part of town, the kids won't need to change schools.

The best bit is it has a huge double garage linked into the house (it's a town house). which has been converted into some kind of studio. It is insulated , damp-proof and alarmed. It is the same size as our storage unit, so we could give up the storage and have our sound gear in the house. To the back of the house is another storage place which we can put loads of lighting gear.

We would still need to hire the bit of workshop we currently rent but we would anyway, we need to repair gear and we need to store the speakers there. The house has an ofiice, more room generally and is only £800 a month including council tax and water rates. So I save £386 on my mortgage, £135 on council tax, £23 on water rates, £38 on household insurance and £265 on the storage unit. a saving of £847 a month.

We move on 12th July LOL.

lynzpower

SOunds perfect Toto

Whats your OH thinking about selling, does he agree its a good idea? Sounds brill to me, esp if you can get part inclusive :T

Toto

He was all for the idea. We spoke to his parents last night who said that if we found a reasonable priced house they would help with the transition costs while the house is on the market. We do need to move first, there is no way we could market the house while the business is running from here. So my main worry was what if we don't sell right away? I can't afford mortgage and rent. But, his parents agree that this is the most sensible thing to do and have said they will pay the rent untill we sell. I was really opposed to that idea because it feels like more borrowing but OH insisted we say yes. It is lovely of them and I really appreciate their help. They said they don't want it repayed, they have some money invested for us to inherit, but I would like to pay it back. Hopefully we can get a quick sale and it won't be much of an issue.

I am not going to go nuts spending a fortune on this house, I plan magnolia throughout, sort out the ceiling in the hallway and replace some carpeting upstairs which is 7 years old and looks really shabby now, but I will put very cheap carpet down, just to look new. The bathroom could do with gutting (we never did get around to that) but I am going to leave it. The kitchen is new so doesn't need any work. The gardens are awful, we are both just terrible at gardening but I guess it's time we got good at it.

Hopefully it won't take longer than a couple of weeks to get it ready. I will light it nicely to make it look really modern (it's amazing what a few good lights can do) and I already have lighting in the warehouse. It is a balance though between spending a little money to get the house sold but not throwing money I don't have at it.

Actually, I have had a bit of interest in my house already and it isn't even on the market yet. The estate agent said she was desperate for some houses in my area and had a couple who had missed out on the sale of the house next door (2 weeks ago) who asked if any others were available in the area. SHe called them and they said they were still looking and would like to view EEK! I am so not ready lol. She said that houses go like hot cakes around here. I have to say I do notice that people tend to sell quite quickly, it seems as soon as I notice they are selling the sold board is up.

Thanks for helping me, I had been toying with this idea for a while but was afraid to make the decision. I guess I just needed to talk it through. Pobby is right IO is renting, I don't own anything really apart from a great big debt. It will be nice to breathe for a while, get some money in the bank (you watch me become a money saving maverick, I am getting there already).