My Business Attempt: The One That Started It All
Written by Saumy Jani
Our first few gigs were for volunteer hours. The Franklin Public Library was extremely kind and let us volunteer and DJ for free at a countless number of events. We were nervous and we fumbled, but we still had fun. But then came our first paid event: a Holi festival for ICAF.
Although it was our first real paid event, it was a chaotic mess.There was colored powder everywhere, inside our speakers, covering our audio mixer, dusting our laptops. By the end of the day, we thought it was over. That this was the dumbest mistake we had ever made. Our gear was close to being destroyed. But we got paid. And instead of giving up, we reinvested every dollar into something better, specifically 18-inch subwoofers and an amplifier.
That changed everything.
From there, more gigs came. Rainy outdoor events, nonprofit events, school dances. We learned how to pack down equipment quickly, read crowds better, keep a party alive when the mood was dying. We got better, not just at being DJs, but at running something real that impacts others in a positive way.
Somewhere amidst all that chaos, I realized DJing wasn’t about “just playing music.” It was about being the pulse of someone’s moment. The DJs were not just vendors, they were the people that gave real memories.
That’s when I stopped treating the business like something on the side.
No one ever told me how important that shift is. I had to chase the 4.0, load up on APs, study for the SATs, and keep side projects small, but DJing was the thing that was supposed to be my side gig. It taught me more about effort, pressure, and learning than any test ever has. I wish someone had told me that giving a business the same respect you give your GPA doesn’t mean you’re falling behind. It means you’re actually building something.
People say the only purpose of a business is to make money, but I have truly stopped believing that. A real business should make people’s lives better. It should bring them joy. And when you see your speakers light up a crowd or a parent pull you aside to thank you for making their son’s night unforgettable, that it what really sticks.
Now here I am, with over 30+ events, thousands of dollars made in profit, and 50+ hours of volunteering. That is why I have started A Business Attempt; I know what it’s like to try, to doubt, to be dismissed. But the fact is, we still keeping going anyway, no matter how close to failure you get. This isn’t about perfect success stories. It’s about real ones. Even if they start with Holi color powder-drenched speakers and people telling you to do something “more serious” with your life.
This is serious. It just doesn’t always look the way people expect it to.
