(This is an email as part of the email sequence for my course Video Business Blueprint).
I still remember the pain. It was like I’d just been gut punched by someone much larger than me.
In fact, my stomach (and ego!) felt like it had gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.
It was August, 2011. And as I was laying in my bed that night, staring at the ceiling, I thought long and hard about the decision I had made many months before…
But first, I want to rewind a little and cover how I got to this point…
In 2009 I was a 24 year old marketing professional working for a well respected London based agency.
Yes, like most creatives with an interest in business and digital media, I’d joined the long list of people who found themselves in some form of “marketing” job after film school.
And it’s fair to say that at this point I only saw myself working for this company indefinitely. Yes, I was counting down the years to picking up my gold watch…
Each day I did some variation of monotonous work that gave me zero satisfaction no matter how well I did it.
I was making mid-size figures after climbing my way up the ranks thanks to sweat and long hours behind the desk.
To many of my friends and family, this didn’t sound like such a horrible fate. In fact, my mother would tell me…
“You Should Be Grateful To Have This Job!”
After all, back then, we were in the grips of a worldwide recession. Pockets were empty and people were scared.
But deep down I knew I could never be happy doing something that put money in other people’s pockets.
One of the worst parts about the whole thing was my boss. I know, it’s something of a cliche to complain about your boss. But this guy was a real nightmare.
As time went on, things got worse and worse. I can’t describe it – it just seemed like everything about the job grated on me. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that I shouldn’t be there.
The breaking point came close to my 25th birthday party. I was called into my boss’ office. And you can guess what happened next?
Yes, I was let-go from the company. It was the recession after all, and I didn’t have the kind of rights that the more established employees had. I was truly a victim of circumstance.
The feeling in the pit of my stomach was something between nausea and like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my intestines.
How was I going to tell everyone that I just…didn’t have a job anymore?
Would they understand that it was more to do with the economy and cutting back on budgets than anything to do with my performance at work?
Later that week, my girlfriend threw a surprise party with my friends and family for my 25th.
I was happy to see everyone having a good time but when I blew out all of those candles, I came to a crunching realization…
I Was Running Out Of Time…
I was 25 years old! If I lived to 90, that would mean more than a third of my life was already over!
I had to make a change. If I didn’t do it now, then I might never start my own business…
I mean, I’d always wanted to. And what better time than now that I was unemployed?
So I struck out on my own…
I told everyone that I’d lost my job, but that I was starting a video production company, and began learning all I could about how to start, manage and succeed running a video business.
After all, film production was my major at college and I’d always wanted to be a filmmaker.
However, little did I know, I would be in for a year of pain, rejection and inner turmoil.
Me, a bit worse for wear; figuring this all out felt like having scissors & knives taped to my hands. Always risky!
First off: For the first 4 months I couldn’t find one single client.
None. Zilch. De nada.
It was like an invisible wall was keeping me from success and I couldn’t figure it out.
And when I did get my first client, due to me fumbling the business side, I lost out on a large portion of the money (long story)!
And around 6 months in…
My Safety Fund Was Nearly Gone!
And that’s where we’ll leave the story for today. I’ll continue the story of my journey in this crazy industry tomorrow.
Look out for that email in your inbox!
Keeping Shooting!
Matt “Wasn’t Grateful to Have That Job” Jacobs
P.S:
Here’s a special bonus for jumping on my list. It’s a free eBook called Get More Video Clients, and I’m positive you will get a tonne of value out of this:
Feel free to Save As and download it for future reference.
If any of this story is hitting home with you, you’re not alone.
Anyone who has gone out on their own and tried to make something has hit on hard times at some point in their journey.
If this story hits home with you, I’d love to hear from you. Until tomorrow…Ciao!
Oh, and I almost forgot…
To give you even more value today, I wanted to share this resource with you.
I use Donald Miller’s awesome StoryBrand process in my businesses these days.
Yes, I know as creatives we’re not supposed to like the word “branding.” 😉
He has an awesome book called Building a StoryBrand.
They also have a fantastic site called BrandScript. This is essentially an interactive (and free!) resource to create your company’s message & story.
Check it out here: https://www.mystorybrand.com/
Hope this helps you grow your video company!
Try it out, it’s super cool!
And as a very special bonus, in tomorrow’s email ‘P.S’ section, I’ll tell you how I use StoryBrand’s Brandscript tool to not just refocus the message of MY business, but also use it as a template for growing client’s businesses through video! Don’t miss that tomorrow!