When it comes to growing the income for your business the next idea might actually be right in front of you.
A few years ago when I was working with the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble one of the regular activities the company did was intensive training for the team.
When I say the team I mean the acting and administrative team because they are one and the same. The actors all hold a business portfolio as well – it is an artist run company.
It’s quite a unique and valuable process.
At the start of the calendar year, the team spend a whole week together on Stradbroke Island doing training sessions across a range of theatrical techniques and forms, then after they return they apply that training to scene work one night a week over 8-10 weeks.
When I joined as the General Manager that was where the process ended. They would train and then perform the scenes for each other.
But I saw an opportunity. I suggested we turn that training into a showcase for an audience.
There was a bit of resistance at first as there were a few concerns.
- The purpose of that training was not to produce a show, it was an exercise in stretching the actors skills with scenes that would not normally be a standard fit for them.
- There was a concern that the production might take more focus than the training and it was important that the training remained the focal point.
- They did not want to have their audience arrive expecting a full show and not receive that.
I suggested that actor training is not really complete until it is shown to an audience; that as part of moving it to a showcase there could be strict parameters set around how ‘produced’ it could be; and I suggested we be very clear with the audience on what it was, how it came to be and what to expect.
There was obviously a lot more discussion that just that but in the end the team decided to test it, and Dare to Share was born. A showcase of the training scenes by the entire team at the start of each year.
Years later it remains a staple of the calendar and a great way to inject some cash into the business right at the start of the year.
The important point from all this is that a new way to grow the income for the company was right in front of us.
All the major work (rehearsing) was already being undertaken as part of the company’s standard process and it only took a little more effort from the team to convert that into something that generated additional income.
If you took a step back from your business, is there something you do that could be an additional income stream with not much more effort?
It’s definitely something worth considering.
If you are wanting some help in achieving the next step in your business book in for a consultation and I can help you.