The hardest decision I've made in my business this year.
I sold my dream camera.
The piece of gear I coveted. That I planned for. Longed for. Saved for. But I sold it. And it kinda killed me to do it.
But here’s the thing, as hard a decision as it was to make, it was the right one. It was a good business decision. Even though a little piece of my creative soul died.
I bought my RED back in 2017 because it had the features I longed for and the prestige I craved. As for the daunting price tag, well, I told myself it would all be worth it. I would start on passion projects, book a new caliber of clients, reach hitherto unexplored dimensions of awesomeness. I didn’t just want the RED, I NEEDED the RED.
The only thing was, I didn’t. As 2017 turned to 2018 I found myself using my most prized camera less and less. I bought more RED accessories in the hopes that further customization would turn it into the Hammer of Thor I longed for it to be. But alas, I was hammerless. It never became the perfect tool I had built it up in my head to be.
I started to contemplate selling my RED. It made good business sense, but the thought tore at my inner artist. This was my favorite tool, my baby, I literally tucked it into it’s gear drawer when I locked up at night (blankets, pillow, goodnight kiss, and all). Could I really sell it?
I did. And it broke my heart.
I hemmed and hawed for so long because I felt as tho two pieces of me were at war. The creative and the businessman. I bet you’ve felt this too. What do you do to feed your artist’s soul and what do you do to put food on the table? It’s a constant battle for filmmakers.
It broke my creative heart. But, I freed up $20,000 of cash that allowed me to invest back into my business in a more meaningful way. Balancing and mastering the creative side and business side as a filmmaker is an essential part of being a successful business owner and finding that balance can be hard.
Recently, I was at a dinner with some fellow filmmakers and we dove deep into the business side of things. We went back on forth on contracts, invoices, client communication, and insurance. All the fun stuff, right?
But we ate it up!
“You do it that way? Damn, I’d never thought of that.”
“You don’t give them any revisions in the contract?”
“How do you get them to pay their invoice on time?”
Like I said. Alllllll the fun stuff, right? Well, maybe not fun. But essential. And sadly, something that as solo entrepreneurs we all have to figure out on our own.
But what if you didn’t? What if you could change that? I want to help you change that.
In a couple weeks I’m launching my first high level accelerator program to help people grow their freelance video businesses.
Look out for more on this soon.
But I just wanted to share my story, to say you’re not alone.
We all make decisions as creatives and business owners that we learn and grow from, and that I want to help you avoid some of the biggest mistakes that I’ve made, time I’ve wasted, and money I shouldn’t have spent.
If you’d like to know more about why I sold my RED, you can watch the video here. At the end of the day, this was a business decision, a TOUGH one, but a necessary one.
I’m really excited to share more about this freelancer accelerator program in the coming weeks. More to come.