May is New Zealand Music Month. NZ is full of an incredible range of artists and bands that deserve to be celebrated and acknowledged. This led us to think about the similarities between a band and a business; both are a tight team of people, who all have a part to play in making a business successful. Even if you’re a one-man-band who’s had to do everything, it’s important to have a team of people around you to support you.
Having a drummer in a band is so important. They keep the rest of the band in time (well, they’re meant to) and provide the rhythmic “backbone” of a song, helping to structure it and give context to the rest of the instruments. Your drummer is the person – or team of people – that keeps your business ticking over, and moving forward.
Having a great accountant or bookkeeper is like having a good drummer. Yes you could run your business doing all of the accounts yourself, using accounting software, but that doesn’t give you the outside view and experience that a good accountant can. They’re able to keep an eye on your accounts and see where there are places that can be improved, save you time and stress, and money in the long run.
A bass guitarist can really make or break a band. They have to bridge the gap between being rhythmic and harmonic. They help to shape and drive the melody, but most of the time they’re sitting in the background doing a bunch of pretty unglamorous work.
In business terms they’re your unsung heroes; they’re the types of people who work in the background, like administrators or assistants. To the average customer they might not stand out, but without them the whole business would quickly fall over. They keep you in time and up to date with most if not all the work you do in a day.
The next part of a band is the guitarist. Both the Lead guitar and the Rhythm Guitar have important parts to play. The Lead plays the melody and gets the attention with solos, while the rhythm guitar provides a catchy background and joins in with the harmonies. Your guitars are your marketing and communications team. They’re all about helping people to understand the story and strengths of the business. This can be done by getting in the audience’s faces or by sitting in the background, keeping the messaging consistent across the board.
Most bands have a vocalist which plays the vital role of expressing the message of each song. They’re generally considered to be the heart and soul of the band, a lot of the time they’re the reason people listen to the band in the first place (although the rest of the band might disagree). This is you- the business owner. You are what connects with your clients, and the passion and dedication to your business is why people work with you.
Some bands have extra bits and pieces such as a keyboard, a full orchestral section. These are the extra parts of your team that are specific to your industry or the size of your business, and give your brand its unique strengths. They might be an integral part of your business, or only involved in specific aspects. They’re people like HR Consultants, Lawyers, and Business Advisors; they’re really important and add value every time they contribute.
Your band will also have songs that have featured artists. Your featured artists are other professionals that you have a working relationship or synergy, that your clients can benefit from. So instead of “Catching Feelings” by Drax Project ft. Six60 it’d be Sam’s hit Real Estate single “Selling Your House” ft Bob the Conveyancing Lawyer*.
Finding the right band members that you really jam with can be hard to do. Sometimes it can take a bit of trial and error. There are many ways of finding people to work with. You could search the industry you need on Google and go from there, ask your friends for advice, or bury your head in the sand and keep trucking along doing it yourself. Business Networking allows you to meet and build a relationship with industry professionals before you might need them, so it’s just like working with friends.
*Names have been changed
Ready to find your business band?
Come along to visit one of The Networkers® groups near you!
