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[0:00] Ken Davenport: Welcome back to the Producers Perspective Podcast.

[0:02] Ken Davenport: On this week's episode, I'm gonna tell you about some of the best advice I got when this pandemic began and how it's not too late for you to follow it. Coming up next.

[0:15] Ken Davenport: I wanna be a producer with a hit show on Broadway.

[0:22] Ken Davenport: You're listening to the Producers Perspective Podcast with your host, Tony Award winner, Ken Davenport.

[0:30] Ken Davenport: Hey Theater Makers. So when this pandemic began, I was desperate for advice. I was asking everybody I knew for some advice on how to get through this thing. And as many of you know, I often go outside of the theatrical sphere. I try to get advice from folks who are not in our world, and then frankly, take that advice and spread it in our world to all of you.

[0:54] Ken Davenport: So one of the best pieces of advice that I got at the beginning of the pandemic was when I said, like, what should I do? I can't do anything. I can't produce shows. I can't, like, what should I do? And this person said, now is a great time to look at the plumbing of your business.

[1:13] Ken Davenport: And I was like, I don't quite understand what you mean. I don't have to deal with my plumbing at my office. I'm in a building, my house, it's a condo, like all that stuff. No, no, no, no, no, Ken. The metaphorical plumbing of your business. Now is the best time to look at it.

[1:30] Ken Davenport: And I said, give me an example. And my mentor said, How's your website doing? When was the last time you renovated your website? And I was like, that's a very good question. Probably been about three, four years. Why haven't you done it more recently? It's just always last on the list. I know I have to do it. We just haven't done it because exactly. You've had shows to do, you've had other things to do.

[1:56] Ken Davenport: Now's the time to look at your plumbing instead of what you're staring at every day inside your office, right? To continue to extend that metaphor. Look in the walls. Fix the things that you've never had a chance to fix when you're working as fast as I know you work, Ken.

[2:18] Ken Davenport: So that's what I've been doing. I have been redesigning my website, which by the way, if you look at it now, that's not it. It's coming. It's coming. And there'll be a big announcement on this podcast and of my blog when that happens.

[2:32] Ken Davenport: We looked at our office hour structure. I established flexible vacation work schedules for all my employees and flexible hours. I took over the bookkeeping of my office myself. That's right. I'm paying all the bills. I'm doing all the accounting. I'm having to bring back all the information and education I got when I was a company manager to figure out QuickBooks.

[2:55] Ken Davenport: Any more QuickBooks Online people out there, if you're experts, let me know because I could use some help. But anyway, I'm figuring it out. I'm trying to understand where the expenses are going. This was a very important thing to do in 2020, right? Uh so I renovated my bookkeeping.

[3:12] Ken Davenport: Uh we took unconscious bias training, the whole office. I established a partners with charity. I established a new plan for my social media. I read at least 30 books on business and wellness and all sorts of things. I hired a coach to help figure out how to work on the plumbing of my business.

[3:29] Ken Davenport: I actually closed three businesses, side businesses that I have that were taking up too much of my time, and a heck of a lot more. A heck of a lot more. This is all stuff that I've been trying to do for years, but have never gotten around to doing because we didn't have that capital T word time.

[3:50] Ken Davenport: Well, in the last year, we certainly have had it. As we are emerging from this pandemic, theater makers, and frankly, anyone out there, as we're emerging from the pandemic, now is the time to in this last little rush before everything goes back to 100% normal, God willing, get vaccinated, cross fingers.

[3:53] Ken Davenport: Now is the time to look at the plumbing of your business and your life and all those things that may not be the fun things to work on every day, but that are the important things like plumbing that keep your life and your business going.

[4:28] Ken Davenport: So check it out. If you need help, if you need someone, even someone, yeah, to help you with QuickBooks. I actually have had to get advice from a lot of experts. Or you need a logo designer or a website designer, let us know.

[4:41] Ken Davenport: We will find you someone. I want your plumbing to run very, very smoothly when theater comes back. Because guess what? It's coming back and it's gonna be awesome.

[5:05] Ken Davenport: Thanks again for listening to the Producer's Perspective podcast. If you found this episode informative, educational, inspirational, or just entertaining, do me a favor and share this episode with another theater maker or two in your life.

[5:20] Ken Davenport: My mission is to amplify the conversation about theater because if we get more people talking about it, we'll get more people making it, we'll get more people seeing it. It will be great for the industry as a whole. If you want more of my daily perspectives on theater and Broadway, check out my blog at theproducersperspective.com or check out my social media accounts at Ken Davenport B Way on Instagram and at Ken Davenport on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

[5:47] Ken Davenport: We'll see you for the next episode.