Basic financial breakdown

The main source of income for Beehive Theatre will be ticket sales for the musical productions. Using the survey I conducted for my market research, I discovered that most people would be willing to pay between £10 to £30 for an amateur theatre production. However, to uphold Beehive’s key value of making theatre accessible, I decided to keep the price range between £10 to £15. It will vary depending on the venue’s capacity and how much money went into producing the show, especially if the company gains more popularity. I want to always keep the tickets at an affordable price though to reduce the barrier of expenses that prevents many people from being able to access theatre shows. Although, I did specify in the survey that the price would be for amateur theatre, so if the company did go professional and become more successful, they may be willing to pay a higher price (e.g. £20 to £30). I will sell these tickets on Beehive’s website so I can keep track of all the purchases made and it makes it easier for customers to know where to find them, whilst also being able to access all information and updates about the show. 

The overall amount of income I’d make from this is difficult to calculate because it is entirely dependent on the capacity of the performance venues and the popularity of the musicals I produce. I did look at a local theatre and calculate how much money I would make from it though if I were to completely sell out every seat: 

St George’s Theatre 

• Capacity: 187 

Minimum ticket price: £10 

Maximum ticket price: £15 

Minimum amount made from ticket sales: £1,870 

Maximum amount made from ticket sales: £2,805 

Pretty much all of the money earnt would likely go back into the company to pay for the next production and pay the cast and crew. The hire for the tech and the venues will use up a lot of this money so paying team members will initially be quite difficult. A way in which I could solve this issue is hire them for a few shows and hope that the company gains enough recognition and earns enough money to pay them a lot more. This means they may join more on a volunteer basis than auditioning for it as a job, but hopefully it would end up being worth it. 

The main costs I will likely have are: 

• Tech equipment hire (£15 - £50 a week for cheaper lights, £25 per headset microphone for 1-2 days) 
• Venue hire (St George’s- £250 for one performance on Sunday to Thursday, The Garage- studio space) 
• Props/sets/costumes (either will be bought or hired- varying prices) 
• Sign language interpreters (£100 for short duration, £130 for half day, £260 for full day) 
• Audio description services (£15 - £30 per minute) 
• Filming (either hire a crew (£40 - £250 an hour) or equipment (£40 - £135 a day for a camera, £8 - £30 a day for a tripod, £8 - £23 a day for a camera mounted microphone) 

The venue hire is what’ll need to be paid for most regularly because a space will always be needed for show rehearsals as well as performances. The other elements will mainly be needed for tech rehearsals, dress rehearsals and performances. 

When there aren’t any shows running, I believe the best methods of earning money would be through selling: 

• Merchandise (e.g. clothing, accessories, badges) 
• Licensing for shows 
• Music from the shows (e.g. through iTunes) 

By looking at other theatre companies, I found that these were the most common ways they earn income all year round. The main issue is I wouldn’t be able to produce any of these without having already established shows, except the music as some songs could be released beforehand to increase the hype for a show. Once the first musical is completed, I will be able to use all these methods, though it is highly reliant on people’s reactions to the musical. They will only want to buy things related to it if they enjoyed it.