Many people who want to become musicians, even see it as a career path, fail to treat their musical life as a business. I've written on this elsewhere, but that doesn't mean there isn't more to discuss.

If you are going to open a business, and want to take out a financial loan that will be used to set the business up, the financial institution is going to want to see a number of things. First, they'll want to see a business or marketing plan. How do you intend to operate this business and what is your target market. And they will also want to see your research, and the results that show you aren't entering a saturated market, that there is a need for another business of the nature you intend to operate...and in a good location that has marginal competition in the same product(s).

Second, they'll want to see that you have experience of some sort, that this field is not foreign to your expertise. That means you will have to produce convincing evidence you know what you're doing because you have dealt with the product(s) you intend to market.

Third, they'll want to see a plan detailing the next two years of operation; what you will do to attract business, how you will replenish supplies, what operational costs will be, how you intend to reinvest, expand and set forth a solid foundation to give the business the greatest opportunity for success.

And that's just a small portion of what they'll want to know.

But, musicians generally don't need to borrow money to get going. The simplest path is to become good at what you do, then find a band that plays that kind of music and get "hired" into the band and, hopefully, make some money. After that, the plan gets pretty hazy and nobody really knows what to do to bring in more gigs and how to expand to getting a broader following. And touring? No clue. Membership can be something like a revolving door affair if people are flakey - and musicians have a reputation for being flakey in the extreme.

Another path usually finds a musician joining a "working" band, one that has a circuit, an agent and consistent bookings into the next three to six months or beyond. This kind of band may or may not have longer range hopes. But as far as a defined plan? The core plan is to keep working; members may have personal "side" projects, but the main purpose of this band is to generate income and to get "personal" exposure for individual members who do have side projects. Bands like this can be pretty stable when the people involved are all on the same page and have an understanding that they are working for a living.

There may be one founding member left. But oftentimes, there no longer exists any of the founding members. The band is a business that keeps the members working and earning a decent income; when a band gets a good reputation, their rate can go up, and members can earn a pretty comfortable living. Here, you'll find over 90% of all working musicians. And in the better bands, turnover will be minimal.

For "original" bands, which is a giant and often messy topic, they are the creation of brothers or friends, who bring in other players they might or might not know to flesh out the lineup. The idea is to write a bunch of songs, get them rehearsed, and start trying to get gigs in places where original music is part of those venues' attraction to the audiences who want live music. These bands can have a quite volatile personality, with clashes and sometimes key members (the ones who write the songs) quitting in a fit of anger. They can be pretty nightmarish. But, to be fair, they can be the best situation going, particularly if everyone agrees that band time and personal "feelings" are mutually exclusive. They can have a Three Musketeers ethic: "All for one and one for all."

And if a key member leaves, these bands often fall apart unless they can find a way to change direction, find a new key member who writes good material, and manage to heal over any wounds that remain. These bands tend to be guitar driven - that is to say, the guitar player(s) define(s) the sound and often write(s) most of the music. Bands with keyboards will create more diversity in the writing and the sound, and make replacing a key player's departure easier.

So, if you plan to be a musician, and make music your source of income, you'd better have a real and achievable plan, whichever part of the business you decide to make your "home".

Your plan should include some of the following elements - if not all of them:

Playing with like-minded people. You want to be around people who are similarly motivated, who are clear about what they're doing, share the same goals and core ideas, and who are dedicated to bearing their share of responsibility.

Work with people who do not get high or drunk during band time. This includes practices, rehearsals, travel time and day of performance times. I know people who like to drink and get high, but they put that all down when their bands go on the road or have steady employment. They don't want to jeopardize their reputation with the club owners and venue managers and their agents. All that stuff is for "vacation" days and breaks between tours. God help the band who has a member busted for drug possession or drunk driving during a tour.

You need to create personal (or band) "milestone" markers - a series of short term goals. These goals should be a series of targets for you (and the band if it applies), so you can track your overall progress toward the bigger goal, whatever form that embodies. Bear in mind, sometimes goals are delayed or derailed. This is not always a bad thing if something happens that is out of your control. But if you don't get back on track in a reasonable timeframe, then you should start to be concerned.

Too often this becomes a black hole into which many people fall, not just in the music field. It is common for people to be on track, have something happen that forces them to set aside the current goals and targets, and then be slow to return to their original plan. This is not to say that these situations won't impact the nature and even the time line of certain aspects of the plan. Sometimes the outside events that affect our goals must be factored in, and a "new" equation created, even modifying the original plan to account for the new events that affect our lives. This is reasonable since life will throw us curve balls and demand we respond, and even adjust our business plan, our career plans, milestones and goals.

When this happens, you don't have a choice. I know I'm being a little vague here, but the bottom line is that we must be able to adapt. You know the old saying: Adapt or die. Well, it's true.

You should surround yourself with people who are going to support you. It doesn't necessarily include financial support, but spiritual and emotional, and who will come out to see the band when you're in town. These folks will also be some of your best promotional tools going. They will share with their friends about your band and encourage them to come out to a gig. It won't be every week, but they will come out pretty regular. And if the "new" people like you, they will tell their friends. Word of mouth is one of the most potent tools out there. It will make or break a gig in many smaller towns, trust me.

Learn to recognize when a situation, a band, a member, isn't working out. In other words, if the band isn't panning out in a reasonable time, don't be afraid to walk away. Bad investments happen. It's knowing when to pull up stakes and move on that saves you a lot of grief. People who are too emotionally invested tend to stay and hope things will improve - even when it is clear they will not, in spite of the efforts made to change things. Sometimes, you just can't fix things and have to move on.

When a member isn't working out, particularly if they are a founding member, it is really difficult to have a band meeting without that person and discuss the problem(s) they are causing the band, whether it's drugs, continually not showing up for rehearsals, being chronically unprepared for rehearsals, lack of progress in improving on their instrument, whatever it may be. And confronting them with the news that they are no longer in the band and need to clear out their gear - or that the band is leaving to find a new space to rehearse and base out of, is not going to go well at all.

I've been a part of this. I've instigated it in one case (where it was really necessary, sadly). It is never fun. And the ousted person will not like you for a very, very long time, if ever again.

In one instance, a bass player I knew was unhappy with his band and left them to join my group, which needed a bass player of his calibre. That band instantly blamed me for their misfortune. I became their enemy because I "stole" their bass player. Well, I didn't steal him. He left that band because he was not appreciated and always felt inferior, and was not given much creative input at all. He later left my group, and at one point actually rejoined that original band, only to find that they were worse off than ever in their attitudes. They were angry and pissed off all the time about everything. They blew a record deal a while before and were no longer receiving any interest from the labels. About fifteen years later, I ran into the guitar player and he was still pissed off about the whole affair! Wow, talk about bearing a grudge!

Above all, give credit to everyone surrounding your situation, whether as a solo artist or band, who are in a support role. They are the people who do all the hardest work to make you look and sound good. Piss off a sound man, and you can bet you're not going to sound really good that night. Now, that said, most sound guys are professionals and will not sabotage your gig. But they will refuse to work with you again in the future, unless they have no choice (in the case of a house PA with the house sound tech). But they won't go out of their way to help you. They'll do their job, do it well, and then call it a night.

There are many other positions that fall into this category. So, let's just say that whoever you work with, whoever is there working to help make your gig go off well without a hitch, treat them like family and they will bend over backward to help you be a hit at the gig.

Everywhere I play, and everytime I am back stage before going on, I talk with all the techs and support people and get to know them, their names, and make sure they know how much I appreciate what they do. I will ask them if there is anything I need to know about, if the hall or club has any weird stuff that I need to be aware of, acoustically, electrically, whatever. I will have them walk me through things I might benefit from knowing. And then I will thank them for the help, for the knowledge. And if I can, I will ask the audience to show their appreciation for the people behind the scenes with a round of applause, for making the night special.

At the end of the day, your career is in your hands. Without a plan, you are going to be blown about by the various winds that will carry you into situations you probably would rather not have anything to do with, people you would rather avoid, environments that do nothing but undermine your efforts.

Sit down, write it out. Make it real in doing so. Now you will have a check list, a guide, to help you determine if you need to make modifications, changes, or adjustments (given that outside crap will invariably force you to make some changes from time to time). Make each short term part of the greater goal something that is reasonable, attainable, and within your skill set - or which will require you to work on your skill set - to achieve.

If you have to take music lessons, go to a community college to take a business management course, whatever you need to achieve your ultimate goal, you simply have to accept it as part of the cost of success. Doctors are continually learning new techniques to improve. Artists are continually experimenting to find new ideas and applications for their skills, even expanding the styles of art they can create. All successful people share this in common, that they are continually improving their abilities. They recognize that learning is life long, period. And they commit to that fact, embrace it and chase it without worrying that they might be missing something "out there".

Create your plan, find out what you need to learn to be able to successfully bring your chosen career into reality and fact, and never quit. And if you are really as good as you think you are, as good as people say you are, if your success begins to be evident in the fact that people are seeking out your band, your performances as proof you are that good, then you need to do everything to ensure your success isn't a fluke, short lived or derailed by stuff that doesn't really matter.

But you have to have a plan. It doesn't need to be detailed. It just needs to be clear. You can add steps as you go along, giving it more short term definition as you begin to learn what you need to do next, based on where you are presently.

And remember: One step at a time. Don't try to leap frog over important steps, things that will help create a firm and solid foundation. That foundation becomes the thing you are going to build upon. It better be on solid ground and not sand.

The simple fact is that when you start out, you are not going to be well received. There's a lot of competition out there, particularly for guitar players. I know a guitar player who works playing bass because everybody seems to always need a bass player. I've done this, too. Then, when a guitar gig opens up, if I'm available, I go do the audition. If I get the gig, I make sure to give sufficient notice to the band I'm leaving, and make sure the band I'm joining understands I will need the typical two week transition time - but that during that two weeks, I'll be rehearsing with them and learning the material.

You are going to have to pay your dues. And if you move to a new city, it is like starting over again. The people in the new town don't care how big you were in the previous city, unless you retain the connections in the old town that will translate into real gigs. You're going to have to start a few steps behind where you were, and pay some more dues for a while. Deal with it and don't complain about it to anyone - ever. If you are good, people will come to realize it the more you play. And you will then be in a better position as you get more welcomed into the musical "family" in whatever town you live. You will work your way "up" in the community, and you will have more control over your career as a result.

These are the players that get "plucked" by bigger touring and some national acts, the people who rise to the top and get a lot of attention...buzz they call it, right?

You are where you are because of choices you've made during every single day of your life. If you don't like the result, begin to make different choices - starting with sitting down and making a plan you can execute, a plan that makes sense and is reasonably able to be fulfilled.

Beyond that, just enjoy the journey. Sometimes you need to remember to enjoy the ride, too. If you're going in the right direction, you are allowed to have fun and loosen up a little, too. And include others in the experience. They'll appreciate it more than you'll ever know.