*Note: this blog was written as part of a writing/reflection project for Harvard’s online Business School CORe program – hope you enjoy*

We love to sing, listen to music, be entertained, be together. Singing is social, singing is educational, singing is so much fun! Newsflash to the music nerd (that’s me!) it’s even more than that….

My post-secondary schooling lasted 6 years, included a bachelors and masters in music education from two large research one universities, involved hours of singing in choirs, analyzing musical scores, discussing history and the composers throughout time, and of course mastering teaching techniques; but beyond balancing my checkbook (do people still do that?), business vocabulary was beyond me. “Hello, I was going to teach little people musical skills, have beautiful choirs that put on stunning performances that give the audience goosebumps, and send my students out into the world as literate musicians” – why do I need to understand multiple linear regression analysis, supply and demand curves, and gross profit revenue? 

I could pretend like the best of them to understand the P&Ls and the necessity of monthly reviews of random financial documents that meant absolutely nothing to me…well…news flash music peeps….directing and running a successful choir IS a business. 

Choir people are like “I’m a 501c3…we are a NOT for profit” so my motivations are totally different. Sure, in some ways, but you still have to have performance indicators, projections, and (gasp) a budget! In the artistic world, you can get away with so much, and that is ok. A lot of artistic people try to get by on their skill and art alone – but really – you have to know this side or hire someone who does – gone are the days of sitting and looking pretty – if you want to rock the world and give your choir and the singers it hosts every opportunity for success, it’s time you learn to talk the talk. 

After making this realization, I applied to HBX CORe (Harvard’s online Business School, Credential of Readiness) and was thrilled to be accepted. Why? I wasn’t exactly sure at first, classes involved so many numbers and graphs…but I did know, my summer would consist of 10 weeks, 3 classes, 9 credit hours, and some type of certificate of business readiness, if I passed…and that sounded promising. 

As I’ve been building a business at the same time as building a class, it really seemed that every time I sat down with my team and needed some vital information to make smart decisions moving forward, bam! We would be learning it in class – right time, right place – pretty much for every module! What do I mean? Let me tell you all about a few of my favorite moments: 

WHAT I LEARNED: :

Business Analytics with Professor Jan Hammond 

KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED: 

  • How to visual, analyze and describe data
  • Sampling/Estimation, what is a sample, where do you find it, how do you make estimations and utilize the sample
  • Hypothesis Testing, how to find and test with measurable, quantifiable answers – I can say with 95% accuracy that you can’t argue with a p-value
  • Single and Multiple Regression, what and how are variables related, and to what degree?
  • The “soft skills” of business, going beyond the numbers and using your judgment to analyze and unitize the numbers you have connected.

How I used these new skills in my Choir Business: 

When planning for the next season we needed hard data to ensure what we were planning to launch would be beneficial to the city and meet their needs. I have been able to strategically find a sample, test a hypothesis, and then use regression analysis to explore different variables that could impact our future as a brand new business. Sounds smart, right? It was fun doing it too! 

Introduction to Economics for Managers with Prof. Bharat Anand

KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED:

  • Willingness to pay (customers) and sell (sellers)- how to create it, measure it, use it to find that sweet spot for your business
  • Supply and demand curves – how to manipulate them, what effects them, and why understanding them is important to your business
  • Markets – what in the world are they, how do we fit into them, how do we stay around for years and years to come
  • Biggest take away – make your business different, differentiate in every way possible, this makes you harder to compete with and increases your demand (hopefully)

How I used these new skill in my Choir Business: 

The epiphany of the language of willingness to pay and how to measure (and increase) demand for our product has been HUGE as we plan and prepare to officially launch. I am beyond thankful for Prof. Anand’s words about differentiation, it has been a mantra of ours to make ourselves unique. This is why we choose to do a subscription style payment plan to cover tuition so parents can have a lower WTP, the flexibility of paying smaller monthly increases demand, and the subscription model makes us unique – the only choir doing it that way! 

Financial Accounting with Prof. VG Narayanan

KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED:

  • New Language (like ALL new! From the Financial Equation and everything that encompasses, to accounting principles, transactions, adjustments, and how to track them all in financial documents) 
  • How to create important financial documents and WHY (I personally love the statement of cash flow doc most, but I see why balance sheets and income statements are needed and used regularly, and how journal entries, and the many ways to adjust them, t-accounts, and the trial balance are needed before you create them)
  • Using ratios to explain them (so many super cool ratios!!!! Loved this section most!)
  • Forecasting and predicting the future

How I used these new skills in my Choir Business: 

Many community group function on tiny budgets and rely on funders or grants. I want to be self sufficient as a choir business – and use precious funders dollars completely on the singers, especially to help those families who have the WTP (that means Willingness to Pay – thank you econ!) but not the cash flow available, or help us grow in new ways to reach and impact more young people in our city to Sing, Socialize, and Serve. I learned SO much about accounting, there could be a blog completely on that, maybe……accounting for music minds…..that’s an idea, right? 

IN CONCLUSION: 

I missed a lot of beach days this summer and have had many late homework evenings – but a huge part of me is going to miss this program and all the new skills and concepts it has taught. It was SO worth it and now I’m hungry for even more business knowledge! 

THE POINT OF ALL THIS: 

Today, every artist has to have business knowledge – your art IS a consumer product.

Choir IS a business (especially community choirs). I look forward to seeing how these business skill give my choir the means and ability to impact even more people through intentional and sound business practices. Who’s ready for a data set?