Business Plan
Company Name: ‘stitch.’
Executive Summary of Business Idea
Stitch is a live recording business which works primarily with new and upcoming artists based in Leeds. Stitch provides clients the opportunity to record and film their music live in the studio for promotional use.
This business plan has been designed to balance all employees’ working lifestyles, allowing for them to have their own other work going on alongside this business. Highlighting the business’ incremental growth will allow for this business to develop into a main source of income for all employees. Entrepreneur (2017)
Our business stands out from other related businesses in a way that we offer a built in network at Leeds Conservatoire (for first two years) with an already existing community. For us this makes networking for new artists easier to attain, evidently increasing our inventory of customers and promotional content.
Description of Service
Clients will work with the companies in house producer, recording engineer, and photographer/videographer to shape their content for their social media platforms. Providing access to industry standard equipment such as microphones and mixing consoles opens up opportunities to allow the musicians to focus on creativity, pushing them to better their craft.
My previous experience and training:
| Worked for 6 months at Old Jet Studios in Suffolk. |
| Two diplomas in Sound Engineering and Music Performance |
| Currently studying a Degree in Music Production at Leeds Conservatoire |
Employees/Founders of Business:
The listed employees at stitch have given verbal evidence of their skills and qualities in their job role. All employees are current Leeds Conservatoire Students.
| Name | Skills |
| Charlie Throp: Recording Engineer | – Ability to spot and fix issues at the recording stage. – Communication |
| Ryan Smith: Producer | – Understanding the musician’s vision before going into the studio |
| Max Morton: Videographer/Photographer | – Attention to detail – Multitasking |
Marketing Strategy
Competitor Analysis:
| Evoke Studios | Eiger Studios | Bakerland Studios | |
| Service | Recording, Mixing, Production, Live Sessions | Recording, Gig venue, Rehearsal Space, Gear Hire | Music Production, Live sessions, Photo shoots, product videos or audio books. |
| Price | From £30 hire fee | Rehearsal space- £11/Hour | From £50 Hire fee |
| Availability | 24 Hours | 24 Hours | 24 Hours |
| Reputation | 5 rating on google. 26 reviews | 4.5 rating on google. Significantly more reviews than other two studios | 5 rating on google. 10 reviews |
| Location | 20-minute walk from city centre | 30-minute walk from city centre | 45-minute walk from city centre |
| Strengths | Homely and aesthetic décor in studio which looks appealing on camera. | Top-quality recording equipment compared to competitors. Offers a 200-capacity venue and recording studio for both crowd and intimate recordings | Large team of professional engineersPartnered with renowned Audio Technica, highlighting industry credibility.Offers diverse services beyond music, including podcasts. |
| USP | Artists could be attracted to the homely feel of the studio, encouraging creativity in the recording process. | Offer their equipment for rental hire | Offers a wide range of services extending beyond the music industry (podcasts etc) |
Bakerland Studios (n.d.) Eiger Studios (2020) Evoke Studios (n.d.-a) Evoke Studios (n.d.-b)
Google (n.d.-a) Google (n.d.-b) Google (n.d.-c)
Comparison
When comparing my business to these existing studios, I’ve identified that they provide a handful of different creative services. With my business specifically operating in live recording, customers would be receiving a specialist service.
With our business being located at the university for the first two years, it creates a large catalogue of musicians right at our doorstep. This means that we are able to provide session musicians where needed, for a wide range of genres and styles. Additionally, this reduced travelling time ensures our services are more easily accessible to students than the aforementioned studios.
Budget Analysis
Getting started: From the get-go we wouldn’t have any costs apart from setting up a website.
| Equipment: | Studying at Leeds Conservatoire provides access to six industry-standard studios and microphones. |
| Expertise: | Tutors and studio technicians to help us out if we get stuck in a session. |
These start-up costs outlined in the tables below would be relevant to once we all finish university.
| Purchasing a property: £36,000 pa (£18.16/sq. ft. pa) Retail premises to let: 7 Cottage Road, Headingley, Leeds LS6 Zoopla (n.d.) |   |
 | Taking out a loan after university would help fund a property, allowing more budget for equipment and furniture. Founders would maintain other jobs and contribute annually to repay the loan. The upper floor will host the studio. Zoopla (n.d.) |
Equipment Choices for if we purchased a property:
 | Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820 USB/MIDI Interface £149 Purchasing 4 = 32 Channels Total Cost = £596 Gear4music (n.d.-a) |
| The plan would be to purchase two and route them together in the rack case. | |
 | PD F12U8 Rack Case £399,00 ElectroMarket (n.d.) |
| This rack is affordable for the size with the rack being able to fit 12 units of racked equipment. | |
  | 1pc LED Illusion Lamp from Temu £8.84 x2 = £17.68 Temu (n.d.) 74-140cm Large Artificial Ficus Tree £3.38 x2 = £6.76 SHEIN (n.d.) |
 | Oak Acoustic Wood Panel 120cm x 60cm x 21mm £29.99 x 6 = £ 179.94 Tiles Direct (n.d.) |
  | SubZero XLR Cable, 9m with Neutrik Connectors £19.99 x 20 = £399.80 Gear4music (n.d.-e) Stagg 3M / 10ft XLR to XLR Cable £6.29 x 20 = £125.80 Amazon (n.d.-a) |
 | Roland Angled/Straight Instrument Cable, 5ft/1.5m £11.00 x 20 = £220 Gear4music (n.d.-f) |
| Pedals: | Using our already owned collective Range of guitar pedals and multi effects boards. |
| DAW’s | Logic pro is already owned by three of our employees. This means lots of access to plugins to create unique sounds for customers. |
| Screen Monitors | Plugging a MacBook into our already owned TV monitors will save the cost of purchasing something like a ‘mac mini’. Apple (n.d.) |
Focusrite (n.d.) Tagvenue (n.d.-a)
The control room and live room could share spaces, reducing property costs. The downside is that engineers and producers would use headphones instead of studio monitors. Partnering with Behringer could strengthen our business and provide affordable, high-quality sound with their mics. Audiohaze (2023)
Additionally, saving up money earnt in first two years using the universities facilities will be able to cover an additional sum of the overall expenses.
After researching the competitors in Leeds, multiple charge rates have been set up to make the pricing fair for customers when considering how many are paying.
Price package whilst at university
| 1-2 Customer Price Pack | 3-5 Customer Price Pack | 6+ Customers Price Pack |
| £15/hour | £30/Hour | £35/ Hour |
Price package post university
| 1-2 Customer Price Pack | 3-5 Customer Price Pack | 6+ Customers Price Pack | |
| £50/hour | £65/ Hour | £75/ Hour | |
| Rehearsal Pricing | |||
| £12/hour. | |||
While our rates may seem high, we specialise in live recording and don’t offer other services. Post-university, higher charges are necessary to cover increased expenses. We’ll also generate extra income by utilising idle studio time, with rehearsal sessions available only within 2 weeks to avoid interfering with live recording.
Bakerland Studios (n.d.) Music Centre (n.d.) Evoke Studios (n.d.-b) Eiger Studios (2020)
On-going cost total whilst starting out at university:
| Purchasing a website: | Squarespace = £17/month If starting payment was 1st June 2025 and last payment whilst at university is on June 1st, 2027, then: Total cost = £425 Forbes (2024) Squarespace (n.d.) |
| Paying for website domain. |  GoDaddy (n.d.) Two years on full price payments and one discounted payment whilst at university: Total cost = £25.99 Fasthosts (n.d.) |
Start Up Loans (n.d.)
Total cost and profit of business whilst at university:
It’s important to note that salaries aren’t going to be accounted for. All earning will be put towards the business after university.
| Domain and website costs | Total cost = £450.99 a year |
| Profit workings | Charge rates= 15 + 30 + 35 = 80 80 divided by 3 = average hours 27/hr |
| Break-even point | If we did 1 hour a week for 1 year, we would earn £1,404. Henceforth, breaking even will be very achievable. |
Total costs and profit if the business went down the purchasing a location route after university:
MoneySuperMarket (n.d.)
3 Employees = £325.66 each a month
| Taking out a loan for property (ongoing cost): | Property = £36,000 Monthly Loan Payment =£977 x 12 months = £11,724 |
| Equipment and Furniture | Total cost = £2,538.88 |
| On-going cost of domain and website | Total cost = £437.99 a year |
| Total cost of all above | Total cost = £2,976.87 |
| Loan Payment + Equipment, Furniture, Domain, and Website | Total Cost = £14,700.87 |
| Average Charge of Hourly Rate | 50 + 65 + 75 + 12 = 202 202 divided by 4 = Average charge 50.50/hr |
| Average hourly income – staff cost (£12.21/hour which is current minimum wage) | 12.21 x 2 people per session = £24.42 £50.50 – £24.42 = £26.08/ hr |
| Salaries to three employees at same hourly rate | £14,700.87 divided by £26.08 = 564 working hours a year 564 divided 52 weeks a year = 10.8 hours a week. |
| Break-even point | We would have to work at least 10.8 hours a week in a year to break even. However, offering out the studio for rehearsals will hopefully generate more weekly working hours therefore generating a greater profit. |
Start Up Loans (n.d.)
Marketing Analysis
Business development ideas: (Branching out to other relevant services)
| Artist Management: | Managing how the content recorded in the studio is distributed to its full potential could be a successful idea. I have two friends on the music business course who could contribute. |
| Recordings: | Working in a recording studio allows for opportunities to record music for distribution due to live recordings and album/EP recordings falling into a similar production process. |
| USP’s | |
| Access to high quality studios at a cheap price for first two years. | |
| Aren’t any other companies with the same company name as ours related to our niche. | |
| Achieving a certain aesthetic that the band/artist wants. For example, a singer songwriter wanting to sit on the floor with a guitar. | |
| Great environment to network with other musicians around the uni. |
Typical customer profile.
| Target Age Range | 18-30 |
| Sex | All |
| Customer needs | Promotional content for growth on their following |
| After sales service | Once the customer has released their content on their socials, customer will receive guaranteed promotion from our platforms on social media for a prolonged period of time (2 weeks of frequent promotion on our Instagram and TikTok stories) |
Considering copyright claims:
- If customers want to cover an existing song and release the content, this will mean obtaining a mechanical and synchronisation license which will allow for our business to release visual and digital content containing covers.
- Contacting PRS for rights if covering a song.
Pirate (2022) PRS for Music (n.d.)
Using promotional and marketing materials:
| Posters and Flyers | Putting them up across Leeds Conservatoire, City Centre, Popular student suburbs such as Hyde Park, Headingley and Burley. This will attract attention to the younger musicians who are more likely to afford our services. |
| Mailing List | Setting up a mailing list for customers to receive updates on free studio slots could be a great way to increase customer engagement. |
| Social Media | Stitch will be active on the following social media platforms: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X This will include keeping up with trends and general updates. |
| Watermarks on Videos | Establishes the brand on the video and attracts attention. |
Measurable Goals
During the sessions (applies for both university and post) we will additional content such as interviews of the artist and behind the scenes footage outside the university or property for extra content on our page. Doing this will increase our artist engagement on our social media’s.
Once leaving university, we aim to grow the business to around 5,000 followers across all social media platforms. We feel that most of the followers will be gained from TikTok and Instagram due to their algorithms being tailored more towards new pages.
Barclays & ACCA (n.d.)
Group Work Evidence
The business idea was sparked after I engineered a live recording for a band in studio 113. Ryan and I realised that offering this service to other musicians could be a great business opportunity. After researching competitors, I saw that while many studios offered live recording and rehearsal, few specialised in live recordings, creating a niche for our business. My prior experience as an engineer, combined with my music production studies, helped me understand the requirements for delivering a high-quality service. Moving forward, I’d like to hire an artist liaison to handle social media. Presenting the business plan at the WITCI seminar and to Ryan and Max helped refine our ideas. Reflecting on my progress, I aim to utilise my course studio hours to improve my engineering skills and network more with musicians. As for the name, ‘Stitch’ is short, unique, and stands out in the music industry.
We’ve already completed a few sessions at the university, and we’ll be promoting them on social media.
Here are some pictures of our sessions:
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