Journey 66 · Running a businessbuildinggrindingexpanding
Run a Production or Event
“The date is fixed. Everything else — gear, crew, food, money — has to bend around it.”
You become: Someone who can run load-in to strike on a date that can't move, and get paid for it
A wedding, a small concert, a pop-up catering gig, a build, a merch table at a festival — different jobs, same spine: a run-of-show that survives contact with reality, the specific insurance and permit paper a first-timer always forgets, a crew that knows its call times, vehicles loaded in the order they unload, food and cash handled safely, and a contingency for the thing that will go wrong on-site. This journey builds that spine once, in the order it actually has to happen, so the fixed date doesn't run you.
Understand
What paper, insurance, and permits a venue or client actually requires before you touch a truck or a light.
Practice
Booking crew, mapping vehicle logistics, and running the same pre-show checklist every time so nothing depends on memory.
Create
A real run-of-show timeline, a line-itemed quote, and a contingency plan built before you needed one.
Evidence
A signed contract and COI, a run-of-show doc with actual times on it, and a final invoice that got paid.
Lock the job before you lock a date
The paperwork and the timeline come before the gear list — get the order right or you'll be renting equipment for a job that isn't actually confirmed.
- Understand45m
Get the contract and certificate of insurance before you book anything
Write a one-page agreement covering the date, the deposit, what happens if the client cancels, and who's liable for damage. Then check what the venue requires: most demand a certificate of insurance (COI) naming them as additionally insured, often with a specific coverage minimum. Call the venue or read their vendor packet to get the exact number before you buy a policy — guessing here means buying coverage twice.
You’ll have:A signed contract with a deposit paid, and a COI that names the venue if one's required.
- Create1h
Build the load-in-to-strike run-of-show timeline
One document, one timeline, every hour accounted for: load-in start, sound check, doors, showtime, service windows, strike start, load-out complete. Put a name next to every block — whoever owns that hour. Build in 30 minutes of slack before doors open, because it's the block that always gets eaten.
You’ll have:A timed run-of-show document with an owner assigned to every block.
- Create45m
Price the job as line items, not a lump sum
Break the quote into labor (crew hours, call time to wrap), gear (rental or depreciation on owned equipment), materials or food cost, vehicle/mileage, and a contingency line of 10-15%. A lump-sum number can't survive a client asking to cut one thing — line items can. Send it as a quote the client signs, not a verbal estimate.
You’ll have:A written, line-itemed quote the client has signed or approved in writing.
9 more actions · 5h 15m of work
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Gear, crew, and permits
Decide what you own versus rent, get the right people confirmed in writing, and pull the specific permits this job needs — not the generic list.
- Understand30m
Decide what A/V and lighting gear you rent versus buy
- Practice45m
Book crew and confirm roles and call times in writing
- Practice1h
Pull the permits and certificates this venue and job actually require
Logistics on the ground
Vehicles, food, and merchandise all have physical logistics that have to be planned before the day, not improvised on it.
- Practice30m
Map vehicle logistics — load order, route, parking, unload sequence
- Practice30m
Set up food service safety basics — temp logs and a handwashing station
- Create30m
Set up the merch table — float, POS, inventory count sheet
Show day
Run the same checklist every time instead of trusting memory, and treat load-in, showtime, and strike as real milestones you confirm, not just times on a page.
- Practice30m
Write the pre-show checklist you'll run before every event
- Evidence15m
Hit load-in, showtime, and strike as confirmed milestones
Close out and get paid
The job isn't done when strike is done — it's done when the walkthrough is clean and the final payment is in the account.
- Evidence45m
Do the walkthrough, send the final invoice, and reconcile the deposit
Tools this journey uses
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