Three times in the last month I’ve been asked the question, “what do I need to do to organize a gig?” In reality, when this question is asked it can mean a few things: How do I find a Club? How do I sort out the PA? How do I get an fans? And so on.
But there is a stage before all of this: the budget. I would suggest that the moment you start thinking about organizing an get together you ought to write a budget. This budget spreadsheet informs you of the majority things that you’ll need to contemplate and will furthermore demonstrate for you the risk, projected profit and the breakeven point. A sample spreadshhet is available to download from this address http://www.josaka.com/features/2005/Organize-A-Gig/Event-PandL.pdf
Assuming that the budget numbers do not look like they are working perhaps the get together is not the right thing to be running. If you do not like the level of risk, perhaps you aren’t cut out to be a  promoter.
So the start point is a spreadsheet. This ought to include all expenses and all incomes. The key headings for expenses ought to include: band cost, PA, lighting, Club hire, marketing, box office expenses etc. The income is like ly to be largely ticket sales but do not forget the opening  to add a sponsor to the event.
The spreadsheet will help you work out the breakeven point for the get together i.e. how a lot of tickets you need to sell to cover all expenses. Every sale beyond breakeven is of course profit (exluding any box office commision). The added bonus of creating an get together spreadsheet is that helps define all the key tasks to be performed.
The realisation of the forecasted numbers developing into actual figures suggests that all gatherings have got the deal they were looking for or agreed to. The sample speadsheet furthermore illustrates that anybody at all else involved in the gig is largely earning a fixed fee and accordingly the only individual taking a financial risk is the  promoter.
So if you are thinking of organizing a live get together I coomed you to work on the numbers first. This will help ensure you deliver a amazing show and have control over the resources.