Best Practices of renting out a audio visual studio

[deathwinger]

Hey Guys,

I recently created a reasonably sized audio visual studio space (19 L x 21 W x 12 H) that my team will be using for our productions going forward. However, I'd also like to entertain the option of renting out the studio space to businesses and students who would require the use of a proper sound proof room for green screen work and audio productions.

I'd like to avoid this being a 'free for all' where proper checks and balances are not in place and it ends up costing more to rent out the room as opposed to the room paying back for itself and giving us a tidy profit to cover purchases of other studio equipment.

I've put a good bit of capital into this and I'd like to get do this right. Are there any tips or best practices from others who have gone through this process to advise me with ensuring a nice smooth process of utilizing and renting out my studio?

Thanks and I appreciate all suggestions and feedback.

Deathwinger.

 

[DPStewart]

Step #1 - full day rentals only.
This is a pretty small room so it's not going to command a lot to start with. The craziness will surely come if you try to do multiple bookings in one day.
Publish how many hours a day gives them, and what the earliest load-in and load-out times are.
Consider 1/2 days only later once you've seen exactly what your market is looking like.


Step #2 - Payment is IN ADVANCE only. This is really not negotiable and there's no reason for it to be. Again, the fact that it's such a small room means it's not ever going to be at the top of someone's expense list, so they shouldn't need any deferred payment terms. If they do then the chances of you getting stiffed on a bill go through the roof.


Step #3 - The rooms comes "as is".
If you had a LOT of equipment and packages to offer then I suppose you could add them as extras, but keep the list EXTREMELY simple - i.e., all lighting gear comes in the "Lighting Package" and all audio gear comes in the "Audio Package". I STRONGLY advise not breaking it down any further than that otherwise it starts getting into the area you don't want to go - being more of a hassle than it's worth.


Make the situation "monkey proof" because the monkeys will come out of the woodwork.

 

[deathwinger]

Thank you very much for your assistance DPStewart. We have been following your suggestions and things have been going smoothly. I guess if any issues arise, its a case of 'burn to learn'.

 

[DPStewart]

Thank you very much for your assistance DPStewart. We have been following your suggestions and things have been going smoothly. I guess if any issues arise, its a case of 'burn to learn'.

You're quite welcome.

I ran a multi-room facility for 11-years. You don't even want to hear some of the horror/crazy stories I could tell you about.
My 3-point list really comes from years of experience.