<div class="bbWrapper">In the past month I've been offered over $30K in video gigs<br />
and I had to turn every single one of them down.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
Because in October, I had the opportunity to invest a few thousand in my business and chose the wrong area. Now I'm losing money faster than I can make it.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 22px">Let me explain.</span></b><br />
I do video work for clients... It's my primary way of making cash. In October I had a decision to make: I could either invest in<br />
<ol>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Stock footage/music/template licenses</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">New hardware</li>
</ol>I ended up choosing the stock footage. My logic was that because I didn't have a camera, I could use the stock footage to increase production value on the videos I made for them. I could take on bigger and better gigs, and make more money.<br />
<br />
It seemed like buying something NEW was a better option than replacing something OLD.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 22px">Bottleneck</span></b><br />
Had I thought more about it, I would have realized that the thing limiting growth wasn't a lack of stock footage... My limiting bottleneck is my workstation.<br />
<br />
Let me tell you about this piece of garbage laptop I'm using now.<br />
<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Screen flickers 4-5 times per minute</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sometimes it just doesn't feel like working.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">constant crashes</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Makes noises</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">overheating problems</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">harddrive failed in january, expecting another failure soon</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">video editing takes forever.</li>
</ul>This thing was a GREAT purchase for me in 2006 but it's REALLY time to upgrade.<br />
<br />
To give you a comparison... a 2 minute video takes me two weeks to do on this machine.<br />
It takes me A DAY on something faster. <br />
<br />
These are the type of videos I can produce when I'm sitting down in front of a clients workstation:<br />
<div class="bbMediaWrapper" data-media-site-id="youtube" data-media-key="Xe0aADhVjE4">
<div class="bbMediaWrapper-inner">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xe0aADhVjE4?wmode=opaque"
loading="lazy"
width="560" height="315"
frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
</div>
</div>These aren't projections, this is fact based on prior experience. Better work, quicker delivery.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 22px"><b>The Client</b></span><br />
I was approached this month by a large sports clothing brand. They wanted 10 videos for each of their upcoming clothing lines. They wanted it done in a week. I told them this would cost $20K total, and they accepted.<br />
<br />
However, after looking a bit more into the project, I realized I couldn't do it! My workstation just wasn't good enough, wasn't fast enough, wasn't powerful enough. I needed to find a way to make this work!<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there just wasn't a way. This project was time sensitive. I had to reject the job. I'd rather not take the risk of failing to deliver.<br />
<br />
Since then, I've been approached to do MORE videos. After 10K in lost opportunities, I realized what a mistake I've made and am now trying to rectify the situation.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 22px"><b>The Lesson</b></span><br />
The outdated workstation represents workflow inefficiencies.<br />
The stock video represents marketing (me pursuing different types of clients.)<br />
<b>Pursuing more work before you can handle it is a risky move. You have to have a solid plan to scale up first.</b><br />
<br />
I learned a lesson. For now on, when dedicating funds to future projects... <b>I will optimize existing workflow before pursuing a bigger workload...</b><br />
<br />
I'd be 30K richer right now, if I had invested differently last October. Hindsight is 20/20.<br />
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this lesson and if you agree or not.</div>
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