Starting your very own music empire isn’t as straightforward as buying a skyscraper and hiring all the talent you need to become famous overnight. Take it from SB19. The five-piece group has marked its foray into entrepreneurship by founding 1Z Entertainment (Onez Entertainment Corp.), an artists management and entertainment company.
The SB19 members prove to be fast learners who already know the difference between running a company and just putting up a pretty facade. Anyone looking to launch an entertainment company would be wise to take a page from their book.
1Z Entertainment is the perfect case study, a blueprint that offers the following lessons in business administration.
Know The Risks
Brace yourself for impact. The first step to reducing and managing risks is to first identify the potential consequences before starting. Ironically, ignoring the possibility of defeat will set you up for failure.
Building a platform remains the priority for 1Z Entertainment despite the initial investments in its early stages. “We realized that we couldn’t give up what we’ve always envisioned just because of high stakes and that no one else will be willing to take those risks with us,” SB19 leader and 1Z Entertainment chief executive officer Pablo tells Billboard Philippines.
In their case, this also means collaborating with other record labels to platform Filipino artists globally, including aspiring acts whom no one but the risk-taking 1Z Entertainment is willing to take a chance on. “If you are to promote Filipino music to the world, you need all these forces working together,” Pablo adds.
Trust The Process
Even if one had the money, establishing a household brand requires investing just as much time. This means working long hours and seeding big capital during the startup phase.
There are no shortcuts. All the industry greats experience peaks and troughs notwithstanding any financial success they might’ve had in the past. At the end of the day, business is about as predictable as the people behind it.
For Pablo, this necessitates grit: “There will be walls that will stop you from going where you intend to be, but you will only get stuck if you think that it’s your limit. There’ll always be a way to get past it. You can either break through it, walk through it, go over it, or even go under. The most important thing is that you don’t stop.”
Maximize Your Resources
Entrepreneurship goes beyond having a profitable idea and then paying someone else to do all the work for you. SB19 does it right by utilizing the company to finally make calls they can stand by as industry executives.
1Z Entertainment is currently constructing its new office, recording area, and dance studio, The Zone. The office will provide a space with everything SB19 needs and a system for the growing team to work effectively, according to chief finance and operating officer Julian “Yani” de Dios.
“There are two meanings of ‘The Zone’ for us,” Yani says. “The Zone is the place where they can work on their dreams and aspirations, it’s like the place. And being in The Zone, it’s like the state of being 100 percent of you.” It’s in this very space where ideas are expected to flourish with the “formula of artists breaking norms” in mind.
Market Your Unique Selling Point
1Z Entertainment is a company by artists, for artists. Its services include artist management, creative consultation, digital content, music videos, and song composition.
SB19 is clear that this platform doesn’t guarantee the path to success, only the process. What 1Z Entertainment hopes to instill in partner artists is the tenacity it takes to go through the drills that SB19 did.
“We live by the phrase that success is not an overnight feat. You must really work hard for it, learn from it, grow with it. We have to go through the process and experience those hardships,” Yani explains.
Start With A Mission, End With Your Vision
Why did SB19 take on board member roles at 1Z Entertainment on top of their already busy schedules? Because as a self-managed group, it now has the ability to exercise its creative freedom even further.
On top of their mission to promote Filipino music and culture globally, Yani shares that their long-term vision of 1Z Entertainment is to cement the legacy of SB19 for future generations.
“We have this core value, intentional actions. We go back to the whys of everything: why we do or why we establish 1Z. We want to really break norms instead of following the standards,” Yani concludes.