Affordable Small Business Ideas for People Who like Hip-Hop

If you want to be an entrepreneur and you like hip-hop, you don't have to own a record label to be successful in this type of entrepreneurship. One important thing to do is research the business side of hip-hop by reading publications such as XXL, The Source, Billboard, and Insomniac to get initial facts on the state of the hip-hop industry. You should also visit some local hip-hop radio stations and speak with both managers and disc jockeys about what aspiring hip-hop entrepreneurs should consider when starting their businesses, the latest music business trends and how a hip-hop entrepreneur should promote his or her business.

For those who have a large collection of old-school hip-hop cassettes and CDs from the 1980s and 1990s, you can start an online old-school hip-hop music store. In addition to selling your tapes and CDs online, you can also include memorabilia of hip-hop culture from yourself or contributors and audio samples of the items you're selling. You can get started by getting a professional to build your website then promote the new business by holding interviews at radio stations and bringing flyers to universities, beauty salons and barbershops, and community events.

If you have a background in journalism, you can also start a local hip-hop magazine that gives readers the latest news in the local hip-hop industry for a monthly or yearly subscription fee. You can use the magazine to tackle various issues surrounding hip-hop such as breaking into this market, how new artists should understand and negotiate recording contracts, and how local hip-hop artists can reach a national audience through successful marketing and greater exposure. You can also include interviews with established and new local artists and hip-hop fans who exhibit their enthusiasm for hip-hop in creative ways.

If you're interested in helping local disc jockeys stay up to date with the latest tools for their crafts, a hip-hop equipment store would be a good idea. Before doing this, you should subscribe to music trade magazines such as EQ, Music Mix, and Electronic Musician to find out what latest trends are regarding his type of equipment. Also seek out local and state grants as well as loans to help you start the business, and you can market the store by attending local trade shows, doing radio interviews, and passing out flyers to various places in your neighborhood such as university music departments, community events, and nightclubs.

Sources:

Zack O'Malley, "The Business of Hip-Hop" http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/15/music-media-hiphop-biz-media-cz_zog_0818hiphop_lander.html Forbes Magazine, August 18, 2008.

Entrepreneur Magazine, "Business Ideas, Used CD Shop" http://www.entrepreneur.com/businessideas/480.html