Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Smith.
Charles, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Sindicate Entertainment was an ongoing idea from circa 2009 and became an official company in 2017. It was initially founded by several members, each producing a different idea and business path but not having the individual resources to bring it to life. After much deliberation, we all decided to launch as a group, using a play on words of the word “syndicate” in which we all pooled resources together to achieve a common goal. Adapting our company loosely based on The Divine Comedy’s 7 Deadly Sins, we refer to each of these as “channels”, with each channel focusing on a different entertainment focus.
Over the years most of the founding partners have dropped off due to the workload a small business requires. I continued forward, utilizing all the savings I had obtained over the past several years to continue trying to build the channels in the image the founding partners had. Over time I’ve brought in various resources who have been supportive of the overall goal I’m trying to achieve with the company, without their support I may have called it quits myself just due to the overbearing workload. Starting this business I’ve always reflected on the importance of teamwork and collaboration and I feel that the team we have now is what has allowed us to grow as large as we have. As a result of our efforts, we have recently acquired our first commercial property, allowing us a home base to launch events, work with various collaborators, and develop our big picture goals.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has been a journey. As with any business, I’d say some days are better than others, but overall the experience has been incredibly rewarding. One of the biggest struggles was startup capital and being able to develop a baseline on each of our channels with what was available. As they say, money talks and everything from staffing to equipment relies on the monetary assets we have available. The second largest struggle I believe is the team members we choose to work with. We try to align ourselves with team members passionate about the work that they do and finding the right fit can be quite difficult.
Please tell us about your company.
We are, at the core, an entertainment company. Earlier I stated we modeled this company after the seven deadly sins, currently, we have five of the seven operational. Each channel has it’s own “Channel Manager” think of them as the subject matter expert in that focal avenue of content. I oversee each of these channels, handling most of the administrative and legal aspects in the background. Once we have an event underway I rely on the management skills of the appropriate Channel Manager to be the face of the company in my stead as the expert in the field. When I’m not in the background administratively, most often you can find me handling the onsite photo/video work. Most of the people who know me have either been to an event we have hosted or seen me at another event providing event coverage.
My pride in the company is with the staff who has helped me build it up to this point. Honestly, I couldn’t have made it this far without their support. They are the ones who put their reputation on the line, introducing me to potential collaborators and/or clients, representing the company we’ve built at events, and handling everyday operations, everything from street team advertising to hosting events.
The thing that sets us apart from other companies would have to be our model of having different channels. The market we attempt to reach can be any and everyone depending on the event. There is quite literally a different marketing plan we have to draft for each event we do depend on the theme, changing our demo/psychographics to fit the appropriate market. Overall we seek a means to be able to connect different audiences via sources of entertainment, with us working currently primarily in the independent scene and focusing on independent artists, entertainers, and businesses.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
San Diego is a thriving ground for creativity. From musicians to artists, from entrepreneurs to visionaries. I’ve seen so many diverse creatives since I first started this company it’s amazing what you realize you’ve missed in your city. With that being said, the thing I like least has to be the cost of living. With such a large amount of income going to just surviving, I believe it is hard to cultivate this independent talent primarily due to lack of resource availability.
Contact Info:
- Address: 7574 Trade Street
Suite B
San Diego, CA 92121 - Website: https://sindicateeg.com
- Phone: 619-249-6086
- Email: inquiries@sindicateeg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sindicateeg/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sindicateeg/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sindicateeg/
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
