From nothing to $200k in 6 months with Gareth Carr

G', day, guys. Welcome to this week's episode. Now, I am really quite excited to share with you the guest on this week's episode. This week's episode is with Gareth Carr, who's actually one of my clients. And Gareth runs a production company in Sydney and he's just opened a branch in Manchester in England. And what's particularly interesting about this episode is just the journey that Gareth's been on. When he first came to us, he had no work and hadn't really worked for about three months. And in the space of about six to eight months, he's completely transformed his business, moved back to the UK and now has a business operating in Sydney while he sleeps and he's setting himself up in the uk. So really great story here. Great story of his commitment to doing the work, but also it really demonstrates that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. So just before we get started, if you haven't yet downloaded my new ebook, Video Business Breakthrough, then go to the website@filmmakersbusinessacademy.com and you can download that for free. And if you are in Australia and you would like to come to one of our events, we're actually holding a two day mastermind event in Melbourne on the 11th and 12th of July for our members. But we're opening up the first day to anyone who's interested in finding out more about what we do in the Video Business Accelerator. So if that's something that's of interest to you, then do drop me a line, Dan, at filmmakersbusinessacademy.com and let me know. We'll have a chat and see if it's the right fit for you. But anyway, straight on with this week's episode and over to myself chatting to Gareth.

Welcome to the Video Business Accelerator Podcast. Each week we uncover the secrets to creating a wildly successful and scalable video production business.

Business.

With your host, Dan Lenny, discover how the accelerator program is transforming the lives of our members at www.videobusinessaccelerator.com. enjoy this episode.

G', Day, Gareth.

Hey, Dan, thanks for having me on the show.

This is a long time coming. Actually, we've been talking about doing this recording for about, I think a month or six weeks. But you're a very busy man just now. Why is that exactly?

Yeah, I am very busy man. That's all down to you. Big thanks to you, actually. My fiance Naomi was saying that if she ever meets you, she wants to give you a big hug for the way that you've turned. Turn my Life around and turn the business around. So, yeah, watch out for that hug when you meet her.

Well, that's, that's pretty awesome. That actually wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting you to see you're moving back to the uk, but I'll take it. Yeah, and, and, and what a shame to have left already because you have a beautiful fiance and a hug from her would be very special in a non creepy sort of a way, but I'll take the compliment. So you're about to move? Well, back to England. You've been in Australia for how long? Tell me the story.

Yeah, so moved to Australia nine years ago and originally came over as a land surveyor. So I had no video background. I'd never worked for a video company, but I always had a passion for it. Always just did it as a hobby on the side and photography as well. So.

Eventually got sponsored, got my permanent residency and then as soon as I got my permanent residency, I thought, you know, I need to start pursuing my passion because I'm just not happy doing this surveying. My heart was never in it. So I ended up putting a time lapse video on Twitter of Manly beach where I lived at the time. And somebody saw it on Twitter and said, hey, love the time lapse video you made. Would you like to come and do that for our event that we're running in Bondi, Sculpture by the Sea. So I was like, oh, hang on a minute, I can make money from this. That's pretty good. And then it just kind of started from there. That was actually the starting point for me.

So obviously a very sort of.

The planets aligned something you did at a passion. Someone came along that happened to be Sculptured by the Sea, that for anyone who's not in Sydney, is a pretty massive art exhibition held every year. It's a pretty big deal. So where did you go from then? How did you go about, you know, kind of getting business then? Because obviously it was pretty new to you.

Yeah, well, it kind of grew as a bit of a tree and the branches. So as I was at Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney Water were there and they said, hey, can you do a video for us? Why are you doing that? So I was like, sure. And then met Sydney Water and then met people through that and it just kind of grew like that. Most like, pretty much, I'd say 95% of my work that I get is all referrals, word of mouth. So yeah, not much organic stuff comes through my website or anything like that. It's all just word of Mouth. Yeah, referrals.

So how long had you been running your business before we met?

It had been. This is another thing as well. I. I don't actually know the exact start date of my business because it was a gradual thing with the surveying. I was surveying part time and I also use that as a bit of a crutch. So if ever I was quiet with the video business, I would just call up the surveying company and be like, hey, any work going? So I never really pushed my business too hard because, yeah, I just had that crutch. But then it came to a point, probably, let's say two years ago, two and a half years ago, where I just thought, now this is. I need to start moving forward because I'm just. I felt like a bit of a cork bobbing in the ocean with no direction. I was like, okay, where am I going? What am I doing? So I packed in the surveying and then things. Things were pretty tough, so. But I just had to not go back. I just had to keep moving forward. You know, I just. I knew that I could always go back to the surveying, but something inside me just said, no, you need to try and battle through this and do this on your own. And then it got to like quite a dark kind of three, four months of like, no work coming in, you know, nothing on the horizon. And then like panic stations started to kick in. And I'd seen your stuff over the years.

On various channels, email marketing and things like that, and then videos you were posting on Facebook. And I just decided to just take the leap and give it a go. Because like I said earlier, I've got no kind of video business background. I've never even worked for another video company. So everything I've had to do, I've just had to kind of learn on my own. So, yeah, I actually borrowed the money to take on the course from my fiance. So she gave me the leg up and I just, yeah, got in touch with you and then the rest is history. We went from there and now here I am today, kind of fully booked. And yeah, money in the bank, great cash flow. My accounts are all in order and yeah, it feels like I'm running a business finally.

It's so cool, mate. But, you know, you did the work and, like, so when you came to me, you hadn't had work for how long?

Yeah, it was probably about three, four months of nothing.

So you really, you had nothing. So talk to me about the journey you went on inside the program. What changed? What were the. What were the trigger points?

For you, I think the big one was just contacting my existing clients. So as daunting as it was, it was nice to have kind of the pressure from you and you're like, right, just go and call, you know, five clients today. That's all you got to do. So I go home and I sit there, psych myself up and yeah, just make the calls. And then it just seems to be from going from there and just changing my mindset that everything just seemed to start falling into place. You know, I put myself front and center on the mind of those clients. Even if there wasn't work kind of immediately available, I was suddenly back at kind of top of their mind.

So, yeah, and the other thing that struck me was, you know, when we first started working together, your company was called GC Imagery. Yeah. And it was a real sort of mishmash, wasn't it, of things. Tell me what that website, what, what it was like, what was it, what was it saying to the audience?

Yeah, it was pretty much just a very broad kind of mix of everything. So it was kind of like I do photography, events, corporate work.

Yeah, all, all things like that. So for anyone who didn't know me that was going on the website, it would just be a kind of basically, you know, a jack of all trades type thing and no kind of specifics or specialities.

And then the name GC Imagery, people kept getting it wrong. So it was like people calling it CGI imagery or GCI imagery and that.

So I remember one of one time we were on a group coaching call which we have weekly, as you know, and I think, you know, we just put it out there to the group, didn't we? And I think six or seven people on the call went, yeah, it feels like a CGI company. And yeah, I think having that ability to have a group of.

Like minded peers, how does that benefit you as part of this journey?

Oh, it's been great actually. You know, your advice is great, but it's also so beneficial to be able to just put questions out there to the rest of the group as well and just get all those opinions back from people who are experiencing the same, you know, kind of struggles that you are as well.

So you're no longer called GC Imagery. Tell me about that.

Yeah, so now we are exposed, Wolf, and we are now staying open in Sydney, Australia, which was a plan that wasn't going to happen at first. I was just going to close down the business in Sydney and just open it up in Manchester in the uk. But now through More guidance from yourself. We now have two offices worldwide.

That's pretty cool, isn't it? I mean, like, when I think about you, six months ago you were just like, I just need some work. And now you've got this, this, this. Basically a business that has two offices. So tell me, how did Exposed Wolf come about? What was the process for changing the name and, and why did you change it? How did you come up with the name?

It was through. I actually interviewed some of my current clients from agencies. So I realized that, doing my business audit that a lot of my work was coming from.

Advertising agencies and social marketing agencies, things like that. So deciding to go down that route and target those people, I went out and I interviewed my clients that I've got good relationships with. So just recorded them on the phone and then I got it transcribed and then I used that information, put it onto my website, changed the copy and then just through speaking to them and then the other companies that they work with and the kind of thing that they're looking for in the Googling. Yeah, I just came up with Exposed Wolf.

So how are your clients responding now? You've got a more aligned website, your copy is more aligned, you're very clear on who you serve. How have the client responded to that?

It's been great, actually. And even the organic, like at first I was saying that a lot of my stuff comes from referrals, but I've had so much more organic kind of reach through my website since I've changed all the copy. Suddenly, rather than just getting loads of spam through my website, I'm actually getting inquiries which are turning into a lot of new work. So, yeah, it's funny, like, I don't know whether it's the SEO that might be doing its keywords that have, that I'm using, that I don't know, advertising agencies, etc are looking for, but it's working anyway and it's, it's good. Yeah.

I think what's always important is, you know, obviously tracking and measuring and testing is a really important part of running a business, but not at the expense of just doing stuff. And you know, what if you're getting results and you don't know quite know why yet, that's okay because you'll figure it out in time.

Yeah.

The fact is I saw a dramatic change and I just, I don't know if you've got this, but I, I would love. I wish I'd taken a screenshot of your website the day we started working together compared to now, because I use Your website and coaching calls all the time saying, here's what the process looks like if you go through the steps. Yeah, and the other thing is none of it, none of it happens quickly, does it?

No, no, it is, it is a bit of a long game, but you just got to keep the right mindset and just know that you're on the right path and just keep going.

I remember a great quote from a business mentor of mine saying, anything real takes time to build. You know, it's very, it's very unlikely you're going to start a business and be making $88,000 a month, which is, you know, a million dollars a year just by, you know, taking a few Facebook ads. Building a real business takes time and it takes strategy and it takes foresight. And talk to me about your, your kind of life plan now because obviously you've had a lot of changes in the last six months. What, what's changing for you right now?

So in the last year I've shot two feature films as well. So as well as running my business, which is kind of my money spinner, my real passion and drive is to be a film director. So, yeah, I've written, produced, directed and shot two feature films and now I'm in post production on both of them as well as running the business and now an international move back to the uk. So I'm certainly busy.

And yeah, I don't know, I just keep, I just keep wanting going. I just want to keep being busy. I don't know what it is that's driving me forward. I think it's just the love of it. It just doesn't feel like work.

I think what's lovely is, you know, you're very passionate about the films you're making.

But you're actually creating content for commercial corporate clients to fund that as well as your life.

Yeah, that's it. And, you know, finding that balance is always difficult, but from what I've produced, I'm pretty blown away with the quality and I think everyone else will be when they see the films and they realize how much I've been able to. The budget that I've done them for. So, yeah, watch. Watch this space for the release dates.

Absolutely. So what do you think are the three core takeaways from the accelerator program that you have really had the biggest impact on you?

I think the first one would definitely be about just utilizing your existing clients. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone to them because, you know, it's not scary. And what's the, what's the worst that can happen. They say, no, you know, we're not. We don't need a video right now, or something like that. And you're like, okay, well, you know, at least you're on their mind. So when a video does come around that they're looking for, you're more than likely going to be top of the list. And then number two, I'd say, would be the group itself and just the relationships that you can bond with the other team members and bounce ideas in the group. If something happens, I always, you know, put a. Put a question on the Facebook page, read the responses, and then, you know, if I'm trying to deal with a. With an email or something, I can just paste that email onto the group, see the response, and then go, yep, yep, yep. Okay, good answers, good answers. And then I'll use that response and respond to the client. Whereas in the past, I'd just be scratching my head, I'd be alone, and it would just be, you know, how do. How do I deal with this by myself?

So I think I saw a post the other day where you'd had a project blow out in Scope.

Yeah.

And there was a bit of a discrepancy when you put the final invoice in with the client. And it was really interesting reading. Not just my response, but there were three or four other really solid responses. Did you take a lot away from that? What were the things you took away from that?

Yeah, definitely. I could see that it was partially my fault, so I just have to take that on the chin. But I took the advice from the group and I went back to the client with kind of more of an itemized list of what had been done and what had been shot. And once they realized and read through all that, they were happy to, you know, pay the. The extra that had gone onto the job.

That's awesome. What I love about that is that, you know, none of us are perfect. None of us have got this all figured out. But it's the fact that when you have a problem like that, which we've all had, at some point, you can go into the group, pose the question, and there will be at least four or five really solid response. And I think that's one of the things I'm. I'm most proud of, of creating the community. So that's two. What would your number three be?

Oh, I had those two solid ones. Number three.

I'd say the tops. So each week we have to fill in the tops every Monday. So they're kind of our tasks for the week and what we did last week. So we get held accountable for what, what we've done or haven't done. So, yeah, it's great. Kind of just having that to do list that the whole group can see. And, you know, the pressure's on. I'm like, oh, you know, Monday's looming, I need to do my tops, and I'll go back to it, you know, and then get all those ticked off. And then, you know, next week, new set of tops, but all the rest of the week are all ticked off. And it's. It's a great feeling just having that. I wouldn't say pressure, but accountability from the group.

And where do you get that? Where do you get the tops from? Where, where. These. These are more than just to do lists, aren't they?

Yeah. So it's kind of systemized kind of over the year to. To reach your goal, so to break down over like a year, and then you break that down into 12 months and then break it down monthly, then break it down weekly, and that's what you need to do to achieve your end goal.

And, and how is. How is this setting you up for a move back to the uk? I mean, like, two months ago, the move was planned. You were fully expecting to shut down your business. And I think it was a coaching call. And I said, well, why do you need to shut the business down? Why not actually build it as a business? Because I think when you came into this process, you very much saw yourself as a freelancer, but you left a really great comment a few weeks ago, which was, you know, I think, you know, you've. I thought you finally feel like you're a business owner. How is that. How has that shifted for you in the last couple of months?

Yeah, yeah, it's something that I never really even thought about before. Just having staff.

Just. Just felt like something too. Too big and too extreme for me. I was like, okay, if you need staff, you need to have an office, all this kind of stuff. And, you know, didn't even think about just bringing in contractors and actually taking a step back and letting the contractors go out and shoot the boring stuff. I'd say, you know, conferences and things like this were, you know, oh, hang on, I can just send a few emails and I can get paid for it just for sending these emails. So, yeah, it's opened up a whole new set of doors for me and just changed kind of my whole mindset and perspective on what's actually possible.

Can you equate a Number, like a financial figure to what you've added to your business since being in this program.

An exact number is probably difficult.

But let's just say in the last.

Probably the last three months alone, I've probably made almost 50,000 Aussie dollars, something like that. Whereas I'd only be getting close to that in a year, you know, in the past. So yeah, huge, a huge increase.

I feel very, very relieved and proud of your own, your own effort. I mean, you've done the work.

Yeah. And I think because we're slowly just building at it, it doesn't even seem like I've done a lot of work. But I suppose looking back now and reflecting on it, I'm like, okay, yeah, I suppose I have come further than I actually realize.

I mean, I think, I think it's incredible, you know, and I think what's more exciting is that you're moving back to UK with Naomi, who's, who's never lived in the UK and you're going to set up a new business there. It must feel good to know that you've got income coming in from your Australian business literally as you sleep.

Yeah, it's a huge kind of relief. I've got nothing really lined up in the UK at the moment. It's just kind of get here, get set up and then get out there and utilize all the skills that I've learned here and just put that out there. And I'm actually looking forward to the, the adventure of trying to pull in brand new clients, you know, and I love meeting new people as well. So just going out there, networking and yeah, seeing what I can do for the community around Manchester, Liverpool and of.

Course, you know, we run two coaching calls a week for different time zones. You've been getting to know a lot of the UK based clients. So do you feel like you've got a bit of a support network just before you even arrive?

Yeah, definitely. I'd, I'd be happy, you know, go for a pint with these guys because just all being on the video calls you really get to feel like, you know, these, these guys and yeah, if I'm ever in the area where, where they live. Yeah, happy to go for a pint.

That's great, mate. Well, listen, I wish you the very best of luck on the journey. I know we'll still be working together because you're just moving location. The fact that this is a, a virtual group to some degree means that you still get to benefit from being in the community. You've just, you're just changing your physical location, which is kind of how so many of us work here these days.

Yeah, yeah, it's great with the video calls and stuff, you know, it's nice that we can just touch base anywhere in the world.

And so if anyone's interested in learning more about your films, how can you do that?

And any more about you, they can go on IMDb, the Internet movie database, where you can check out Saving Grace, that's my supernatural thriller. Or you can go to lifeafterman.com which is my latest post apocalyptic zombie horror. So, yeah, go check that out and see what we're producing.

And when can we expect to see these films come to Final Life?

Hopefully before Christmas, maybe. I'm gonna head back to LA in October, I think, and speak to some distributors, so we'll see how that goes.

Well, mate, it's lovely to have you on this call and I wish you the very best.

Thanks for having me, Dan. Cheers, mate.

You've been listening to the Video Business Accelerator podcast with your host, Dan Lenny. If you are a video business owner who is tired of going it alone and would benefit from mentorship, support and weekly accountability, then mouse over to www.videobusinessaccelerator.com to learn more about how the accelerator program can help you today. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show over on itunes and we'd really appreciate you taking a few minutes to leave a review.