Business Lessons We Can All Learn: The Boosie Situation

Let me start by saying…it’s not that serious people! So what Boosie didn’t perform… (Did You Die?!). No really, it happens and it’s really not that big of a deal, however there are many lessons that can be learned from that day. Some folks seem very angry about what happened, and I just don’t understand why, ya’ll do it it for The Vine though, so I get it.

Also, most of the people I notice commenting on the Boosie show were either (a) Not there or (b) Have never actually BOOKED a show before and have no idea what is required as a promoter and the complexities involved. (NO, posting a flyer on Facebook does not make you a promoter…I don’t care what your Facebook title says). In our local area, there are only a small, tiny, handful of people who actually BOOK shows, and each one of them (at least the ones I know) have dealt with some kind of loss dealing with unprofessional artists who do not hold up to the terms of agreements. That is why you really never see that small majority of people making comments, because most of them have been there and done that.

What I know for sure is that Trill Ent is not the most professional group of individuals; trust, I know this first hand. Do I really believe that the promoters of the Boosie event PURPOSELY sought out to steal people’s ticket money? Hell No, that would be ridiculous; they have absolutely nothing to gain from doing that except for a bad reputation.

HOWEVER… being one of the people who were actually out at the event, I can say that the promoters did not do a professional job of having an organized, well planned event. In other words, the day was a Clusterfuck of Disorganization, some of which they had little control, some they had lots of control. What I believe is that the day could have gone MUCH better if they had just made the most of what they already had available.

Here are Six Business Lessons that each one of us (Including myself) can learn from The Boosie Situation:

1) Consult a Professional
Just because your homeboys have convinced you that you throw an event, doesn’t make it so. Putting on a huge event can be stressful, time consuming and overwhelming. For goodness sake, this isn’t a House Party; these are events where the goal is to make money. If you have no experience in planning large events, contact people who do! Even if you need to pay them to oversee the various aspects, it will be worth it in the end. There’s no need for the blind to lead the blind, and that is what it looked like on Saturday.

2) Sometimes Less is More
Keep it simple. It sounds cliché, but sometimes we try to do too much. You can have a successful event, and keep it simple and classy. On Saturday, it was a Car & Bike show, a Boosie Concert, a Family Fun day event….hol up, hol up, hol up (in my Wiz voice). Not to say this idea couldn’t work, but perhaps for a group who had never organized an event of this magnitude – it was possibly too complex. Just stick to the basics. A Car & Bike Show would have been fine, but they never even showcased the cars and the bikes. For the first half of the day, the Cars and bikes should have been on display in the center of the field, especially to take away from the distraction of not having an artist and not having any sound. Instead, the cars, bikes and beautiful trophies were just placed in the background, which made it appear extremely awkward.

3) Stay within your budget, but stop being CHEAP
Half-assing just isn’t in style this season. First thing you need to do is calculate ALL costs. Calculate to see if you even have acceptable capital to throw an event, what do you need to do to break-even, what do you need to do to make money. Your total costs need to be completely covered with an additional 10% markup for the CYAF (covering your ass fund). There were some weird things going on Saturday, and it was obvious that these were “cost-cutting strategies”. For example, building a stage at the fairgrounds?? Hunh?? The fairground has about 4 different stages, so the only thing to conclude is building a stage saved them money…I guess. $20 tickets, hunh?? Everyone knows Boosie isn’t cheap…even if there was supposedly some sort of “hook-up”; ticket prices should be based on 1) same act’s price in other cities at similar venues 2) other variable costs c) market conditions d) venue size. Two Weeks out from the day of the event, look at how many tickets have been sold and look at your costs. If you only sold 300 tickets 2 weeks out, do you really expect to sell another 1000 in the next week or so. Be realistic and save yourself from heartache. Also, stop thinking “we’re gonna make money at the gate”! Cut that out!

4) Marketing, Promotion
If you are having an event where you are expecting 100 guests, then marketing & promoting in your town/city/area via Radio, TV, flyers is fine. However, if you are having an event where you are trying to draw thousands of people, then your marketing and promoting needs to be turned up to maximum levels. Meaning, radio/tv/flyers in your city & outside of your city (especially if you have a population of under 200,000). And I know many people are not going to appreciate this, but – paying “so-called” popular people on Facebook to put the flyer up and post about it is a complete waste of money. I will go into this at another time, however Facebook already creates tools that businesses can use that will do this for you and all you have to spend is $10 bucks per day and you are able to reach way more people strategically than any Online Promoter, so stop wasting your money on that.

5) Be honest
People are not as dumb as you think. “Boosie Is a Dick” … is he kidding me? Did he actually just say that? Does he actually think anyone believes this? This man was locked up for how many years, has been doing tours all across the country, and you want us to believe he comes to Charleston, drives up to the gate, in hopes of being A Dick? Please have a stadium full of seats. Be honest, trust me, people will respect you more in the morning.

6) Stop with this Hook-Up Mentality
Law 40 – Despise the Free Lunch, remember, from the book “48 Laws of Power”

What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

This doesn’t just apply to people trying to get stuff for free, but this applies to these “discounts” and “hookups” as well. People are convinced that Boosie hates Charleston, no – that man just wants to be paid the rate that he has earned. Imagine if you go to work on Monday morning and your boss asks you to work an entire 8 hours at work, but he only wanted to pay you $10/hour instead of the $20/hour that you typically make. Would you work that day? Hell No! As Charleston people would say; “Run that man his check!” There is rarely anything great that comes out of a “hook-up”. Stop always trying to use people, scam people, beg for shit, not pay people, get discounts, be cheap…shall I go on…

(7) THE 5 P’S Will Never Steer You Wrong: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

“Who fails to plan, plans to fail”, that’s a Proverb right? Anywho, it was painfully obvious that there were some aspects of the event that were not properly planned out. Sound/Lighting, Vendor updates/information, etc. A well thought out, written plan of action would have been a great start.

Listen, what happened on Saturday could have happened to anyone, I am sure that all involved with putting this event together feel bad enough for not being able to provide the people who were there with an enteratining event. There are actually many more lessons like: making the most of what you DO have, explaining yourself on Facebook, attitudes/humility/arrogance, text message deals versus contracts. Listen, I could go on and on, but I’m tired of typing.

OK, I can’t end this post without saying something nice, hmmm lets see… (1)they had a plethora of security, so you could bring the young ones out and feel safe, (2) out of the people who were in charge that day, there was at least ONE that had a nice attitude and was trying to be helpful, and, (3) Miami Blaze and another rap group (I didn’t get their names) had great performances… annnnd that’s about it. #SipsTea