Being a musician isn’t like being an entrepreneur, it is being an entrepreneur.
I am not sure exactly when it was when I started drumming, but I started getting really into it when I was about 7 years old. Like anyone my age, the fill in Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight pretty much sealed the deal for me. If you don’t know the fill to which I refer, then you’re reading this blog in error. It’s ok. You’re welcome to stay and continue reading if you want. I still like you.
It was right around then when I started setting up pillows across the couch, pulling up a small decorative end table that I used as a stool (my parents got it as a wedding gift and my mom yelled at me for sitting on it, but man, it was the perfect height), and playing drums with wooden spoons.
I haven’t stopped playing since (couldn’t if I tried), but when I founded and launched an eco-friendly music supply company, Magic Room Brand, I noticed the parallels between being a drummer and starting, building, and growing a business from scratch.
1. Know that everything you do is both a reaction to, and cause of, something.
You speed up, they speed up. You slow down, they slow down. But when your bass player settles in on a line, you have to hear it, find it, and help them keep it. Every beat listens and speaks at the same time.
In business, especially startups, every decision will have an impact. So, they should be rooted with reason (a reaction to something) and executed with a purpose (to cause something to happen).
2. Don’t just play your instrument. Play music.
Your instrument is only the medium you’ve chosen to play music. Focus on just playing your instrument and you won’t hear the song.
Never lose sight of the big picture when focused on tasks. Completing the task isn’t the goal, achieving something through that task is.
3. Don’t try to avoid mistakes. Try to make it great.
Mistakes are going to happen and a “perfect” set is as about as boring as it gets. It takes real musicians and a tight band to be able to explore the unknown, get lost, and then have the skill to find its way back.
Building a business is nothing but educated guesses. All. Day. Long. But when you teach yourself how to recover from mistakes quickly and effectively, you teach yourself how to take educated risks. It’s within those risks where growth happens. It’s within those risks where you find your business’ soul.
4. Find the tempo and stick with it.
Too slow, and it drags. Too fast, and it gets sloppy. Settle into that pocket and keep it steady.
Find a sustainable pace at which to work. I get it, building a business means no days off, but that’s even more of a reason to work at your pace, not someone else’s. Some days will need more push than others, but those days get more doable if the default pace is where it needs to be.
. . .
For a few years there in my mid-to-late-20s, I think my parents were a little worried about me and my overwhelming passion for music. Turns out that I probably learned just as much about business being in bands than I did while in business school.
It’s weird that the things I did to avoid responsibility was what ended up teaching me the most about responsibility. Dangit. I didn’t see that coming.
#bewhatyoumake
