Home is where the business is; here's how you can live, work and make money under one roof - includes related articles that provide home business reference material information, tips on how to start a business at home and the type of equipment that is needed

Black Enterprise, Nov, 1994 by Christina F. Watts

The challenge of any business is getting new business and marketing the company while attempting to offer complete customer service. But that can be a tough task, acknowledges Emery. "New construction, residential jobs on homes that are $250,000 and up can take anywhere from nine to 12 months to complete. Sometimes I get so engrossed that I don't spend time developing new business."

Her blueprint for balancing the two was to acquire a very capable assistant to complete the major projects as they begin to wind down, and to help her in developing new business.

The divorcee has also learned to anticipate the slow months associated with her industry, and saves accordingly. That way she's not put in a seasonal financial bind. It's also during those times that she can devote special attention to herself - by taking a long deserved vacation - or to her craft - by tightening the screws on her home business.

KEDAR ENTERTAINMENT: THERE'S

NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ

In 1991, Kedar Massenburg used $1,700 of his personal savings to start his artist management company. With an executive desk set, fax machine, copier and portable phone with an answering service, the New York-based Kedar Entertainment was ready to hit the music industry charts.

From a start-up cost standpoint, "It didn't make sense to have a business outside of my home," explains Massenburg. "This way, I get to write off my apartment and expenses."

Massenburg's entrepreneurial drive has roots in his college days. One of his assignments at the University of North Carolina Law School involved the development of a home-based business, and it should come as no surprise that Massenburg's project was a blueprint for starting an entertainment company.

By incorporating the principles he learned in law school with street smarts, Massenburg manages to stay on top of the competition. "I hear about groups a lot of the time by word of mouth - the buzz on the streets. Then I go after them, just like a recruiter goes after a ballplayer. I hustle," says the 30-year-old Massenburg, who has two assistants working with him, one in New York and the other in Los Angeles.

Massenburg then finances the group's studio time, pays for duplication tapes and invests in photo shoots. Acting as a liaison between the artist and the record company, he shops the group around to different record labels.

Once an artist is signed, Kedar Entertainment maintains a budget and develops relationships with record company executives, publicists and booking agents. The in-house enterprise is equipped with its own producers and publishers.

Massenburg concedes that one of the risk factors associated with his business is that he doesn't always get a return on his investment. "Sometimes I dish out a lot of money and then the artist doesn't get signed," explains the musical talent scout.

Needless to say, the unmarried attorney is "in the money." Negotiating contracts to the tune of more than $1 million gross this year, Massenburg saw his 20% take soar to well above the six-figure mark, and he expects that amount to rise even higher in 1995.