What does success look like to you? EP #181 - Shorty

Howdy, guys. Dan here with this Week's Shorty, episode 181.

Of the how to Scale a Video Business Podcast. So today I've got a question for you. Do you know what success looks like to you?

This is a fundamental question that I think is important to consider.

Because if you don't stop and ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing, then why are you doing it? And I mean that from the sense of, are you truly living the life you want to live, doing the things you love every day?

You know, one of the very first modules that all of my clients do inside the VBA is what does success look like to you? And it's a visioning exercise to get very clear on what that looks like. And I had an amazing conversation with a new client yesterday and we were talking about this very, very subject. And that subject was, you know, what, what does success look like? Because it looks like different things for different people. And so when we consider this, you know, I think what happens is oftentimes we start a business and we just want to make money. But I had this amazing conversation with Dom yesterday and Dom is 22 years old. He said to me, you know, it's really important to me that I have the right lifestyle. You know, I want to enjoy a balance between work and life. I want to buy a property, grow my own veggies and do great work. And I was really inspired by Dominic and his maturity in knowing what he wants. And he joined our foundation program, actually. And it's certainly going to be really exciting watching his journey because he's ready to grow. And he said he's been stagnant for the last two or three years. I know he listens to the show. So Dom, how are you? Hope you're well. Great to speak to you yesterday. But what was inspiring was we were so values aligned. And actually Dom and I were supposed to chat last week on Thursday, but our solar was going and they pulled the power, so I had to pull the power and kind of cancel last minute. What was interesting was Dom's really into green energy and low impact and being self sufficient. So it was kind of like a perfect storm, if you will, that we had to cancel that call. We had a phenomenal chat yesterday and it was really, it got me thinking a lot about my philosophy in business and life. Because when I started this business, I was all about, you know, getting to the big numbers and because I felt that if I got all those numbers and that cash, I'd be able to do all these things and that would somehow make everything worthwhile. But what I discovered, as I observe a lot of other entrepreneurs that I, that I know and in circles with, the ones that are truly happy are not chasing crazy numbers. They've got a very clear idea of what success means to them and, and they get to live that life every day. And it reminds me of the story of the Mexican fisherman where I'm sure if you Google the story, you'll find it, but Google the story of Mexican fishermen and it talks about the importance of, you know, knowing what you want and, and, and you may already have it. And so what this process.

Enables you to do is to get, get very, very clear on doing just what you need to, to get the results you want. And that doesn't necessarily mean killing yourself to scale too big. You know, scaling a video business isn't about necessarily getting bigger, it's about scaling the work that you do, making sure you're doing the more profitable work and not just saying yes to everything. And one of the ways in which you can do that is by focusing on a targeted niche. And that's actually what Dom does. Dom works in the cycling industry, so he's in a perfect niche for expanding and going very deep into that market. And he just joined the foundation program and he's going to be kind of getting access to a lot of great content to help him really accelerate that process. But you know, first of all, you've got to be clear on what you want. I feel very, very fortunate that I now live almost my perfect life. You know, I work about three and a half days a week all up. I have amazing clients. I don't have too many, but I have great clients who I enjoy working with. In fact, we just came off a call where we did an amazing training, a game changing training on how to respond to cold inquiries or referrals in a, in a semi automated way whereby you, you have a kind of set of templated responses that have links to really key areas of value that become evergreen marketing content. And we just share that with our Mastermind members. And like everyone's like, this is a game changer, you know, it's going to make life so much easier. And that's what we're always doing. So I spend my time always looking for ways to make the lives of my clients easier. But also we're all very aligned in what we want from life. It's not just about getting to a big number. That's not to say that numbers aren't a factor you know that we're running businesses and therefore we have to be very clear about the commercial viability of a business. And if a business isn't making profit, then it's not a business, it's a hobby. But you know, back in 29, 2009, when I started DevStop Academy, it was with the ultimate goal so I could move to Australia and build a business that didn't settle on me being in one place. And video production largely involved me being in one place. So I started the coaching business and the training business to allow me some freedom to not be tied to going on location. That was partly forced because I had an accident back in 2001 which, which crippled my leg and I couldn't actually shoot anymore, not, not with big old beta cam cameras. When DSLRs came in, I was able to kind of get back into a bit of shooting, but still I couldn't do handheld all day long. So anyway, back to the story. I got very clear in about 2013 that I wanted to move to Australia. 2012, 2013. And I put a vision board together and that board had the lifestyle I was aspiring to. And by using that vision board, I was able to create a business that supported that dream. So, and I've talked about this before, but if you're not clear on what success looks like to you, you're kind of chasing an empty goal. So I encourage you to spend some time thinking about what your ideal life would look like. Now, I know that shoots get in the way. Tim, for example, one of my clients, I know he's on a massive day today. He's got an eight hour drive, four hour shoot in the middle. So four hours there, four hour shoot, four hours back. But he's had a phenomenal month and you know, he still kind of goes out in the odd shoot, but he's, you know, he, he's getting very clear about what he wants from his life. He's just had a baby, he wants to work four days a week. Ideally, he'd like to get a new studio at some point. And he's got a very clear idea of what he wants his life to look. He knows what his future house wants to look like, he knows the lifestyle he wants to have for his kids, and he's very clear on that.

And one of the things we talk about a lot in the VBA is getting very clear on that purpose. What do you want your life to look like? It's not just about going out and getting lots of video work and then killing yourself with Long days to make some money and then try and pay your taxes and have a bit left over in the end. There's a much smarter way to do this and the smart way to do it is to get very clear about what you want and execute that and do what you need. I live 400 meters to the beach. Tuesdays are very busy days for me. Monday, yesterday was busy. Wednesday is a half day for me because I give myself Wednesday morning to recover from a full day of coaching. Wednesday afternoon, evening I do a bit of work and Thursday, early morning into early afternoon is a work day. And then Friday morning and then I don't work Friday afternoons and I don't work Monday morning. So I have a three day weekend every weekend and about an another half day during the week where I'm not kind of, I've got nothing in my calendar. So that's a choice I made. And we generate a reasonable revenue and great profit and we do that with minimal effort but working with great people. And that is what I've chosen to be my pathway. Now I have an amazing all the tech I want to buy, I've got all the gear I want to buy. I can go make films and take photographs if I want to. So I feel like I've nailed my, my passion, my, my reality of like what success looks like. But that might be different for you. So have a think about what success means to you and write it down and start sketching out what that looks like. Because if you write it down, it becomes tangible, it becomes real. And from there you can really look to explore how to execute that. And if you need some help with that, like, like Dom did yesterday, have a chat to us because it might be that the foundation program can help you accelerate that process and, and ask yourself, you know, are you stuck in a rut? Are you stuck doing the same thing, getting the same results? Maybe it's time to sort of do something different. Anyway, guys, I am going to go and have a walk along the beach. I will see you on Thursday. You've been listening to the how to Scale a Video Business podcast with me, your host, Dan Lenny. If you're a video business owner, hit a ceiling and we benefit from mentorship, support and coaching, then check out how you can work with me over@denleny.com 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. And don't forget to share if you feel you've gotten value from this episode and you think it would be useful for other filmmakers, you know, then please do me a massive favor and share it on social media and in groups that you might be in. So thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.