I've been seriously considering our direction for the upcoming year & where I would like to take the business. We're a fairly small company with it primarily run by myself & my husband.

We need to look at becoming a profitable company - or rather a more profitable where we actually make money.

I feel I need a business coach but wonder how I would first find one in OZ and secondly, know what criteria I should be look for in them.

Anyone have any advice???
Experience both positive & negative would also be good.

thanks in advance.

I've never had a business coach - a divorce and wrap up of my company meant I had to work for a big competitor for 18 months and that experienced showed me that a) I was as good if not better than most at my job, and b) that I couldn't run a profitable company if I lived as long as Methuselah.

I copied their business model and for 20 years ran a very profitable production company.

This was all before we did weddings (other than the daughters' of our major clients - for free!).

The big problem with weddings as a business is that the market is distorted by hobbyists and by a widely variable interpretation of the product description. To far too many clients a hobbyist with a single hand held is not very different to a production company with three cameras, radio channels, radio controlled hotheads etc.

I fear your business adviser would suggest you find another line of work in which your potential earnings came close to your investment, both of finance and your time. Sorry.

The only really profitable big company I know in Britain has a couple of good editors, hires in freelances and students desperate for experience at peanut rates to do the shoots and trades on a publicity-generated reputation and heavy advertising. They don't produce the best programmes by a long shot.

The only comfort is that weddings are a great environment in which to work; no-one goes to a wedding to be miserable.

I think the concept of a business coach or life coach etc etc is more successful to an american audience - maybe the Aussies & the Poms are too cynical.

I'm sure you'll find someone who'll be happy to call himself & business coach and take your money - I'm just not comfortable with the idea.

I think what you're talking about is a strategic vision - planning. It can underpin the direction & success of the business.

if you give me a day or so I'll write something on Strategic Planning and post it - there's goes my editing schedule.

Paul,

That would be awesome - new year would be fine...it'll give me something to celebrate :)

Hi Rochelle,

I'd be happy to give you some "brain time" at no charge. In the very least it's got to be good therapy value. :-)

Plus you can feel at ease in discussions as you are in a different city / market.

Andrew

That would terrific Andrew.

The hardest thing can sometimes be to think outside of your current world...knowing what you want, but not exactly how to get there :)

Rochelle

... or even what we are both doing ... on the computer and posting to DVinfo at this time of the morning.

(I have to be 45mins drive away at 6:30am for a shoot (now where did I put that spare tape that I need???) .... going to be an interesting morning)

Andrew

lol...Andrew, I've been sitting in bed thinking about this possible proposition that a photog colleague wants me to get involved with, which may also effect a colleague who I have an acquaintance with...not knowing if it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

can't sleep - tragic

A gentleman named Matt Davis does wedding video production business coaching:

Webinars, Group Coaching, & 1 on 1 Consulting for Video (http://www.videobusinesscoaching.com/)


I went to an event where he spoke and he's pretty good at what he does.

Hey Rochelle,

Sleep for now. We'll sort out the issue soon.

Just don't agree to anything in the meantime ... keep your options open until you have had proper time to process it all.

Andrew

Thanks Aaron,

I have seen this but not done anything about it.
My favourite quote from there:
“You get the best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them,
but by building a fire within.”
Bob Nelson

yes, time for bed - 2am in melb and I have to see a client at 10am :)

chat soon.

Be your own boss .... work your own hours .... sleep your own hours .... experience double vision every now and then ....

(you get the picture)

Andrew

Hmmm - 3am and you were still up!

After waking up early for my appointment, I check my mobile to find a text message cancelling it - back to bed

Philip, I agree with your interpretation of the wedding business. And it's just going to get worse as the digital age marches on.

Just by doing the math on best case scenarios for shooting weddings, you can easily see the total possible annual revenue is just not that attractive. And you have to kill yourself to perform all the work & editing.

However, there will always be demand for professional wedding videos.

Rochelle, hopefully the wedding video market was either not a part of your plan or just a small part.

I have been using a business coaching system for the last year and it has helped a great deal for me. It is absolutely NOT video specific - but really helps me to define objectives; firstly over a longer period - ten years, then 3 years, then annually. Then I identify specific steps to be taken each quarter to build toward the long term objectives. And finally I set specific objectives each week to accomplish toward the quarterly objectives - which will carry me toward the longer term objectives.

The system uses mentoring (not video related), and partnering with a peer - where we teleconference weekly (with the peer), and monthly (with the mentor).

It really is about getting organized mostly. But It has been great for me.

As a teaser (from the program manual)- one of the 'success accelerators' that really helped me greatly was:

"Cleanups, Completions and Deletions - the fastest way to energize yourself is to eliminate the clutter, messes, and incompletions that surround you. They sap your energy, keep you stuck and limit your freedom". The actual program goes into a lot of depth on the subject, as well as many others.

In our business - there are always loose ends - so practicing this on a regular basis really helped me out greatly.

It's not cheap, I pay $200.00 CDN a month for it, but it has more than paid for itself. They say that the system can enable you to 'double your income - and your time off". And while I haven't calculated it all this year - I'd say I'm close to if not more than double my income - and I took a month off to travel to Central America (traded some video services for accomodation).

The program is international I believe. You can PM me if you want to know more about it.

Hi Rochelle,

If it sounds any better, it was only 2am in Brisbane (not having daylight saving time).

Woke up, headed off and shot the footage. Slept very well last night, for some reason. :-)

Andrew

Philip, I agree with your interpretation of the wedding business. And it's just going to get worse as the digital age marches on.

Just by doing the math on best case scenarios for shooting weddings, you can easily see the total possible annual revenue is just not that attractive. And you have to kill yourself to perform all the work & editing.

However, there will always be demand for professional wedding videos.

Rochelle, hopefully the wedding video market was either not a part of your plan or just a small part.

Jeff apologies for not responding to your post earlier, I agree that the revenue does not always seem attractive, but people will always get married...and divorced & married again :P.

It is already part of the plan b/c I'm doing them...but not part of the sole plan. I would consider myself somewhat successful in the quantity & quality that we do. However, I would like our success to be broadened in recognition within Melbourne (Austraila), which in turn I hope would bring in more business & at a higher rate of pay.

That's my goal
Thanks everyone for their responses & I'll be in contct with some of you in the New Year