Dear Friends of The Music Garden,

After careful consideration and seeking wisdom from experts, local leaders, and members of the community, we’ve come to the decision that The Music Garden will not be opening in downtown Sonora. While this may feel like sad news, a lot of positive came out of this experience too, and we’d like to share that with you, our community.

Here’s what we learned:

Positives

• • There is solid demand for music lessons in Sonora, particularly for piano/keyboard, guitar/bass, drums/mixed percussion, and voice.
  • There is at least as much demand for group lessons as there is for private lessons.
  • In addition to lessons, there is solid demand for workshops and classes in the following areas (listed in order of greatest demand):
    1. worship music
    2. music reading and literacy
    3. songwriting
    4. recording and audio production
  • There is demand for summer music camp for kids of all ages.
  • People would like a way to meet up with other musicians with similar interests to form groups and bands.
  • People are interested in attending local and nearby performances as a group with others.

Challenge

• • There does not seem to be enough demand to offset the cost of making the necessary building renovations to use the building we have in the way we envisioned.
  • This is more an issue of not fully factoring in all of the renovation costs than it is an issue of demand, but both are factors.

What does this mean going forward?

To be honest, we’re not sure right now. The original idea behind The Music Garden was to bring the community together around music and to provide opportunities for making and experiencing music together that aren’t currently available in our community. Perhaps the value in all of this was to learn what people want and to get that information back out to our community. Are you a music teacher who is considering expanding your studio to offer group lessons? Do you already have a program or space that would benefit from incorporating some of the interests that people have expressed above? If that’s you, feel free to reach out using our contact form and we’d be happy to share more details of our survey results with you individually.

Lessons Learned

For all of you entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs out there, here are our take-aways:

• • It can be easy to get so excited about your idea that you get too far down the road before doing all of your due diligence. Seek out the wisdom of others who have gone before you. One resource that we highly recommend is Valley Sierra Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
  • Even if an idea is “your baby,” consider bringing in a friend, a partner, or a mentor who’s not afraid to challenge your thinking. As the saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
  • Don’t be discouraged if an idea doesn’t work out the way that you envisioned. The lessons you learn and especially the awesome people you meet along the way will only make your next venture that much better.
  • When one door closes, keep your head up and look around. Another door has probably already opened and is just waiting for you to step through it!
  • Seek the counsel of the Lord. You will find it in the written Word, in the spoken Word, and in the fellowship of the household. Proverbs 19:20-21 Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Thank you to all who have offered encouragement, supplied wisdom, and come alongside us as we tested the waters for this idea. And thank you especially to all who are teaching, leading, supporting, and making music in our community. Keep going, our community needs you!