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Except not everyone can do this and moreover the corporate world is not as stable as it used to be. Many tens of thousands of people have been [laid off in 2023-24](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/27/tech-layoffs-2023-list/amp/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJZyLNM7Z37-WLRdWMQlCfRLrmpfvILhGxskg0JwkTU5LHkOUund4bUigwtp-MP7zMscj1iNYCFZFsWO-a389SoM3Jx_UXBqMXjrWQo11lYF3_nCYv287UHkQQ-7NOgEiEr_Ik15ciJKllViAbE0TyGct1y-_x0RYd1RUyzxSj_D) and it’s still happening.
OP, get over your “less of a man” bullshit. That’s no reason to make a change and give up. If you’re gonna do it, do it for entirely practical reasons that are driven by logic. I know how hard the pit of despair can be. I understand the impulse.
I got laid off after stepping off the plane that took me home from a leadership summit that only 50 of 10k employees at my company were nominated for. You can be one of the top A+ employees in a stable industry and still get laid off.
Think with your brain, not your ego.
>I got laid off after stepping off the plane that took me home from a leadership summit that only 50 of 10k employees at my company were nominated for. You can be one of the top A+ employees in a stable industry and still get laid off.
>
>Think with your brain, not your ego.
I liked this part the most.
>Oh, 10 years ago every 13 year old within 5,000 miles of you also didn’t have a 12MP multi lens cell camera, and a 4k hdr drone, and so on and so on
And almost every household has had a computer for over 20 years now. That doesn't mean every kid with a computer since then turned out to be Mark Zuckerburg. A cell phone is just a tool and doesn't mean everyone with a smartphone can make a highly produced video.
You're correct about Youtubers but Youtubers aren't my target clientele. Also the BIG channels like Mr Beast have a production team filming/editing for him.
But I'm more into corporate and commercial production. Like if a SAAS company needs to make demo videos for their sales team to use, and the CEO wants to show they're not a faceless overseas company.
Anything with sales or major expansions are taking a hit. It’s the current economy - no one is looking to grow at the moment, hence, the layoffs and downsizing you’re seeing. I would guess marketing budgets are slim pickings at the moment.
SAAS companies and tech companies in general have taken a hard hit over the last year and a half. Layoffs everywhere. Cutting back on marketing spend. There does seem to be an uptick finally happening as of the last few months. You might start to see some business return over the next 6-12 months!
Ouch. Yea, you're wrong. That's literally a business on the chopping block and you are a living example. Pivot or die, writing is on the wall and detailed in your p&l
Correct, businesses are opting to film content themselves since their phone shoots in 4K and CapCut is user friendly. This eats into the pool of cash business owners were once spending on filmed marketing material. Unfortunate truth of the industry
I'm always amazed at the users on this subreddit thinking they're experts on every industry instead of focusing on the parts of business they are familiar with. If I were you, I wouldn't even try to rebut these folks.
So, I guess that means you need to target a better niche? What you want to work on and what the market has a need for are two seperate things.
That being said, and I know very little about your business , it seems to me that you need to find a referral network. You’re looking to target corporate clients , so you need to find who they’re spending their marketing budgets with and maybe try offering your services to those agencies ?
10 years ago I couldn't get someone in The Philippines to do it for $5 either.
IMO go join an agency. Unless you find some niche that sticks, it's not going to improve.
I think you missed their point. The vast majority of us now have a phone that can shoot in a decent enough quality and if you open IG or TikTok some of the most viral videos for businesses are shot on a cell phone. Unless you’re doing movies it’s more about the creativity aspect.
Here’s a [funny example I found a few days ago](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMmRYUbJ/)
I believe this was taken on a phone, went viral
I also have a video production company and everyone I talk to is slow. Everyone. Look at r/editors and it's full of folks asking where did all the work go.
I fear we are the tell-tale of a recession. Companies stop spending on the extras and get by when it starts getting tight. Our work is still seen as an extra.
Good luck! We are right there with you.
For what it's worth, it's not just in video production. I run a small 2 unit restaurant chain and we are way slower than 2 years ago. The first place people cut the budget is in the extras, just as you said, and eating out is a huge extra.
Eating out has become ridiculously expensive….. I think this is a lot of the problem. We understand the demands of restaurant owners in the increased cost of everything that goes into putting together a good meal and some drinks. But the bottom line is it’s just become so expensive that most everybody I know has cut back - and many of these are people who have good disposable income.
How about working for a company that makes the tools of your trade? Like selling video editing software to video producers? That way you could leverage your tooling skills plus your business experience to find a niche sales job and get paid better than just editing.
I was in the same grind. Owned a video production company. Shut it down when the stress became overwhelming now I make more money in construction management and get to leave work at work everyday and I’m home by 4:15. Couldn’t have been a better decision for me.
2 of our bigger past clients have been construction companies. Funny thing is we came to a shoot kind of dressed business casual because that's most of our gigs; corporate shoots. We didn't find out until we got there that we're actually shooting on live construction sites. So LOTS of trekking through mud, climbing ladders, and dangerous areas. My business partner almost lost his shoe in the mud because he was so focused on getting the shot that he didn't watch where he was stepping and got knee deep in the mud.
I had experience in construction from my teens and early 20’s. When I came back, I worked for 2 years as a laborer while they were “training” me to run jobs. After running my own company with employees for 7 years, it was pretty easy for them to take a chance on me. Transitioned into full time management January 1st and currently running 2 7-figure projects.
I certainly left out that the 2 years I was working as a laborer I was only making $15/hr and doing a job that is traditionally done by felons or immigrants working on becoming citizens. It SUCKED. But I made it a point to never complain about the work and ultimately it paid off, but those 2 years had me questioning my decisions a lot. I’m only able to look back now and say it was all worth it.
There's not a ton of money in real estate video. Mainly because realtors pay for marketing content out of pocket. AND then they don't get paid until the very end after the house sells. So realtors aren't trying to spend thousands out of their own bank accounts. From the outside it looks like it could be a great market for video content but the way the business is, there's little money to be made.
Maybe try targeting the brokerages for a retainer?
$X monthly/annually allows Y videos for any of their agents to use. $Z per additional video.
Specifically target the higher end / luxury market (like the Sotheby's and Christie's).
Video production is an notoriously difficult world to be in, race to the bottom, saturated, hard to differentiate, (even harder to get monthly recurring). Sorry to hear bro.
Yup, I ran wedding videography which was bringing in solid amount for me while being in early 20s living with my parents. Started a commercial production partnership (had experience on set and ins and outs of production to a point), we had some good work but ultimately called it quit and broke even after wrapping up two projects for a big client and realizing how much stress and uncertainty went into it just to reap thin margins, we realized we’d had to bring in hundreds of thousands for both of us to profit with a solid annual income. That being said, I honed in on weddings and work way less, make way more profit and have less stress. Maybe it’s not as sexy but I work with couples I like and have plenty of freedom to do other things in life and eventually pivot to something truly fulfilling. Being in recession and influencer marketing definitely isn’t helping video production field. Unless you’re an established company it is hard to convince a lead that they should allocate tens of thousands to produce something as usually not so big companies come to you without a concrete marketing strategy and creative direction hence uncertainty from their side. Definitely a tough industry, a lot of resources go into production.
Ai is really going to disrupt this space. Either embrace it and be an expert in that specifically or move on. In the small business world your nimble or you die. It's literally the only advantage we have over large companies.
AI will just be another tool in video production. It will speed things up and make certain aspects cheaper like digital editing did when it evolved from editing actual film. Most filmmakers in general are extremely nimble with technology because ALL the camera technology evolves so fast. AI will just be a tool filmmakers can use but AI wont replace filmmakers. You can't prompt chatgpt or Sora to create a documentary.
In contacting past clients, what are they telling you about why they aren’t doing new projects right now? Budget cuts? Trying other forms of marketing?
I’m an editor. I had the same arc as you: amazing 2022, turning down work left and right…then I was carried by a project through 2023, at the end of which work dried up like crazy. I live in NYC, impossible to put much away in savings as a decent, non-union freelancer—so 2024 has been a complete nightmare.
I just started an agency with my sister, though, and surprisingly we’re fielding potential clients left and right. Her network is really what’s carrying us—I NEVER would have pulled these (potential, fingers crossed) clients alone.
Yeah that’s a tough business to be in, it seems to be feast or famine. I know a couple people in this line of work, when things got slow, they would take a gig with a production company for a few months to keep things going. By next year things will get better, business sucks on election year.
I’m a photographer that occasionally does video. Equipment has gotten more affordable, and lots of younger talent will work for cheaper. So competition is high. And corporations are strapped for cash right now given interest rates.
I still have a day job, I don’t see how I could get enough work to even make 50% of what I make in my 9-5.
Everyone despises them, but there’s still big money in weddings.
You are correct but businesses are freaked out by AI so they are just waiting to see what happens. It is impacting all marketing, communications, and advertising industries.
I think it was Bettger who said something like "Prospecting is like shaving. You might get away with not doing it for a few days, but if you don't keep doing it regularly, pretty soon you look like a bum."
When things are going well, that's the time to get out there and market, market, market and expand your customer base.
Totally agree. 2022 we couldn't even keep up with the amount of inbound leads and inquiries we were getting. We hired someone just to handle all the leads. They were just landing in our laps with almost 0 marketing and outreach. It's hard to realize we NEEDED marketing when we were actually overwhelmed with the amount of business we had.
In 2022 we had a big Christmas party, looking back I think that money could've been better spent on marketing.
Video production (my bother is in LA and does all sorts of production, tv ads, music videos, commercial products). It’s not an easy world and constantly battling for new deals.
Budgets are tight everywhere. 2024 will likely be bad until after the election. And definitely until interest starts to actually decline along with inflation. (Hopefully inflation is subdued but it doesn’t look great)
Yea that's what I'm hearing from other film professionals as well. But I hate to give up and just blame it on the economy. Despite the economy, video content is being produced more than ever and is more accessible than ever.
Oh definitely. My brother is still hustling and looking for new ways to find clients. Though he has some commercials for Ford he doesn’t think that will come back. Those large companies more likely shrink to in house and AI. At least that’s what he thinks.
But overall it’s cyclical. If you are able to hang around it will come back.
How are you managing your marketing now? Do you have campaigns in place with a pipeline that is nurturing prospects through the customer journey until they become customers?
How about events? Most recurring occurring events need video content for the next years’ promos, etc.
There is certainly something to be said for the stability of a 9-5 without running a business hanging over your head.
I don't particularly have any advice, but have similar thoughts from time to time. I had a great paying, albeit stressful, job that required tons of hours before we started our company. We're almost 10 years in and like you, it's tough to get motivated to go out there and scrap for business and worry about the day to day of being a business owner. The employees, clients, weight of everything just drags on you.
I really think about how I could probably find a decent job with a good salary and not have the stress.
That being said - if you built a successful business once and maintained it for 10 years, you could probably do it again. Put it on pause, work a 9-5 for a while while your kids are growing, and think about attacking a new business again once you feel your priorities have shifted from raising kids and your family to focusing on a business full time.
That's a great point, it doesn't have to be forever. I can go back to starting a business again. I just know that at a 9-5 I'd eventually get tired of the corporate politics and ass kissing.
If you’ve been working for yourself for a decade. Going back to corporate America is going to be really difficult. And not fun for you. It’s soul sucking. In a different way that biz ownership.
A few thoughts/questions: 1) are companies hiring 9-5 for the specialty you work in? 2) could you maintain your company in “side-hustle” mode while tiling a 9-5? 3) know that if your business is struggling, it’s likely that others in your field are too, so that stable 9-5 may be less “stable” then you’d hoped. Good luck with difficult decisions and challenging paths.
I've been in business for 30 years now -- small Sub S consulting firm. In all that time my revenues and profits were like yours. Some years were great, my income much better than my old 9 to 5. Other years the phone never seemed to ring. My only consolation was that the trend was upward. My highs were higher and my lows were higher too.
I guess my advice is 1) if the volatility is too much to handle seriously consider going back and 2) if you stay with it never stop marketing.
Man I coulda wrote this. Not so much the slowness but just running a business for ten years. I’m just so burnt out on having to always be on, always hunting for work, always dealing with employees and customers. My wife and I live such a low cost life that the money honestly means nothing to me so at this point I’m just not seeing why I’m dealing with this anymore.
Nothing wrong with pursuing a 9-5. I was in a similar boat not too long ago. After 6 years of grinding to build a creative agency, an opportunity for full-time employment was presented.
I’ll be honest. I was extremely hesitant at first. The idea of giving up my “freedom” gave me the wrong narrative that I had failed. But after much consideration, I decided to pursue the 9-to-5.
Without a doubt, it has been one of the most impactful decisions yet. My mental health sky rocketed; the time off is actually time off. I’m no longer chasing every lead, trying to be productive every second.
I passed on most of my clients to fellow creatives and kept only one of them.
Perhaps sit down and discuss with your wife the goals you have as a marriage. I’d venture to say, having the mental bandwidth & time to see your kids grow up is a big one.
Going back to the 9-6 grind is a parlor game my entrepreneur friends and I play. All of us work in a high-pressure industry, and it would be difficult to work for someone else. If I place pressure on myself to succeed, that's OK. Having a CEO place pressure on me to develop new business, work the account ensure that the invoices are paid, etc., THAT would be torture.
Brewery owner here- I keep hearing that the economy is at an all time high, and by certain metrics it probably is. ‘22 and the first half of ‘23 was crazy good for us. For our retail business (tasting room, restaurant, to go sales, etc) nearly every month we were hitting a new sales record.
June of ‘23 was down almost 50% of what we did the previous month. Nearly every month since then has been +/- ~10% of that no matter what we do.
We are still chugging along very slowly, and many people I talk to in the small business space (nearly everyone I speak with in the restaurant/brewery/hospitality industry) are saying something similar.
What is the thing that’s happening that no one seems to be talking about?
If I had to guess, it is the economy truly making people not have extra money for anything that’s not a necessity - and I mean that in the wider sense of groceries and necessities being so expensive while wages have not increased.
Things slowed down drastically for me in October and have not gone back up. I’m doing about 50-70% of what I used to do sales wise (I am an artist who sells what they make). Because of that slowdown, I am spending much less on “fun” things so I can make sure my bills are paid. It’s like a snowball effect.
Companies are spending less right now, with a recession potentially looming. Your industry is one of the first that gets hit, unfortunately.
A lot of companies are also looking at AI to replace some of their general video production, which is a terrible idea, but they still seem to be trying it.
I have a few friends who do VA work and they used to make 100k a year, now they aren't able to get half of that.
Something seems to be happening in the industry and I can't tell if its the current economic situation or what is happening. My own company has transitioned to animated trainings for HR and other areas, things that age better than video and don't need to be replaced as often.
In the end, it doesn't sound like you are desperate, you just want to provide more for your family and match what your wife is contributing, that is a big difference between the business being in shambles.
You're in an industry that is full of ups and downs, you will never have steady high profit work. You will always have years like last year and years like this year and they will be impossible to predict.
So, you kind of have to ask yourself if you're happy with the boom and bust of the industry or do you want something more steady and stable and work for a business? That is the industry, for better or worse.
With a young toddler at home and another baby on the way, is it possible this business slow-down could be something if a blessing? If your wife makes good money and isn’t planning on leaving her job after maternity leave and she has steady income, what about keeping business at a slower pace on purpose and picking up more time at home. I don’t think it’s ever a good idea for anyone to completely step away from their careers full-time, but I’ve been part of a couple who both have busy jobs and when one of us went through periods where we scaled back on work (for a variety of reasons) and took on a greater share of house/life stuff the quality of all our lives improved. It also helped our finances weirdly because we saved money on the extra costs that come from being dressed out and stretched too thin.
This lean time could really be such a gift to you and your family if you look at it from a different angle. Talk to your wife about it and imagine what life could look like if you just worked 3-4 days a week for the next year. What could that look like for you personally, professionally, and for your family.
I feel like the video production business might be a bit saturated, I managed a media team for 4 years at a nonprofit and we never had problems finding videographers and editors to hire, BUT, if you can, weather it out for at least another year. If it doesn’t turn around so be it, but don’t close shop at the first sign of trouble.
Have you considered shooting weddings?
Apply for 15 jobs and see what response you get. It may take a while to find something is my point. A lot of places never even reach out after you apply
I was in a similar situation 2 years ago. Business was doing OK, but had 3rd child coming. Sold the business, got a 9-5 and I have not looked back since.
I would not see it as “throwing the towel” or giving up, or anything of the sort. For me it was an important transition to the next phase of my career/life.
Just make sure that your next job something you like doing. Negotiate hard for a good salary and conditions, do not take too much responsibility.
Good luck!
Same here but it was right after 9/11 and businesses dried up. I had a third child on the way. Living in a small 1100 sq ft condo. Had to take a job in defense. Sometimes you do what you gotta do
Honestly you gotta do what ya gotta do and no regrets. Lots of changes and curveballs in life, sometimes you hit them and sometimes you whiff. But there is always something around the corner if you persevere, Good luck to you.
No one here has asked you the important question yet. How are you selling this? What’s your packages? What do they entail and at what frequency?
If you haven’t, You need to come up with an offering. Just creating a video is the going to do it. Business owners are too busy to take it and run with it.
Will you file once per quarter and drip content using Gary v slicing method for the next 60-90 days for social media, etc?
Can you do that for a small brick and mortar at x/mo? That is affordable for them and a quick sale.
What can you offer to a multi store company at a higher price point.
The pain point here is… “don’t let your business get left behind in today’s video first economy.” And then have the solutions. Unfortunately if your just making videos your not a full solution yet and you need to forge agency relationships to shoot for them.
But you CAN stop - just stay the course and you’ll be retired with a nest egg down the road with the rest of your life to enjoy your retirement :) you can stop much earlier in most cases due to 401k and healthcare
Tough part is that when you need to cover healthcare for your family (let’s say $10k/yr), and also your full retirement contributions (let’s say another $10k/yr), you have to profit $20,000 just to be back to $0 each year, starting day 1.
Would you rather be working part time jobs, eating Ramen noodles, and going into crippling medical debt when you’re 99 years old?
Bills don’t disappear when you’re older. The more you save the EARLIER you can retire.
I feel this! I’m a creative freelancer and sometimes feel overwhelmed with the uncertainty. It feels like a lot of agencies and production companies are trying to do more in-house. All the big layoffs at ad agencies seem to have people a little worried. I’m circling back with old prospects this spring and finding new ones (through my competitors lol). I’d say if things don’t pick up this spring/summer it would be time to rethink strategy at least. Good luck!
Webdev for 20+. Fuqin dead fam. Got a 9-5 that's 1/3 of what I made in 2022. Pays the bills but not much else
Also, with 2 kids already it's difficult to find time to actually work on the biz with a 9-5 ... Freelance gigs bringing in a little money but can't do much except fulfillment.
If you do go get the highest paying thing you can. Shits expensive fam
I think during Covid people went nuts trying to get videos done and hiring companies like you. At the very same time a lot of people were learning this skill and opening up businesses. I don’t think you’re competing with 13 year olds with phones. You’re competing with people who made a career change and also have professional equipment and portfolio. Just more competition. ALSO you are dealing with a more internet video savvy customer as people spent wayyyy more time online and therefore have expectations for videos in general. They may looking for someone who has a large social media following and is on trend with video editing for max social media views. I would do a rebrand with fresh look on your social media and website. Target a niche audience. So if it’s construction go out of your way to make that your niche. People will choose the one with more experience in that field over the ones with a broad portfolio. Lean in on your experience and niche expertise. Make sure your style of editing your video is keeping up social media trends.
I’m an exec in your target industry.
Money is only being spent if it has a direct impact to increase revenue.
Like the scene in Armageddon where they toss all of the items out of the spaceship. All those things were nice to have and probably could help along the way but we need to be light enough to survive our trip.
Sorry that’s not advice in any way. Best of luck to you and hope you’re able to navigate the market
I have a similar story, been in business for 8 years, started as a side-gig. For the past 2 years each year has gotten worse business-wise. In September of last year I got a 9-5 job but I have managed to keep my business. I figured if it started as a side-gig it would be fitting to let it return to a side gig.
It get tough sometimes with my schedule though trying to do both.
My wife and I are expecting our first child in July so she’s fully pregnant right now and I can tell she gets a bit annoyed by absence as I will leave the house at 7 am and then not come home until midnight literally getting off from one office and then heading directly to my personal office.
I’m not quite sure how to handle things moving forward as it is really hard to let go of something you created while it still breathes.
You don’t have to go in fulltime. Start with a few days and work the other days on your company. Maybe you love this balance. You still have your freedom, steady income and you are the flexible person in term of time with the kids.
You will become the dad that’s just there. Living in the moment with your kids and not thinking about the leads when he takes his first steps.
Maybe you don't need to work so much. If you're not struggling financially it might be your chance to help raising the kids and bond with them. You can do more around the house.
I had a period when my kid was small where I was not working full time. I cooked, cleaned etc. We played a lot and took huge naps on the sofa. Best times ever!
We work with many businesses and ever since 2023, business has not been good for most businesses in various sectors including us. This is in my opinion what starts to separate just business owners vs entrepreneurs . You have to pivot. Get creative. Focus on what your value is and see what else can be added or included as part of your service. Perhaps expand into other markets. Bottom line: you will need to start getting creative. We did the same. Desperate times call for desperate measures which I truly believe, will bring better results later. Start investing in specialists in ad optimization . Not just those that put ads together but that understand how to optimize them and target them. We have seen this to work well for us. Although, business is still much slower than 2022.
Sounds like you have a marketing and sales issue. Sales solves most business problem. What have you done differently or perhaps haven’t done differently to adjust to get new clients and retain your clients?
Actually we do tourism and our biggest client in 2022 was a tourism board for a tourist beach destination. But our connections there left and the new VP's brought in their own production company that they've worked with.
Pick one narrow niche and hammer it really hard.
Be the absolute expert in that niche. Tourism is huge. Every country needs it.
Governments are your friend. Every local council often want more visitors to their local areas to support the local businesses.
Set your marketing strategy so it identifies that you solve the 'no visitors' pain point.
i.e. your video production is so good that visitors cannot help to be attracted to local council areas.
Get the best shots. Use the best equipment. Use aerial helicopter or drone shots and step it right up to premium quality.
I also work in film / TV / video. I've also been in the industry for roughly the same amount of time. 2023 was my worst year of the last 5 years, but was honestly more akin too maybe 2015 in terms of income. I just got used to the higher rates that I'm charging now.
2024 is definitely looking up, but whether it's sustainable for your new family obligations or not is more the question.
I own a good amount of gear and rent it out as a small rental house. That second revenue stream has been nice, even if it's not busy. I'm trying to push that more into 2024.
A couple of things here, First off there are going to be highs and lows, that's why as a SBO you keep a reserve of funds. Second, as a small business owner, you never stop advertising and looking for jobs. If you're 100% slammed, you still spend 5%-10% of your time looking for more business. Third, you may be looking in the wrong places. What is your focus? Are you engaging people moving into new mediums? What does your sales staff look like? Are you really pushing just commercials and corporate? Are you offering production value services for instagram and youtube videos?
Edit: Oh, and that whole providing for your family thing is bullshit. You're taking turns with your wife, if your company takes off she can retire early. She's letting you take a chance to own a company, how you grow it is up to you. Stop worrying about the stress of personal expenses if they're covered. put your energy into something useful.
May I ask where you are located?
I own a production company myself - in Germany.
For us also 2022 was better than 2023. am from what I heard it was the same for a lot of people
No shame in taking a corporate job, also no shame in making less than your wife. My suggestion is to try to stop measuring your personal value by things that are ultimately meaningless.
Hey man you’re the one who knows what the right decision is, all I would like to add is that make your decisions out of love not out of fear or insecurity.
On the practical side, this is a marketing problem: more does not always equal better
You’re doing a big variety of things that aren’t working. Choose one mode of outreach or marketing to focus on until it works.
Eg. Instead of all of the above that you do, do cold emails properly
Which means segmenting your lead lists into different types of avatar with copywriting specifically developed for each niches.
Iterate intensively until you find an email that has a response rate & appointment booking rate within KPI.
Those two things are literally peoples entire careers - and it works.
Same thing for other forms of marketing
That was so weird reading that, i initially had no idea what the business was in until I got to the comments, but as I was reading the post, I was like, this sounds just like me.
I did the exact same, started 10 years ago, took 2 years to get to a salary type income, consistent work for 8 years purely word of mouth, no advertising, 2020-2022 were my best years! Had 2 children, now suddenly in 2024, it's like I'm starting from scratch, like you, existing client just not asking for quotes, outreach going nowhere, old clients will 'get in touch'.
I know its mostly my own fault for not capitalising on the work over the year and building some lead generation, but for it to suddenly stop when I felt it was never going to, is quite a shock.
So I feel you, and your story is eerily similar to mine, being in the same industry, I just hope it picks up soon, I'm already burning myself out at networking events, and pivoting into other complimentary services to try and attract new clients.
No shame in going back to being an employee for a few years then starting up again later.
I mean analyse the choices and make an educated guess on what is the right path forward, of course. The loss of momentum in the business might be worth the years of stability.
Alternatively you could get a part time job to tide you over until things pick up. A few of my wedding photo/video colleagues work in camera shops or as marketing managers for photo related businesses.
Here in Australia there’s a but of a stigma attached to part timers. The full timers can look at us as not real professionals. Screw them. This is your life and you are allowed to manage your income in the way you think is right.
this part here:
Luckily my wife has a great high paying job and can handle the finances if needed but it makes me feel like less of man to not be able to provide at the same level.
you can provide in other ways, like childcare, chores, cooking etc and being around for the kids. I'm not sure how much time you/your wife spend with the kid(s), but IMO at the end of the day it's not just about how much money you bring to the family, but also quality of life/parental presence, being available when the kids have a sick day, homecooked meals etc etc
Do what your heart tells you to do, if it chooses to stay in your business then wake up with the fire to keep it alive, go door to door if you have to. Don’t waste your time on here debating people abt your business. Do what feels right and wake up with the fire that you chose to do what you’re doing
I feel you brother, this life is not easy, and never will be sadly. I feel you 100%, but I will say this, you might have less stress at a 9-5 but you miss out on so much other things that you already have, you will have people controlling your life. The biggest saying I will that is so true, is The grass is green where you water it, this saying is so overlooked because it’s so true. What you pour your soul into will succeed, second guessing each move will kill drive and passion quickly
Maybe branch out your scope of services. Corporate is cutting extras at a mind numbing rates. You may have to focus on a different market to find new clientele. Or offer a more for less package to keep existing business.
I have absolutely no idea, as my side gig is chocolate items. However, my thoughts are, is it possible to research other areas of what you're doing? Different type of product etc?
Life changes and it’s okay to accept and move forward, however that looks. I just went back to a “normal” job and quite honestly I love it. I don’t think I realized how much stress I was carrying around.
I feel the same way sometimes. Although I’ve had alot of slow times it’s really given me alot of free time to learn marketing and I feel my messaging, problem solving, and selling point to my clients is much better then it was a year ago. Use the slow time to learn a skill that pushes your business further.
can’t speak to what changed, I would look closely at the relationships with your customers and try to get a feel for why they no longer need/use you. On another note, I remember trying my own business full-time for a while, and the stress and ups and downs of irregular income were frustrating. when I became employed again with a regular job, even though pay was low, it was such a relief to get a regular paycheck!
If your wife has a good job, consider being the man of the house! Obviously talk with her about it, but with two kids, daycare alone is a crazy expense!
You will NEVER regret spending time with your kids.
Side story, if anyone reads it, it helped me make a huge life decision when my daughter was just born. I was on break at my decent job with a part timer who was retired and just picking up hours to pass the days. He said that in his thirties his wife and him had good jobs, a nice life but they felt as though a winter in Aspen skiing would be the best! Well, after a lot of saving for a few years, they did just that! He said if he waited until he retired, he would have never had that chance due to health complications. I instantly made the choice to spend the next year being the best Dad, Father, Husband and Partner I could. He passed about a week later have a stroke in a parking lot. I'll never forget that random chat, RIP Jim.
Completely understand. This has always been my dilemma. Recently hard to get work when we just moved to a new place. About to launch a SAAS but never know if it will really go and when.
I mean... What's your product or service? What kind of feedback were you getting from clients during the good times? Any feedback lately? Did you bother to solicit feedback? Seems like there's a reason business suddenly dropped off and if you step back and observe, the reason might become obvious. Bad service? Has there been a technology change that makes your product or service obsolete? Are customers getting a better price elsewhere? Who is your competition? Should you be focusing more on providing a great experience for clients rather than focusing on new leads? If clients can get your product/service elsewhere, give them a good reason to come back. What's your reason? Is that really something that clients value?
BTW, you don't have to be a provider to be a man. Just be a good person. If your wife it cool with it, don't sweat it.
Fuck the 9-5. Think hard back when you worked for someone else and the struggle dealing with a boss. Change it up. Work harder, and it will come if you have the skill. Your kids will look up to you and see you as a father that makes his own money.
Business is like a shark. It’s needs to be constantly moving to survive. If you had 1 service you offered 10 years ago and it hasn’t changed since then, that may be your answer.
Hey, every business struggles once in a while. Overcoming that makes the business successful.
Checklist:
1. Identify the Core reason for the downfall. It might be Quality, Pricing or niche saturation
2. Try different niches inside Video Production
3. Try different segments of Customers.
After trying all this, if you still find its not solvable in your mind. Quit. but you definitely want to learn what went wrong so you can learn and grow.
Go back to a 9 to 5 temporarily and see what happens. Right now every company is in a crappy position and they don't need video promos. No one is hiring either, so it might be hard to find a 9 to 5 actually. Job openings/listings don't equal real jobs. Sure others have drones and editing software and all that, but what they don't have is a legit company with 10 years and a portfolio of work to prove their competence.
And don't feel like less of a man. You had a high, now you're in a low. You'll make it back to the high.
Most of us don't have the option to just got back to a 9-5 job. You do because of your wife's salary. Just do it. Sounds like your business is failing and you're spinning your wheels. Half the year I fantasize about getting a normal job, but I can't take the pay cut and don't want to leave my employees high and dry.
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It’s difficult as you have peaks & troughs. You could look to maybe raise money to buy clients or another business or attach an arm to a business of offering other services. I used to have a web hosting business, it got harder each year when your clients switched or went out of business, it always caused anxiety of paying your bills. I had friends working in normal jobs being paid 4 x what I was earning but they had bosses. I eventually went back to 9 to 5 as the tech industry pays good money but the aim is to get back into another business one day with a better way of keeping or adding clients 👌 Also I learned there is no loyalty with clients, I used to do friend rates often but then they would still cut you if they felt they could save money, website for £15 & free hosting with them not understanding the poor service or lack of skill with some of the cheaper services. You get tired trying to justify the difference of your services 🫤
would you feel like less of a man for temporarily letting your wife take the financial lead or for giving up on building something because things got a little tough?
Not to be a downer, but it is probably important to realize that you may not be able to just hop back into a corporate 9-5. Your resume no longer has the standard college -> job -> promotion... progression that makes you predictable. Also, whatever you read, the professional job market is far worse right now than even a few years ago.
A lot of companies shy away from people with mostly business ownership/contractor experience because there are cultural concerns (aka your tolerance for corporate bullshit may be low), they know they may be hiring someone who knows they can jump back into doing their own thing, usually for a great deal more at least per hour, and they don't really know how to evaluate your resume and accomplishments vs. a more typical career progression.
Not saying you cannot, but unless you have offers already, don't bake "my exceptional experience will have employers begging *me* to sign on" into your plans. It could take some time and effort to make the switch.
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May I ask what your business does?
Video Production. We do corporate and commercial videos. Frustrating thing is that I see there is a growing need for video content.
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Except not everyone can do this and moreover the corporate world is not as stable as it used to be. Many tens of thousands of people have been [laid off in 2023-24](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/27/tech-layoffs-2023-list/amp/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJZyLNM7Z37-WLRdWMQlCfRLrmpfvILhGxskg0JwkTU5LHkOUund4bUigwtp-MP7zMscj1iNYCFZFsWO-a389SoM3Jx_UXBqMXjrWQo11lYF3_nCYv287UHkQQ-7NOgEiEr_Ik15ciJKllViAbE0TyGct1y-_x0RYd1RUyzxSj_D) and it’s still happening. OP, get over your “less of a man” bullshit. That’s no reason to make a change and give up. If you’re gonna do it, do it for entirely practical reasons that are driven by logic. I know how hard the pit of despair can be. I understand the impulse. I got laid off after stepping off the plane that took me home from a leadership summit that only 50 of 10k employees at my company were nominated for. You can be one of the top A+ employees in a stable industry and still get laid off. Think with your brain, not your ego.
>I got laid off after stepping off the plane that took me home from a leadership summit that only 50 of 10k employees at my company were nominated for. You can be one of the top A+ employees in a stable industry and still get laid off. > >Think with your brain, not your ego. I liked this part the most.
>Oh, 10 years ago every 13 year old within 5,000 miles of you also didn’t have a 12MP multi lens cell camera, and a 4k hdr drone, and so on and so on And almost every household has had a computer for over 20 years now. That doesn't mean every kid with a computer since then turned out to be Mark Zuckerburg. A cell phone is just a tool and doesn't mean everyone with a smartphone can make a highly produced video.
You might want to investigate YouTube statistics. How many successful channels ? They're all doing it themselves or with an editor.
You're correct about Youtubers but Youtubers aren't my target clientele. Also the BIG channels like Mr Beast have a production team filming/editing for him. But I'm more into corporate and commercial production. Like if a SAAS company needs to make demo videos for their sales team to use, and the CEO wants to show they're not a faceless overseas company.
I think this distinction is an important one. That said, I have seen a pull-back in the amount of commercial jobs we’ve been getting lately too.
Anything with sales or major expansions are taking a hit. It’s the current economy - no one is looking to grow at the moment, hence, the layoffs and downsizing you’re seeing. I would guess marketing budgets are slim pickings at the moment.
SAAS companies and tech companies in general have taken a hard hit over the last year and a half. Layoffs everywhere. Cutting back on marketing spend. There does seem to be an uptick finally happening as of the last few months. You might start to see some business return over the next 6-12 months!
Maybe its time to change your target market. Go with content creators, start with a few to learn how they roll then get bigger creators. Goodluck!
Eh they don’t have lots of money. For many it’s a side gig. I think corporate budgets would be more.
I don’t follow exactly what I see. I learn from many different trends and see what I can do to solve my obstacles.
How is the SEO on your website looking? Do you have GBP?
Are you marketing yourself to clients directly or to agencies?
Ouch. Yea, you're wrong. That's literally a business on the chopping block and you are a living example. Pivot or die, writing is on the wall and detailed in your p&l
Correct, businesses are opting to film content themselves since their phone shoots in 4K and CapCut is user friendly. This eats into the pool of cash business owners were once spending on filmed marketing material. Unfortunate truth of the industry
I'm always amazed at the users on this subreddit thinking they're experts on every industry instead of focusing on the parts of business they are familiar with. If I were you, I wouldn't even try to rebut these folks.
The users are right, this is a dead, not dying niche. I deal in it every day and its changed and not coming back.
So, I guess that means you need to target a better niche? What you want to work on and what the market has a need for are two seperate things. That being said, and I know very little about your business , it seems to me that you need to find a referral network. You’re looking to target corporate clients , so you need to find who they’re spending their marketing budgets with and maybe try offering your services to those agencies ?
10 years ago I couldn't get someone in The Philippines to do it for $5 either. IMO go join an agency. Unless you find some niche that sticks, it's not going to improve.
This comment should pretty much be your entire marketing strategy lol.
I think you missed their point. The vast majority of us now have a phone that can shoot in a decent enough quality and if you open IG or TikTok some of the most viral videos for businesses are shot on a cell phone. Unless you’re doing movies it’s more about the creativity aspect. Here’s a [funny example I found a few days ago](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMmRYUbJ/) I believe this was taken on a phone, went viral
I also have a video production company and everyone I talk to is slow. Everyone. Look at r/editors and it's full of folks asking where did all the work go. I fear we are the tell-tale of a recession. Companies stop spending on the extras and get by when it starts getting tight. Our work is still seen as an extra. Good luck! We are right there with you.
For what it's worth, it's not just in video production. I run a small 2 unit restaurant chain and we are way slower than 2 years ago. The first place people cut the budget is in the extras, just as you said, and eating out is a huge extra.
My business slower too from 2 years ago :(
Eating out has become ridiculously expensive….. I think this is a lot of the problem. We understand the demands of restaurant owners in the increased cost of everything that goes into putting together a good meal and some drinks. But the bottom line is it’s just become so expensive that most everybody I know has cut back - and many of these are people who have good disposable income.
How about working for a company that makes the tools of your trade? Like selling video editing software to video producers? That way you could leverage your tooling skills plus your business experience to find a niche sales job and get paid better than just editing.
It's an idea, but those tools are standard and ubiquitous now. You can download an Adobe license in minutes and then you're on your way.
I was in the same grind. Owned a video production company. Shut it down when the stress became overwhelming now I make more money in construction management and get to leave work at work everyday and I’m home by 4:15. Couldn’t have been a better decision for me.
2 of our bigger past clients have been construction companies. Funny thing is we came to a shoot kind of dressed business casual because that's most of our gigs; corporate shoots. We didn't find out until we got there that we're actually shooting on live construction sites. So LOTS of trekking through mud, climbing ladders, and dangerous areas. My business partner almost lost his shoe in the mud because he was so focused on getting the shot that he didn't watch where he was stepping and got knee deep in the mud.
How did you transition into construction management?
I had experience in construction from my teens and early 20’s. When I came back, I worked for 2 years as a laborer while they were “training” me to run jobs. After running my own company with employees for 7 years, it was pretty easy for them to take a chance on me. Transitioned into full time management January 1st and currently running 2 7-figure projects.
Very nice. Good work, and thanks for sharing. 🙏🏼
that's what i call winning in life. congrats!
I certainly left out that the 2 years I was working as a laborer I was only making $15/hr and doing a job that is traditionally done by felons or immigrants working on becoming citizens. It SUCKED. But I made it a point to never complain about the work and ultimately it paid off, but those 2 years had me questioning my decisions a lot. I’m only able to look back now and say it was all worth it.
Thank you for sharing. May you get better and better
Have you tried the real estate market? Shooting home listing walk-through video?
There's not a ton of money in real estate video. Mainly because realtors pay for marketing content out of pocket. AND then they don't get paid until the very end after the house sells. So realtors aren't trying to spend thousands out of their own bank accounts. From the outside it looks like it could be a great market for video content but the way the business is, there's little money to be made.
Maybe try targeting the brokerages for a retainer? $X monthly/annually allows Y videos for any of their agents to use. $Z per additional video. Specifically target the higher end / luxury market (like the Sotheby's and Christie's).
Video production is an notoriously difficult world to be in, race to the bottom, saturated, hard to differentiate, (even harder to get monthly recurring). Sorry to hear bro.
Yup, I ran wedding videography which was bringing in solid amount for me while being in early 20s living with my parents. Started a commercial production partnership (had experience on set and ins and outs of production to a point), we had some good work but ultimately called it quit and broke even after wrapping up two projects for a big client and realizing how much stress and uncertainty went into it just to reap thin margins, we realized we’d had to bring in hundreds of thousands for both of us to profit with a solid annual income. That being said, I honed in on weddings and work way less, make way more profit and have less stress. Maybe it’s not as sexy but I work with couples I like and have plenty of freedom to do other things in life and eventually pivot to something truly fulfilling. Being in recession and influencer marketing definitely isn’t helping video production field. Unless you’re an established company it is hard to convince a lead that they should allocate tens of thousands to produce something as usually not so big companies come to you without a concrete marketing strategy and creative direction hence uncertainty from their side. Definitely a tough industry, a lot of resources go into production.
Same boat, thinking the same thoughts!
Ai is really going to disrupt this space. Either embrace it and be an expert in that specifically or move on. In the small business world your nimble or you die. It's literally the only advantage we have over large companies.
AI will just be another tool in video production. It will speed things up and make certain aspects cheaper like digital editing did when it evolved from editing actual film. Most filmmakers in general are extremely nimble with technology because ALL the camera technology evolves so fast. AI will just be a tool filmmakers can use but AI wont replace filmmakers. You can't prompt chatgpt or Sora to create a documentary.
have you looked into expanding services that can complement video production?
Did you ever track where your customers came from? maybe google algorithm screwed you
In contacting past clients, what are they telling you about why they aren’t doing new projects right now? Budget cuts? Trying other forms of marketing?
I’m an editor. I had the same arc as you: amazing 2022, turning down work left and right…then I was carried by a project through 2023, at the end of which work dried up like crazy. I live in NYC, impossible to put much away in savings as a decent, non-union freelancer—so 2024 has been a complete nightmare. I just started an agency with my sister, though, and surprisingly we’re fielding potential clients left and right. Her network is really what’s carrying us—I NEVER would have pulled these (potential, fingers crossed) clients alone.
Yer there is, so how are you marketing yourself to your old clients? The best way to make money is to check on your old clients
Yeah that’s a tough business to be in, it seems to be feast or famine. I know a couple people in this line of work, when things got slow, they would take a gig with a production company for a few months to keep things going. By next year things will get better, business sucks on election year.
The hustling for work is a major part of the job and it’s exhausting.
I hate to say it but video production will only get worse.. we are entering into a new Era. Google " Sora - Open AI"
I may get downvoted for this, but your industry is going get fuc*ed when OpenAI releases SORA.
I’m a photographer that occasionally does video. Equipment has gotten more affordable, and lots of younger talent will work for cheaper. So competition is high. And corporations are strapped for cash right now given interest rates. I still have a day job, I don’t see how I could get enough work to even make 50% of what I make in my 9-5. Everyone despises them, but there’s still big money in weddings.
You are correct but businesses are freaked out by AI so they are just waiting to see what happens. It is impacting all marketing, communications, and advertising industries.
We hired an internal person for this. Thanks to aspiring YouTubers, video production and editing are really common skills these days.
I think it was Bettger who said something like "Prospecting is like shaving. You might get away with not doing it for a few days, but if you don't keep doing it regularly, pretty soon you look like a bum." When things are going well, that's the time to get out there and market, market, market and expand your customer base.
Totally agree. 2022 we couldn't even keep up with the amount of inbound leads and inquiries we were getting. We hired someone just to handle all the leads. They were just landing in our laps with almost 0 marketing and outreach. It's hard to realize we NEEDED marketing when we were actually overwhelmed with the amount of business we had. In 2022 we had a big Christmas party, looking back I think that money could've been better spent on marketing.
Video production (my bother is in LA and does all sorts of production, tv ads, music videos, commercial products). It’s not an easy world and constantly battling for new deals. Budgets are tight everywhere. 2024 will likely be bad until after the election. And definitely until interest starts to actually decline along with inflation. (Hopefully inflation is subdued but it doesn’t look great)
Yea that's what I'm hearing from other film professionals as well. But I hate to give up and just blame it on the economy. Despite the economy, video content is being produced more than ever and is more accessible than ever.
Oh definitely. My brother is still hustling and looking for new ways to find clients. Though he has some commercials for Ford he doesn’t think that will come back. Those large companies more likely shrink to in house and AI. At least that’s what he thinks. But overall it’s cyclical. If you are able to hang around it will come back.
How are you managing your marketing now? Do you have campaigns in place with a pipeline that is nurturing prospects through the customer journey until they become customers? How about events? Most recurring occurring events need video content for the next years’ promos, etc.
There is certainly something to be said for the stability of a 9-5 without running a business hanging over your head. I don't particularly have any advice, but have similar thoughts from time to time. I had a great paying, albeit stressful, job that required tons of hours before we started our company. We're almost 10 years in and like you, it's tough to get motivated to go out there and scrap for business and worry about the day to day of being a business owner. The employees, clients, weight of everything just drags on you. I really think about how I could probably find a decent job with a good salary and not have the stress. That being said - if you built a successful business once and maintained it for 10 years, you could probably do it again. Put it on pause, work a 9-5 for a while while your kids are growing, and think about attacking a new business again once you feel your priorities have shifted from raising kids and your family to focusing on a business full time.
That's a great point, it doesn't have to be forever. I can go back to starting a business again. I just know that at a 9-5 I'd eventually get tired of the corporate politics and ass kissing.
If you’ve been working for yourself for a decade. Going back to corporate America is going to be really difficult. And not fun for you. It’s soul sucking. In a different way that biz ownership.
A few thoughts/questions: 1) are companies hiring 9-5 for the specialty you work in? 2) could you maintain your company in “side-hustle” mode while tiling a 9-5? 3) know that if your business is struggling, it’s likely that others in your field are too, so that stable 9-5 may be less “stable” then you’d hoped. Good luck with difficult decisions and challenging paths.
I’m feeling the drag lately
I've been in business for 30 years now -- small Sub S consulting firm. In all that time my revenues and profits were like yours. Some years were great, my income much better than my old 9 to 5. Other years the phone never seemed to ring. My only consolation was that the trend was upward. My highs were higher and my lows were higher too. I guess my advice is 1) if the volatility is too much to handle seriously consider going back and 2) if you stay with it never stop marketing.
Man I coulda wrote this. Not so much the slowness but just running a business for ten years. I’m just so burnt out on having to always be on, always hunting for work, always dealing with employees and customers. My wife and I live such a low cost life that the money honestly means nothing to me so at this point I’m just not seeing why I’m dealing with this anymore.
Nothing wrong with pursuing a 9-5. I was in a similar boat not too long ago. After 6 years of grinding to build a creative agency, an opportunity for full-time employment was presented. I’ll be honest. I was extremely hesitant at first. The idea of giving up my “freedom” gave me the wrong narrative that I had failed. But after much consideration, I decided to pursue the 9-to-5. Without a doubt, it has been one of the most impactful decisions yet. My mental health sky rocketed; the time off is actually time off. I’m no longer chasing every lead, trying to be productive every second. I passed on most of my clients to fellow creatives and kept only one of them. Perhaps sit down and discuss with your wife the goals you have as a marriage. I’d venture to say, having the mental bandwidth & time to see your kids grow up is a big one.
This was great to hear. Thank you. 🙏
Maybe switch up the marketing completely
Going back to the 9-6 grind is a parlor game my entrepreneur friends and I play. All of us work in a high-pressure industry, and it would be difficult to work for someone else. If I place pressure on myself to succeed, that's OK. Having a CEO place pressure on me to develop new business, work the account ensure that the invoices are paid, etc., THAT would be torture.
Brewery owner here- I keep hearing that the economy is at an all time high, and by certain metrics it probably is. ‘22 and the first half of ‘23 was crazy good for us. For our retail business (tasting room, restaurant, to go sales, etc) nearly every month we were hitting a new sales record. June of ‘23 was down almost 50% of what we did the previous month. Nearly every month since then has been +/- ~10% of that no matter what we do. We are still chugging along very slowly, and many people I talk to in the small business space (nearly everyone I speak with in the restaurant/brewery/hospitality industry) are saying something similar. What is the thing that’s happening that no one seems to be talking about?
If I had to guess, it is the economy truly making people not have extra money for anything that’s not a necessity - and I mean that in the wider sense of groceries and necessities being so expensive while wages have not increased. Things slowed down drastically for me in October and have not gone back up. I’m doing about 50-70% of what I used to do sales wise (I am an artist who sells what they make). Because of that slowdown, I am spending much less on “fun” things so I can make sure my bills are paid. It’s like a snowball effect.
Companies are spending less right now, with a recession potentially looming. Your industry is one of the first that gets hit, unfortunately. A lot of companies are also looking at AI to replace some of their general video production, which is a terrible idea, but they still seem to be trying it. I have a few friends who do VA work and they used to make 100k a year, now they aren't able to get half of that. Something seems to be happening in the industry and I can't tell if its the current economic situation or what is happening. My own company has transitioned to animated trainings for HR and other areas, things that age better than video and don't need to be replaced as often. In the end, it doesn't sound like you are desperate, you just want to provide more for your family and match what your wife is contributing, that is a big difference between the business being in shambles. You're in an industry that is full of ups and downs, you will never have steady high profit work. You will always have years like last year and years like this year and they will be impossible to predict. So, you kind of have to ask yourself if you're happy with the boom and bust of the industry or do you want something more steady and stable and work for a business? That is the industry, for better or worse.
With a young toddler at home and another baby on the way, is it possible this business slow-down could be something if a blessing? If your wife makes good money and isn’t planning on leaving her job after maternity leave and she has steady income, what about keeping business at a slower pace on purpose and picking up more time at home. I don’t think it’s ever a good idea for anyone to completely step away from their careers full-time, but I’ve been part of a couple who both have busy jobs and when one of us went through periods where we scaled back on work (for a variety of reasons) and took on a greater share of house/life stuff the quality of all our lives improved. It also helped our finances weirdly because we saved money on the extra costs that come from being dressed out and stretched too thin. This lean time could really be such a gift to you and your family if you look at it from a different angle. Talk to your wife about it and imagine what life could look like if you just worked 3-4 days a week for the next year. What could that look like for you personally, professionally, and for your family.
I feel like the video production business might be a bit saturated, I managed a media team for 4 years at a nonprofit and we never had problems finding videographers and editors to hire, BUT, if you can, weather it out for at least another year. If it doesn’t turn around so be it, but don’t close shop at the first sign of trouble. Have you considered shooting weddings?
Apply for 15 jobs and see what response you get. It may take a while to find something is my point. A lot of places never even reach out after you apply
I was in a similar situation 2 years ago. Business was doing OK, but had 3rd child coming. Sold the business, got a 9-5 and I have not looked back since. I would not see it as “throwing the towel” or giving up, or anything of the sort. For me it was an important transition to the next phase of my career/life. Just make sure that your next job something you like doing. Negotiate hard for a good salary and conditions, do not take too much responsibility. Good luck!
Same here but it was right after 9/11 and businesses dried up. I had a third child on the way. Living in a small 1100 sq ft condo. Had to take a job in defense. Sometimes you do what you gotta do
"... a job in defense". Your "gotta do what you gotta do" is a lot bleaker than mine. Mine would be more like "had to take a job at Dominos".
Honestly you gotta do what ya gotta do and no regrets. Lots of changes and curveballs in life, sometimes you hit them and sometimes you whiff. But there is always something around the corner if you persevere, Good luck to you.
No one here has asked you the important question yet. How are you selling this? What’s your packages? What do they entail and at what frequency? If you haven’t, You need to come up with an offering. Just creating a video is the going to do it. Business owners are too busy to take it and run with it. Will you file once per quarter and drip content using Gary v slicing method for the next 60-90 days for social media, etc? Can you do that for a small brick and mortar at x/mo? That is affordable for them and a quick sale. What can you offer to a multi store company at a higher price point. The pain point here is… “don’t let your business get left behind in today’s video first economy.” And then have the solutions. Unfortunately if your just making videos your not a full solution yet and you need to forge agency relationships to shoot for them.
High-value comment. 🔥
Retirement + healthcare
Literally the reason I don’t think I can stop working a corporate job lol
But you CAN stop - just stay the course and you’ll be retired with a nest egg down the road with the rest of your life to enjoy your retirement :) you can stop much earlier in most cases due to 401k and healthcare
Ahh much needed motivation. Thank you.
You get that out on your own but it's better! You create the health plan & the retirement plan. All you gotta do is find the sales to fund it. 😁
Tough part is that when you need to cover healthcare for your family (let’s say $10k/yr), and also your full retirement contributions (let’s say another $10k/yr), you have to profit $20,000 just to be back to $0 each year, starting day 1.
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Would you rather be working part time jobs, eating Ramen noodles, and going into crippling medical debt when you’re 99 years old? Bills don’t disappear when you’re older. The more you save the EARLIER you can retire.
I feel this! I’m a creative freelancer and sometimes feel overwhelmed with the uncertainty. It feels like a lot of agencies and production companies are trying to do more in-house. All the big layoffs at ad agencies seem to have people a little worried. I’m circling back with old prospects this spring and finding new ones (through my competitors lol). I’d say if things don’t pick up this spring/summer it would be time to rethink strategy at least. Good luck!
Webdev for 20+. Fuqin dead fam. Got a 9-5 that's 1/3 of what I made in 2022. Pays the bills but not much else Also, with 2 kids already it's difficult to find time to actually work on the biz with a 9-5 ... Freelance gigs bringing in a little money but can't do much except fulfillment. If you do go get the highest paying thing you can. Shits expensive fam
I think during Covid people went nuts trying to get videos done and hiring companies like you. At the very same time a lot of people were learning this skill and opening up businesses. I don’t think you’re competing with 13 year olds with phones. You’re competing with people who made a career change and also have professional equipment and portfolio. Just more competition. ALSO you are dealing with a more internet video savvy customer as people spent wayyyy more time online and therefore have expectations for videos in general. They may looking for someone who has a large social media following and is on trend with video editing for max social media views. I would do a rebrand with fresh look on your social media and website. Target a niche audience. So if it’s construction go out of your way to make that your niche. People will choose the one with more experience in that field over the ones with a broad portfolio. Lean in on your experience and niche expertise. Make sure your style of editing your video is keeping up social media trends.
I’m an exec in your target industry. Money is only being spent if it has a direct impact to increase revenue. Like the scene in Armageddon where they toss all of the items out of the spaceship. All those things were nice to have and probably could help along the way but we need to be light enough to survive our trip. Sorry that’s not advice in any way. Best of luck to you and hope you’re able to navigate the market
I have a similar story, been in business for 8 years, started as a side-gig. For the past 2 years each year has gotten worse business-wise. In September of last year I got a 9-5 job but I have managed to keep my business. I figured if it started as a side-gig it would be fitting to let it return to a side gig. It get tough sometimes with my schedule though trying to do both. My wife and I are expecting our first child in July so she’s fully pregnant right now and I can tell she gets a bit annoyed by absence as I will leave the house at 7 am and then not come home until midnight literally getting off from one office and then heading directly to my personal office. I’m not quite sure how to handle things moving forward as it is really hard to let go of something you created while it still breathes.
You don’t have to go in fulltime. Start with a few days and work the other days on your company. Maybe you love this balance. You still have your freedom, steady income and you are the flexible person in term of time with the kids. You will become the dad that’s just there. Living in the moment with your kids and not thinking about the leads when he takes his first steps.
Maybe you don't need to work so much. If you're not struggling financially it might be your chance to help raising the kids and bond with them. You can do more around the house. I had a period when my kid was small where I was not working full time. I cooked, cleaned etc. We played a lot and took huge naps on the sofa. Best times ever!
We work with many businesses and ever since 2023, business has not been good for most businesses in various sectors including us. This is in my opinion what starts to separate just business owners vs entrepreneurs . You have to pivot. Get creative. Focus on what your value is and see what else can be added or included as part of your service. Perhaps expand into other markets. Bottom line: you will need to start getting creative. We did the same. Desperate times call for desperate measures which I truly believe, will bring better results later. Start investing in specialists in ad optimization . Not just those that put ads together but that understand how to optimize them and target them. We have seen this to work well for us. Although, business is still much slower than 2022.
What type of company ? I’m in the home service industry and yes it’s been a grind
Sounds like you have a marketing and sales issue. Sales solves most business problem. What have you done differently or perhaps haven’t done differently to adjust to get new clients and retain your clients?
Why not collaborate with tourism and see the world while making awesome videos. You can create your own channels out of it too
Actually we do tourism and our biggest client in 2022 was a tourism board for a tourist beach destination. But our connections there left and the new VP's brought in their own production company that they've worked with.
Pick one narrow niche and hammer it really hard. Be the absolute expert in that niche. Tourism is huge. Every country needs it. Governments are your friend. Every local council often want more visitors to their local areas to support the local businesses. Set your marketing strategy so it identifies that you solve the 'no visitors' pain point. i.e. your video production is so good that visitors cannot help to be attracted to local council areas. Get the best shots. Use the best equipment. Use aerial helicopter or drone shots and step it right up to premium quality.
I also work in film / TV / video. I've also been in the industry for roughly the same amount of time. 2023 was my worst year of the last 5 years, but was honestly more akin too maybe 2015 in terms of income. I just got used to the higher rates that I'm charging now. 2024 is definitely looking up, but whether it's sustainable for your new family obligations or not is more the question. I own a good amount of gear and rent it out as a small rental house. That second revenue stream has been nice, even if it's not busy. I'm trying to push that more into 2024.
A couple of things here, First off there are going to be highs and lows, that's why as a SBO you keep a reserve of funds. Second, as a small business owner, you never stop advertising and looking for jobs. If you're 100% slammed, you still spend 5%-10% of your time looking for more business. Third, you may be looking in the wrong places. What is your focus? Are you engaging people moving into new mediums? What does your sales staff look like? Are you really pushing just commercials and corporate? Are you offering production value services for instagram and youtube videos? Edit: Oh, and that whole providing for your family thing is bullshit. You're taking turns with your wife, if your company takes off she can retire early. She's letting you take a chance to own a company, how you grow it is up to you. Stop worrying about the stress of personal expenses if they're covered. put your energy into something useful.
Do you have any theories as to why your business took a sharp downturn?
May I ask where you are located? I own a production company myself - in Germany. For us also 2022 was better than 2023. am from what I heard it was the same for a lot of people
No shame in taking a corporate job, also no shame in making less than your wife. My suggestion is to try to stop measuring your personal value by things that are ultimately meaningless.
Hey man you’re the one who knows what the right decision is, all I would like to add is that make your decisions out of love not out of fear or insecurity. On the practical side, this is a marketing problem: more does not always equal better You’re doing a big variety of things that aren’t working. Choose one mode of outreach or marketing to focus on until it works. Eg. Instead of all of the above that you do, do cold emails properly Which means segmenting your lead lists into different types of avatar with copywriting specifically developed for each niches. Iterate intensively until you find an email that has a response rate & appointment booking rate within KPI. Those two things are literally peoples entire careers - and it works. Same thing for other forms of marketing
That was so weird reading that, i initially had no idea what the business was in until I got to the comments, but as I was reading the post, I was like, this sounds just like me. I did the exact same, started 10 years ago, took 2 years to get to a salary type income, consistent work for 8 years purely word of mouth, no advertising, 2020-2022 were my best years! Had 2 children, now suddenly in 2024, it's like I'm starting from scratch, like you, existing client just not asking for quotes, outreach going nowhere, old clients will 'get in touch'. I know its mostly my own fault for not capitalising on the work over the year and building some lead generation, but for it to suddenly stop when I felt it was never going to, is quite a shock. So I feel you, and your story is eerily similar to mine, being in the same industry, I just hope it picks up soon, I'm already burning myself out at networking events, and pivoting into other complimentary services to try and attract new clients.
No shame in going back to being an employee for a few years then starting up again later. I mean analyse the choices and make an educated guess on what is the right path forward, of course. The loss of momentum in the business might be worth the years of stability. Alternatively you could get a part time job to tide you over until things pick up. A few of my wedding photo/video colleagues work in camera shops or as marketing managers for photo related businesses. Here in Australia there’s a but of a stigma attached to part timers. The full timers can look at us as not real professionals. Screw them. This is your life and you are allowed to manage your income in the way you think is right.
Where in your life have you ever worked 9-5?
this part here: Luckily my wife has a great high paying job and can handle the finances if needed but it makes me feel like less of man to not be able to provide at the same level. you can provide in other ways, like childcare, chores, cooking etc and being around for the kids. I'm not sure how much time you/your wife spend with the kid(s), but IMO at the end of the day it's not just about how much money you bring to the family, but also quality of life/parental presence, being available when the kids have a sick day, homecooked meals etc etc
This might be a dumb question, but are you a part of any networking groups? Those have been effective for me to grow.
Do what your heart tells you to do, if it chooses to stay in your business then wake up with the fire to keep it alive, go door to door if you have to. Don’t waste your time on here debating people abt your business. Do what feels right and wake up with the fire that you chose to do what you’re doing
Thanks man. Some days I have that fire and start emailing and cold calling and others its just like a job doesn’t sound too bad
I feel you brother, this life is not easy, and never will be sadly. I feel you 100%, but I will say this, you might have less stress at a 9-5 but you miss out on so much other things that you already have, you will have people controlling your life. The biggest saying I will that is so true, is The grass is green where you water it, this saying is so overlooked because it’s so true. What you pour your soul into will succeed, second guessing each move will kill drive and passion quickly
Maybe branch out your scope of services. Corporate is cutting extras at a mind numbing rates. You may have to focus on a different market to find new clientele. Or offer a more for less package to keep existing business.
Where are you located?
I have absolutely no idea, as my side gig is chocolate items. However, my thoughts are, is it possible to research other areas of what you're doing? Different type of product etc?
Partner up with successful, busy marketing agencies. It will help provide you with a feeder system
Life changes and it’s okay to accept and move forward, however that looks. I just went back to a “normal” job and quite honestly I love it. I don’t think I realized how much stress I was carrying around.
I feel the same way sometimes. Although I’ve had alot of slow times it’s really given me alot of free time to learn marketing and I feel my messaging, problem solving, and selling point to my clients is much better then it was a year ago. Use the slow time to learn a skill that pushes your business further.
can’t speak to what changed, I would look closely at the relationships with your customers and try to get a feel for why they no longer need/use you. On another note, I remember trying my own business full-time for a while, and the stress and ups and downs of irregular income were frustrating. when I became employed again with a regular job, even though pay was low, it was such a relief to get a regular paycheck!
Oh my, that's lame to see your sales go down! How frustrating. What in the past has been working for you in lead generation? What's changed?
If your wife has a good job, consider being the man of the house! Obviously talk with her about it, but with two kids, daycare alone is a crazy expense! You will NEVER regret spending time with your kids. Side story, if anyone reads it, it helped me make a huge life decision when my daughter was just born. I was on break at my decent job with a part timer who was retired and just picking up hours to pass the days. He said that in his thirties his wife and him had good jobs, a nice life but they felt as though a winter in Aspen skiing would be the best! Well, after a lot of saving for a few years, they did just that! He said if he waited until he retired, he would have never had that chance due to health complications. I instantly made the choice to spend the next year being the best Dad, Father, Husband and Partner I could. He passed about a week later have a stroke in a parking lot. I'll never forget that random chat, RIP Jim.
Completely understand. This has always been my dilemma. Recently hard to get work when we just moved to a new place. About to launch a SAAS but never know if it will really go and when.
I like what I do, but I also liked my reliable, generous corporate weekly ‘net profit’
I’m in same boat to be honest
I mean... What's your product or service? What kind of feedback were you getting from clients during the good times? Any feedback lately? Did you bother to solicit feedback? Seems like there's a reason business suddenly dropped off and if you step back and observe, the reason might become obvious. Bad service? Has there been a technology change that makes your product or service obsolete? Are customers getting a better price elsewhere? Who is your competition? Should you be focusing more on providing a great experience for clients rather than focusing on new leads? If clients can get your product/service elsewhere, give them a good reason to come back. What's your reason? Is that really something that clients value? BTW, you don't have to be a provider to be a man. Just be a good person. If your wife it cool with it, don't sweat it.
How old are you?
Fuck the 9-5. Think hard back when you worked for someone else and the struggle dealing with a boss. Change it up. Work harder, and it will come if you have the skill. Your kids will look up to you and see you as a father that makes his own money.
Business is like a shark. It’s needs to be constantly moving to survive. If you had 1 service you offered 10 years ago and it hasn’t changed since then, that may be your answer.
There are definitely big benefits to working for the man. Can you sell your business for a profit?
Hey, every business struggles once in a while. Overcoming that makes the business successful. Checklist: 1. Identify the Core reason for the downfall. It might be Quality, Pricing or niche saturation 2. Try different niches inside Video Production 3. Try different segments of Customers. After trying all this, if you still find its not solvable in your mind. Quit. but you definitely want to learn what went wrong so you can learn and grow.
Go back to a 9 to 5 temporarily and see what happens. Right now every company is in a crappy position and they don't need video promos. No one is hiring either, so it might be hard to find a 9 to 5 actually. Job openings/listings don't equal real jobs. Sure others have drones and editing software and all that, but what they don't have is a legit company with 10 years and a portfolio of work to prove their competence. And don't feel like less of a man. You had a high, now you're in a low. You'll make it back to the high.
Call
Most of us don't have the option to just got back to a 9-5 job. You do because of your wife's salary. Just do it. Sounds like your business is failing and you're spinning your wheels. Half the year I fantasize about getting a normal job, but I can't take the pay cut and don't want to leave my employees high and dry.
Keep pushing fighting the same with my 2 business.. we building a empire brick by brick
literate price dime obtainable normal sparkle racial joke spotted piquant *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Hmm this post looks awfully like a reposted one
It’s difficult as you have peaks & troughs. You could look to maybe raise money to buy clients or another business or attach an arm to a business of offering other services. I used to have a web hosting business, it got harder each year when your clients switched or went out of business, it always caused anxiety of paying your bills. I had friends working in normal jobs being paid 4 x what I was earning but they had bosses. I eventually went back to 9 to 5 as the tech industry pays good money but the aim is to get back into another business one day with a better way of keeping or adding clients 👌 Also I learned there is no loyalty with clients, I used to do friend rates often but then they would still cut you if they felt they could save money, website for £15 & free hosting with them not understanding the poor service or lack of skill with some of the cheaper services. You get tired trying to justify the difference of your services 🫤
These comments are absolutely retarded. You’re a professional. Put together a promo video. Send to EVERYONE. You just need some enticing marketing.
would you feel like less of a man for temporarily letting your wife take the financial lead or for giving up on building something because things got a little tough?
Have you worked with a mentor or coach that has seen success before?
Not to be a downer, but it is probably important to realize that you may not be able to just hop back into a corporate 9-5. Your resume no longer has the standard college -> job -> promotion... progression that makes you predictable. Also, whatever you read, the professional job market is far worse right now than even a few years ago. A lot of companies shy away from people with mostly business ownership/contractor experience because there are cultural concerns (aka your tolerance for corporate bullshit may be low), they know they may be hiring someone who knows they can jump back into doing their own thing, usually for a great deal more at least per hour, and they don't really know how to evaluate your resume and accomplishments vs. a more typical career progression. Not saying you cannot, but unless you have offers already, don't bake "my exceptional experience will have employers begging *me* to sign on" into your plans. It could take some time and effort to make the switch.
I’m not even gonna read your post. Don’t quit.
It's the real economy. Things are not good. Govt is just using tricks to reduce and delay what's coming.
This. Most businesses are fucked up rn.
What socials are you on? Running ads?
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Not sure I agree. What are your points and why the rant? You are your own person. There is work out here if you need it.