Keep in mind that your "overhead" isn't only for your business, but also for your living costs (rents / home prices / general costs of living). More importantly, you're going to want to be in a part of the country you really enjoy. There might be a massive need for a studio that specializes in polka music in Minneapolis...but do you like polka and will you enjoy 7 months of bitter cold weather? There's no point in going somewhere that you don't want to live.
I would approach it in this manner:
Firstly, investigate the cities you are thinking about (take a weekend trip, ask friends, study online, etc.) and see if it is a place you would enjoy living in.
Secondly, I would check out the musical scene in those cities. Is there a thriving music scene? Are there good live venues and record stores? How many other pro studios are there? It is very easy to find out these facts.
I brought up the aforementioned producers because they are perfect examples of producers in smaller markets who are getting work that is non-local. As I had mentioned before...pretty much any decent sized city will have multiple facilities and I don't think any market in this country has a shortage of facilities whereby moving there will fill a real need of the musical community.
Good luck!!!
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Originally Posted by Tibbon Excellent points.
Addressing the first one, i guess it is like any other job, but you need to find where the maximum of the curve is. Let's say the overhead on Manhattan (NYC) would be 10,000/month for a 3,500 sq ft facility in a decent building, and you could charge $75/hr and you could book 200 hours a month (bringing in 15K/month). If you were in Tulsa, you may only be able to charge $50/hr and book for 160 hours/month (less clients) and bring in 8,000/month but your rent is only $2,000 for a similar sized facility. In NYC you have 5,000 after rent, but in Tulsa you have 6,000. Those numbers were just off the top of my head and totally made up, but perhaps a decent representation of the costs.
And remember in NYC you'll have to pay another 300/month for a parking spot for customers or yourself if you are crazy enough to drive there daily.
Of course with the competition the key is to find a niche, many of which have already been filled in major areas like NYC, LA, Nashville, Boston, Miami, London, etc.. Perhaps Tulsa doesn't have a room to mix surround in, or a decent post room. Perhaps there isn't a good all analogue room in Kansas. Or perhaps there aren't any places that specialize in jazz recording in Michigan. Finding that niche will be important. In some areas near the southern border of the US that Niche could be speaking Spanish or such to fill a market.
I like your second point. |