4 Lessons I Learnt as a DJ & How I Apply them in Business

Here are four lessons I learnt as a DJ and how I apply them in my business journey:

1. The audience is your customer; there has to be two-way communication.

When I spin, I can't simply play whatever I want. If the crowd is inclined to a genre I don't enjoy as much, I still have to meet the demand! My strength is in house and top 40s commercial music. But in many venues such as Avenue at Marina Bay Sands, when the crowd looks like they are slowing down, I'll serve up a string of hip hop tracks or retro music, and if they dance harder or sing along, I'll play a few more tracks of that genre. A big part of being a DJ is crowd reading!

The same can be said in business. Give the market what it wants, not what you want. When I was procuring down jackets for Igloo Wear, I got a pilot test jacket at a low cost that would give me a fantastic margin. I also procured a few expensive but fashionable ones from Fila and Guess that would set my margin back. The expensive one did well because of the style and filling power, while customers mentioned that the one I bought at lower cost did not keep her as warm in Japan. After gathering result from my customer experience survey, I plan to keep procuring better quality but pricier because people seem to love them, although listing the jacket with higher margins on top of the catalogue would have given me better returns per rental. To top it off, a market survey with 100+ respondents showed me that people face the issue of bulk in packing for winter trips, so the next solution I am working on would be to provide a vacuum pack.

2. Discipline is key. With practice, and staying away from vices in the midst of peer pressure and nightlife.

I admit that I'm still working on this one. I bought a set of needles for $200+ with the goal of learning turntables in December. The box remained unopened till now. Music takes hours and hours of practice to improve our transitions and effects, and many a time, we want to rush to the results of playing great music in front of a crowd. That doesn't happen overnight.

More importantly, discipline comes in extra critical when I aim to stay away from vices amid peer pressure and nightlife. If they are against my values, I'm out.

In my entrepreneurship journey, discipline keeps me productive. Meeting a business owner the next day? Stay out of the clubs the night before. Discipline also keeps me true to my values. Finding a potentially unethical way of data collection? Consider other options. The hardest of it all for me would be setting aside time to work on Igloo Wear, my winter wear rental start-up, and sacrificing a bit of social life and taking Leave of Absence, potentially delaying my graduation.

3. Sexism exists, but don't let it affect you.

It has been a stigma that female DJs are all about sex appeal. I beg to differ, not for my case, but because I've seen females out there, including my mentor, slaying on the decks with incredible techniques and wealth of knowledge about music. Admittedly, sometimes it does seem like the sex appeal is an easy way to get gigs and fame.

Coming from an occasionally misrepresented gender, I believe that, be it entertainment or other industries, we have to be quiet in our head, avoid the easy way out and focus on honing our craft. And of course, if critics ever underestimate us in male-dominated industries, we can't let them get to us! In my case, it would be to lead my team (consisting of two other guys) in my start-up.

4. There is no need for competition.

As cliché as it sounds, working together with other DJs is crucial. 

In a single night, there will be multiple DJs playing, and, as the first few acts, you get the privilege to play tracks of your choice before someone else plays them. To achieve the end goal of having a great night for the crowd, every DJ has to be a team player and the opening acts cannot just whack all the bangers and top hits to be the most well-liked. It is really about collective effort. The same rationale as on nights when we need someone to fill our spots for gigs we can't attend to and we have to ask a fellow DJ to replace us. We count on each other a lot.

For Igloo Wear, which is travel-related, I try to maintain the same attitude of being collaborative instead of competitive. I reach out to any travel-related start-up I hear about and connect to see if there is any synergy. It might seem like a competitive and saturated space as there can be multiple travel start-ups fighting for the same grant in a pitch competition, or solving the same consumer problem, but I like to view them as complementaries and potential business partners, especially if I plan to go B2B as well.

A friend of mine hosted a pitch competition and a final year student pitched a similar idea as mine. I wasn't threatened because I know the idea isn't revolutionary and it boils down to execution, so I reached out to her to find out if she would consider being a potential founding partner instead of competitor, or if there were any opportunities of working together (although it didn't work out because she was entering a full-time job).

Just like in DJing, it's nice to be surrounded by like-minded individuals with the same passion, instead of viewing them as competitors fighting for market share or funding. It is also the reason why I joined NUS Entrepreneurship Society, to connect with other aspiring entrepreneurs and support each other in our treacherous journey.

If your side job taught you lessons that you applied in another career, I would love to hear more about it and share!