Woohoo--I may be able to save my business!

[CanuckAmok]

Short recap: I co-owned a business with someone. It's a package of specialized film editing equipment, and it rents for $1500 per day.
The set-up cost waaay more than we expected it to, and, to make things worse, my partner had to bail while we were still paying it off.

So, I had to absorb a huge up-front loss, 100% of continual incedental expenses, a couple of large, one-time (hopefully) expenses, the legal fees involved in getting rid of the former partner, and crippling monthly lease payments on some of the equipment we needed for the business, to the tune of about $1600 a month. This business has cost me $34,000 in 2003.

To make things worse, I haven't been able to find a lucrative long-term contract in my "day job" since November 2001, so things are really tight.


BUT...

One of the larger leases has matured, and I don't have to pay it anymore. The other lease matures in July, and I think I'm going to be able to cover it until then.

After that, the annual operating budget of the business drops from around $22,500 to a mere $3,000. Basically, once the leases are done, I'll only have to cover insurance and security on the business. It only needs to work two days per year to cover those expenses.

So...I just might be able to keep it going!!

[ProudGerman]

1. Damn

Need a partner? I got electrical experience and I'm an ace with a delivery van.


heh. Good job dude!

[BigDaddyLove]

2. Avid?

Is that what you're renting?

[CanuckAmok]

3. Nope...

ProTools 24. It's a mobile ADR studio on the back of a soundproofed 5-ton truck.

That's why the start-up costs spiralled so badly. We budgeted $40K for the soundproofing, and it ended up costing close to 90K (and twice the weight, which required expensive modifications to the truck chassis/suspension). It's the only vehicle of its kind, so we didn't have a model to borrow from--we just had to keep spending until it worked.

[BigDaddyLove]

4. Interesting...........

is there much call for mobile ADR?

[CanuckAmok]

5. Not as much as I had hoped, but some...

it seems to be feast of famine. When we started building, in December 1999, hour-long dramatic series was still the bread and butter in Vancouver. Those are the kinds of shows which need mobile looping, because of the demands of their shooting schedule. It's far more cost effective to bring the looping in, than to send a series lead to a studio at the end of his workday, when he's in OT and Turnaround.

However, 9/11, reality TV, and a few other factors have made it a little more sporadic than I'd hoped.

Considering that everything after the first two days per year is nearly all profit, I'm more encouraged!

This has cost $180,000+ since drawing up the idea, and I was about to sell it for $50,000 and walk away...

[BigDaddyLove]

9. I wish................

that a lot of those shows would do better (more realistic) ADR work; it seems like they don't do any 'live' recording on set, and then forget to add realistic sounds in post, so all you end up with is the actors voices and nothing else.....fine for a scene in an office or kitchen, but not a street scene.

[HEyHEY]

6. I heard such equipment is supposed to be a hot comod

In bc cause of the olympics

[CanuckAmok]

7. hopefully...

but that's 7 years away...HEyHEY!

[JanMichael]

8. Great! I hope it all works out.

Maybe the US campaign season could get you some business?