Mobile Disc Jockey

Startup Costs: $10,000 - $50,000
Home Based: Can be operated from home.
Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Franchises Available? Yes
Online Operation? Yes

If you've always wanted to be a radio personality, spinning records (or CDs) and entertaining your audience with your own patented brand of patter, then this could be just the business for you. As a mobile disc jockey, you'll roll to party locations, set up your equipment on-site and fill the night (or day) with music. You'll provide entertainment at all sorts of events, from weddings to office parties to open houses and birthdays. You'll also make sure guests are having fun, encouraging would-be wallflowers to get out there and boogie, teaching line dancing or the Watusi, and initiating bunny hops or conga lines. The advantages to this business are that, first and foremost, it's fun--if you're an extrovert with an ear for music, you can't do much better unless you're a live musician. It's creative, you can start part-time, you get to party while you work, and while you won't make a fortune, your earnings will be more than respectable. You've got to be an onstage, people kind of person who can not only entertain a crowd but draw others out and help them have fun, too. You should have an appreciation for lots of kinds of music--you can't refuse to play either Perry Como or Pink Floyd if that's what your clients and their guests want to hear--plus up-to-the-nanosecond music-industry knowledge of what's new and hot. And you'll need the skills and experience to operate all that equipment smoothly and easily.

The Market

Your clients will be anybody who wants to party or help others have fun--couples or individuals, associations and organizations, corporations, and wedding and event planners. You can also target restaurant and nightclub owners. Send brochures to wedding and event planners and even caterers, who may refer you to other party planners. Place ads in your local Yellow Pages and newspapers. Post fliers on bulletin boards around colleges and frat and sorority houses.

Needed Equipment

You'll need a sound system--CD player, mixer, speakers, amplifier, a microphone--and a major collection of music of all kinds. You should also have a vehicle suitable for carrying all this around in, and liability insurance and a policy to cover your equipment in transit.