Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 8 – Details, Sustainability, and Financials
For Exercise 8, the goal was to come up with a spreadsheet detailing out the financials for The Campfire (still my working title for this event!), per my visual model from Exercise 7.
I started out basic and tried not to add any of the extra stuff like sound/lighting techs, marketing teams, or anything that just felt like it would be “nice, but extra” to the event. But even with just the basics (a venue and an entrance fee at the door), it was pretty easy to see quickly that in order to make this work sustainably, I would need either donors from the start or a free venue (not impossible, going on the info I have from my latest round of advice!).
It also forced me to come up with a set of working assumptions – how much am I going to charge at the door? How often am I doing the event? How much would the venue be? Would any of those numbers increase or decrease over time? How many people will I have and how will it grow over time? The spreadsheet forced me to make some decisions, then see how the numbers shake out. By trying to make an event that actually comes out in the black, I had to take a hard look at the different entities I had come up with in my visual model and decide which are necessary and which are just “nice to have.” I figured the best way to start is to cut all the fat. A simple event is easier to plan, has less places to go wrong, and we can always add bells and whistles later on.
Did the project evolve during this step?
This is an interesting question – the answer is both yes, and no. On paper, the project hasn’t really changed much. It’s still a group of people gathering at a venue and sharing stories. But in my mind, the project now feels far more thought-out. The value of this exercise has definitely been in forcing me to shine a light on the inner workings and mechanics of the project. I feel like I’ve considered far more angles than I had when the event was more just an idea in my head. Now it feels concrete. It feels real. In that way, what the project is to me evolved and changed a lot.
Problematic Areas
After reading the appropriate section of Josh’s book, I feel like I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting to as I started to build the spreadsheet. I knew the goal was to come out with a positive dollar amount at the end of 2 years, and I think I was able to ‘foresee’ the problems I knew I was going to hit – early there’s a good chance we’ll be in the red, but I’ll need to build a set of assumptions and price my tickets so that it eventually gets into the black by the end.
The best part of building out a spreadsheet (if you make use of the formulas) is that you can see in real time as you fiddle with the different dials you have to adjust your final revenue and can rapidly iterate. My first projection said “$100 for the venue, $5 per person at the door, and 5 people to start, with a 1 person growth per event.”
You don’t even need a spreadsheet for that one…That gets you $25 per event, and $100 for the cost of the venue…that’s a profit of -$75. Even when you get up to 10 people, you’re still at -$50 per event. After two years, you’re pretty deep in the red.
I ended up adding some donors and upping the fee to account for that, and I think what I came up with is still perfectly reasonable and keeps me in the black by event 4 or so.
Depending on how the event grows, I could start adding bells and whistles, but for now I’m keeping it simple.
Conversations with Others
How has this affected how I feel about talking about my event to others and asking for advice? It gave me more confidence. It makes me feel like I’ve really thought this through and covered my bases. If someone were to ask me “Well what are you planning to charge?” or “How many people do you think are actually gonna show?” or “How do you see this event growing over time?” I’d have an answer now that I wouldn’t have before doing this exercise.
Onward and Upward
Moving into the next exercise, I’ll be honest, I just know that it’s an essay before the final challenge: talking to 10 people who are valuable to my project and asking them for advice. A final reflection on all that I’ve learned and accomplished before seeking out advice from those who know the most.
Let’s see what I’ve learned!
