Q. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
A. We are Total DJs Music Productions your one stop production source for everything wedding! Bringing you the best in all things entertainment from your DJ to your photography, cinematography, Photobooth and special FX. We focus on attention to detail for each and every event helping bring your vision to fruition! We have two office locations in Suffern NY and Manhattan NY to allow our clients easy access to us.
Q. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A. My name is Ceasar Muñoz, Owner of Total DJ’s Music Productions. I started Total DJs in 2006 to bring together the best in entertainment!
My love of music started at a young age when I discovered that I could sing. I soon became a trained classical tenor singing opera, but I would soon also get involved in musical theater landing the lead roles in musicals and school plays through high school and college. In college I would Be a lead DJ on the campus radio station and provide commentary on current issues and upcoming events.
Music just speaks to me. I found DJing at the young age of 15. Attending events as a kid and into early adulthood I would always be intrigued but he DJs. I would watch and listen and try to guess what song would be next. The mixing of music and the MC can move a crowd, create a mood and inspire a dance floor. I was instantly hooked. Over the years Total DJs grew from just me to now having 6 DJs and 7 MCs who love this art of entertaining as much as I do. We have mastered the craft and our reputation shows, as we have won multiple awards for wedding entertainment through TheKNot and WeddingWire, two of the industries most recognized wedding platforms.
Q. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
A. I wanted to start Total DJs Music Productions to offer clients a new level of Boutique DJ entertainment. We don’t just show up and play music… We produce events. From DJ furniture, sparklers, smoke, CO2 and more our events are full of energy and outside the box entertainment.
I really wanted to just bring new concepts to the industry, lots of talent that love music, love people and know how to create moments.
Q. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
A. Three pieces of advice I would give to entrepreneurs… first would be you must be willing to commit. By commit I mean go all in on what it is your passionate about. If you truly love something and want to see it through you must first commit. Second I would say invest in yourself. Seek out the professionals in the industry your breaking into and watch, listen and learn. And lastly I would say go full steam. get yourself out of obscurity and take the bull by the horns. You cant become successful if no one knows you. Use the power of social media to make yourself get known, be everywhere. Soon your friends and family will start saying “hey what are you doing?” When that happens your on the right track, but remember to block out the nay sayers and negative people that say it cant be done. It can all be done, but first believe then commit!
Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. I would say the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur are Ambition, willingness to learn & courage.
Ambition because it is easy to give up when the going gets tough. But to be successful you must be persistent. You want to succeed and reach milestones that will soon lead to a bigger goal. Put in the time and work and don’t take shortcuts.
Willingness to learn… some think it stops after college. Learning is a continuous process that even todays most successful people believe. Warren Buffet is an avid reader, reading approximately 600 -1000 pages a day! And he swears by it. Bill gates reads about 50 books a year. Stay connected and open minded.
Courage to act on your great ideas and plans. Take those first steps into the unknown and take the leap of faith. Its not all straight and narrow there will be bumps, twists and turns but stay the path and focus your attentions on the things that matter most.
Q. How many hours do you work a day on average?
A. I work approximately 16 hours a day. My mind is always working, and it gets difficult to disconnect sometimes because I’m so focused on the end result.
Q. To what do you most attribute your success?
A. I attribute or lot of my success on persistence, hard working team and delivering an absolute great service to our clients. WE strive to make each and every one of our clients the highest priority providing them first class service.
Q. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A. Marketing is something relatively new to us. For many years it was referral based and we did well. As social media and internet advertising continued to grow we were seeing a shift in the industry. Since hiring a marketing company and focusing on SEO and google ads, our business has 7x growth. We are still learning and progressing but we are on track to soon be a 7 figure business.
Q. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A. When I first started Total DJs Music Productions I raised my own capital by saving from my 9-5 job as a NYS EMT. I would put away money from every check. My first investment to get tarted was approximately 5k dollars to get industry standard equipment. As I started doing events I did not take any profits for the first 5 years. I re-invested in the company and continued to build and grow using profits.
Q. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A. Write your goals and targets down daily! Twice a day would be ideal. First upon waking and once at the end of day. It will keep you focused and grounded on the tasks. It reinforces what your to be working on each day.
Q. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A. There are a couple of other companies out there that I admire most because they have gotten the formula figured out. That formula though is an ever changing formula. They keep pushing and striving to be better and better. SCE Event group and Posh Entertainment are two recognized DJ companies in the Northern Jersey market and they do a great job!
Q. How important have good employees been to your success?
A. It is extremely important to have a team that you know will have your back and the best regard for the interest of the company. I would say it is imperative to have great employees not just good.
Q. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
A. I don’t give up.. I will keep working the angles until i find my way to my end goal.
Q. What motivates you?
A. My family motivates me the most. I have two little girls who mean the world to me and a supportive beautiful wife. Together we move mountains, maybe not all at once but a piece at a time we get it done.
Q. What are your ideals?
A. My ideals is to be true to who I am as a person and as a company to uphold our values and deliver on what we say we are going to do.
Q. How do you generate new ideas?
A. We generate new ideas as a team here at Total DJs. My crew know that they have as much say in what happens here as I do. I have a complete open door policy and welcome any and all input on what we need to do to keep driving the company forward.
Q. How do you define success?
A. I define success as the willingness to keep finding success. Success for me would ideally be the success of others in partnership with me. If we are all winning then that is success to me.
Q. How do you build a successful customer base?
A. To build a successful customer base you must always deliver on what it is you are selling and servicing. Be thoughtful and genuine about your actions and provide excellent service.
Q. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
A. My favorite part about being an entrepreneur is the chase. The chase to the unknown finish line. What is at the end? Is there an end? I think for most entrepreneurs they would agree that the end is a means to a new beginning!
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
A. My most satisfying moments are watching the couples share their first dance. It’s that one single moment that all the planning and hard work becomes worth it. A new beginning and challenge that they will now face together. We are a part of perhaps the biggest chapter in their lives and its just so meaningful to me, I actually tear up almost every time…
Q. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
A. I think that not everyone is made to be an Entrepeneaur. But that doesn’t mean that the person isn’t absolutely necessary for the success of the company. They go hand in hand and they both need each other.
Q. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
A. Exciting
Q. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
A. One of my favorite and most inspiring books i have read to date has been the 10X Rule by Grant Cardone. I highly recommend it to any entrepreneur or person really. Its just a great book!
Q. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
A. My hobbies include Singing, playing guitar and perfecting my craft of DJing.
Q. What makes you happy?
A. I am happiest with my family. I just adore having family around me and the laughs of my little girls.
Q. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. Sacrifices I make are missing a lot of family affairs because in this industry many events are on weekends, which is when most people celebrate any event. So if our family is having an event chances are on a weekend I may already be booked on something and not be able to attend.