The one thing that unites all of us here at Pro Mobile, this includes you, our readers, is music and our love for it. We are all DJs, wait… that’s two things. So perhaps there’s more. What else unites us? Ah yes, business, we’re all running businesses.

There’s also the perceived glitz and glamour of the career that we share, being ‘The DJ’. Of course, we all know it’s not so glamorous when you’re loading up after a gig surrounded by drunk people, the reality differs from the myth. Reality, the phenomenon that means we need to get gigs to pay the bills, and the taxman, obviously!

Whilst browsing some DJ forums recently, I came across a really interesting topic. It was started by a DJ who had accepted a booking, but suddenly felt unsure of how to approach the night, a 21st birthday party. I’m sure, to some extent – at one time or another – we’ve all had that blind panic, that ‘I’m out of my depth’ moment. For older DJs, like myself, modern music is a specialist night just as my ‘80s nights would be a specialist night for a younger DJ.

Many other DJs weighed in with advice for the original poster, some more constructive than others! Two common themes were that the booking shouldn’t have been accepted in the first place and that it should be embraced, if only to push the DJ’s boundaries and help them move outside of their comfort zone.

So how do we, as a DJ community, look at this from a business angle?

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!

Like King Arthur when under attack at the castle in the Monty Python ‘Holy Grail’ film, you could just run away from the gig, steer clear, or not accept it. But why would you consider turning it down?

Some would argue that you risk damaging your well-earned reputation by taking on a gig that you feel ill-equipped for. If it falls flat because you get it wrong, you will be responsible for ruining somebody’s