I saw a scary tweet last night, 4 months til 2018. Yep if that doesn't scare the bejesus out of you I don't know what will! It's pretty crazy how fast the year is going and I always panic - what am I doing, what have I done but honestly we should just chill and just enjoy our time right? This August has been 6 months since I quit my job and now working for myself doing something I love. After over 15 years of working for other people in mediocre jobs, I could not be more thankful and happy to do something I genuinely love and good at.
I started my wedding videography business
14 months ago, shot 14 weddings, 3 creative videos and have 4 weddings
coming up. I wanted to share with you guys some things I've learnt about
being your own boss, hopefully this will inspire you if you're in the
same boat or thinking of making the leap.
MOTIVATION
You got no boss or colleagues to spur you on a daily bases. I mean heck you got to motivate yourself to get out of bed and get dressed in the morning! Once you've crossed that hurdle, have a clear reminder of your goals, tasks and deadlines. What do you want to achieve, what are your business goals? Keep that in mind and that will keep you motivated to work your butt off. I want to deliver the best work to my clients, build a clear brand and improve on my film making skills. With all this mind, this keeps me motivated to keep going and knock out those deadlines.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
This is one of the biggest things I struggle with, believing in myself and putting myself out there. I'm sure I'm not the only one comparing themselves to others in the same field. For ages I felt like an amateur against all these professionals and spent ages watching other wedding films, whilst it inspired me I also felt like my work wasn't good enough. Having that attitude was only bringing me down. We all have to start somewhere right? So if you have those moments of not believing in yourself, remind yourself people hire you because they like you and your work. Be competitive and don't be afraid to promote yourself and your services. On that note, if you know anyone looking for a videographer in London or UK for a wedding or creative project, let me know! I love working on all types of projects :)
ENJOY YOUR SCHEDULE
The freelance life is not for everyone, you got to figure out your schedule and a routine that works for you. I
work a lot of weekends and have got used to giving up my Friday and
Saturday nights out but I love working from home in the week. I can meet
up with people when I choose and plan holidays around the quiet periods.
Don't feel guilty if you're not working around the clock and into the
night. Establish a routine but also remember to enjoy the downtime, you don't know when your scheudle will get slammed and you have no time to go out again!
KEEP ON LEARNING YOUR CRAFT
I definitely get scared of pushing myself out of my comfort zone and learning something new. A year ago I didn't know how to shoot videos or use a film camera. I didn't know how to properly expose shots and how to pull focus but you know what, everyone has to start somewhere! I just threw myself into it, made mistakes along the way but pushed myself to learn my craft and hone my skills. Now I watch other film makers tutorials and learn new things, I brought a gimbal and it's a pain in the ass to use but I know if I apply myself I can get better at what I love doing. Whatever industry you're in, never stop learning new things, widen your skill set - there's nothing wrong with being a jack of all trades ;)
I really hope you enjoy this post, let me know if you have any thoughts on setting up a business. I want to do a more technical post on videography, would this be something you would be interested in? I need to catch up on a lot of your blogs as I've been a bit slack, what have you guys been up to? I hope you're enjoying your Summer!
What have you learnt from working for yourself?
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