How to quit your job to become a professional magician?

That's it, it's decided, you want to drop everything to live your passion, namely: being a magician. Living your passion is a dream for many people, and while the life of an entrepreneur is a journey fraught with pitfalls, the game of financial independence is definitely worth the candle! So, to prepare as best as possible, we give you here some tips and advice so that the leap to the life of a professional magician goes as smoothly as possible.

Registering Your Business

Before diving headfirst into quotes and invoices, you need to think about administration... and registering your business! This is a mandatory step for any entrepreneur, and the sooner this part is done, the sooner you won't have to worry about it anymore. If you are still unsure which status to choose for your activity, you can read our comparative article between micro-entrepreneur and intermittent performer to see which one suits you best.

Registering as a professional ensures that you will be covered in case of a problem, but it also means complying with the law. Indeed, in France, every penny earned and worked requires to be declared, through the appropriate structure. By declaring yourself, you will contribute to your retirement, and also contribute to everything related to health. An obligatory and important point, therefore.

While we have discussed the cases of micro-businesses and intermittent employment, there are obviously many other types of businesses and companies, whose different characteristics depend on what you want. Let's mention SAS, SARL, associations and many others which will surely be useful if you carry out a complementary activity of selling goods for example, rather than a service provision. Indeed, this type of structure is interesting for being able to deduct expenses, expenses that will be higher when you engage in the buying and reselling of goods rather than providing services. Whatever your choice, it must be carefully considered based on your objectives and your activity.

Calculate Everything Carefully to Avoid Surprises

You are now registered, and your business officially exists, congratulations! But be careful not to rush things; you will need to thoroughly study your market and your costs before starting, as a miscalculation can quickly happen.

First, you need to establish your rates. These rates will obviously depend on the type of service (are you doing a stage act? A full show? A walk-around? Table-to-table magic?), your experience (if you have won awards or recognitions, this will be the time to highlight them, for example), and the client you are dealing with (you will probably not charge the same amount to a company as to an individual, because the context is not the same).

Remember to include all expenses related to your service in your rates. The first ones that come to mind are costs related to consumables used. If you distribute sculpted balloons, charge the purchase price of the balloon bag. If you have pyrotechnics in your stage show, take them into account as well. You will also need to remember to get reimbursed for your mileage expenses (gas, tolls, vehicle wear and tear). Generally, we count around 50 cents per kilometer traveled. In addition, remember to check with the provider if meals are included, and if the hotel night is covered if the service takes place late in the evening far from your home or if it lasts for several days.

If you go through an agency, it's highly likely that they will already take all of this into account, but you will need to consider the commission that this agency will take for offering your services. Often, you will directly receive the amount after agency fees have been deducted, but if this is not the case, remember to plan for this amount that will be requested from you later.

And of course, alongside all these costs, there are the unavoidable social charges and taxes! If you are a micro-entrepreneur, for example, you will have a contribution rate that will be directly applied to your turnover (without being able to deduct expenses). This amount will need to be taken into account, as well as any VAT for those concerned, as this will be money to be repaid. Finally, let's mention the taxes that will be deducted from your earnings and that you will, of course, need to plan for.

All these expenses are essential to plan for, otherwise your activity cannot be viable in the long term. Who said the life of an entrepreneur was a calm river?

Prospect, Prospect, Prospect

You have your business plan, you know how much your business costs, what your charges and expenses are... now you need to get it running and bring in contracts! And for that, one word: prospect. As a professional, you will constantly be on the lookout for this, because you can meet a potential client at any time. So, remember to always carry some business cards with you that will allow you to leave your contact information just in case.

You will need to put yourself out there to offer your services, but most importantly, clarify what kind of services you want to provide or not. If you want to be helped by an agency, then now is the time to prospect for the rare gem that will offer you contracts.

You also need to define what type of service you want to offer. Are you a magician who will perform at weddings? Go make appointments with wedding planners to see if they can offer you to their clients. Do you want to entertain at birthday parties? Tailor your communication accordingly. Do you want to do close-up magic at corporate events? Then primarily target the managers of these specific companies.

You will need to clearly target your ideal client (this could also be festivals, for example, or a type of magic or entertainment on a very specific theme) because when you know your target, it becomes much easier to convince them to hire you. We recommend that you do not limit yourself to classic birthdays and weddings, but rather try to bring magic to events that are a little more niche and specific. For example, you could highlight a new product from a brand using magic. By focusing on a specific point (which can be a type of magic or a type of service) you will speak much more effectively to your target rather than chasing all types of services. The essential thing in all cases is not to remain inactive and to always prospect to gain more clients. You need to be proactive and not wait for the phone to ring, which brings us to the next point…

Communication

As we saw earlier, simply registering and waiting for the phone to ring is not enough. You also need to prospect, and becoming a business owner (even if you're the only employee) means doing marketing, in other words, becoming a communication king. Some will say it's not necessary, and that word-of-mouth is enough. To these people, we would reply that word-of-mouth can take time to develop, and that it only works if you already have a small reputation and an existing clientele. The service you sell will be like any product: however good it may be, if no one hears about it, it's worth nothing. Communication is essential because excellent service without communication around it will bring you nothing, whereas we have plenty of examples of excellent communicators who, unfortunately, aren't worth much in concrete terms. However, they will have managed to make one more sale than you, in other words, communication always wins. It's up to you to be good at both communication AND what you do.

As for communication, you obviously need to make a business card to distribute. A website and social media are now almost essential to be listed and receive quote requests almost effortlessly by creating a Google My Business profile.

During your performances, you will need to direct your spectators to your various accounts so that they leave reviews and thus help to popularize your name. This can be done by incorporating your Instagram into a magic trick, for example (see the Code trick in this regard). You can also give your business card as a souvenir if you perform a magic trick with it, such as by writing a prediction on it. Spectators will then not only keep your business card for your contact, but also, and most importantly, to remember the experience they had. This is also the theory behind the "wow effect" or the "reputation maker," English terms that simply refer to a magic trick that will be remembered for a long time…

We hope these few pointers have helped you to see more clearly how to become a professional magician. We haven't covered certain points like the creation of original tricks or the necessary training, but we will have the opportunity to talk about them in a dedicated article on this subject.