Loungers: What do you think of this new business idea?

[mwb970]

Sad to say, I got laid off from my high-tech job in March 2004. I had been working as a Systems Analyst at a non-profit organization doing academic research in Library Science. I guess I just got too expensive for them. After all, I had worked there for 26 years.

During the year following the layoff I applied for a number of jobs (26, actually) in the IT field but I found that, at age 55, it is not easy to break back into the job market! Despite a professionally prepared resume and a custom, lovingly tweaked cover letter for each application, I got nowhere. And you know what? I'm not sure I actually wanted to get another "job" where I would be the new kid, with who knows who for a boss, one week of vacation, etc.

After a year, I decided this wasn't working. Somehow, I came up with the idea of starting my own on-location recording service. I have been a hobbyist musician for 35 years. I have my own basement studio and have recorded hundreds of my own tunes. My college degree is in electronics engineering, and I am a lifelong ham radio operator, so I know how electronic gear works. From my many hours recording in the studio and elsewhere I know how to get good sound under all kinds of conditions. From my computer experience, I know how to use music software, how to make CDs, etc. I have several friends, also music/audio hobbyists, who would like to help me out.

Here's what I'm picturing. We would offer to record concerts given by schools, churches, and other non-corporate community groups. We would mix and master the recordings and have CDs made, with on-CD printed labeling, jewel boxes, tray cards, booklets, shrink wrap - the works. We would list the individual musicians and put a picture of the group (or whatever else they want) on the cover. Then they collect order forms for the CDs along with checks ($10-$15 per CD) and we fulfill the orders by bringing the CDs to the school. The school gets to keep a certain amount for each CD sold.

The pricing would be structured so that there is no charge for the recording itself, and the buyers would write checks directly to us, so the school doesn't have to handle any money transfers nor budget for a recording cost.

This allows the school to leverage something it is doing already, turning it into a super fundraising opportunity that can keep bringing in money for months, while giving the kids something to remember from their school years. I am confident that this idea can work, because there are dozens of websites of companies doing this very thing. What I notice is, none of them are in my area (Columbus, Ohio)!

So. My questions are:
What do you think of this idea?
Have you ever heard of anyone doing this?
How should we market our service to schools and other groups?
What pitfalls am I not thinking of?
What suggestions do you have?

Thanks for bothering to read this long post and for any thoughts you may have.