Learn the exact blueprint I used to go from a struggling videographer, to running a profitable video production business, in this one-hour free training. www.filmmakingmentor.com/Video_Production_Accelerator_Opt_In
@@sutv6754 Think about that question and then remember this is at its very core about a business growing and making money. Saj runs a video production company, and wants to impart his knowledge by charging for that time to instruct and help others. This isn't about how to change a tail light on your 2015 Ford Explorer which, you can find plenty of free videos on RU-vid that will teach you that.
@@meechcreativellc OK, Thanks for weighing it but not sure I under your comment. If I remember correctly I wanted to see the product he was making and charging so much money for. As you know there are many imposters on RU-vid. I did end up seeing one of his videos he provided and it was top notch so I take him seriously. I'm not going to take the course now but maybe someday. Need to see if the proof is in the pudding. That's all. All good.
I Started a video motion gfx business for music artist and quickly starting getting clients due to my good quality (worked with 80+ verified artist) one big mistake I made was providing high quality for low price...problem with this is people start to expect it every time (Hollywood quality for pennies) which then attracts more people with a low budget before you know it...its a RACE to the BOTTOM!!! Know your worth!
This is such a slap in the face. Thanks for the slap. I’ve been doing everything wrong and always wondered why I’m still not gaining any actual profit. Much appreciated for this video! New sub
I’ve been running my video production company for 3 years and never thought to charge for the profit margin / expenses… realizing why it’s been hard to buy new gear
Love your videos Saj! Started with one m50 into video live-streaming concerts at the beginning of the pandemic, now have 6 canon's in my recording studio, and just got my 2nd BMPCC 6k, so awesome to have all your videos for help as I pivot from music to more professional video production
FYI. This method of calculating profit margin is incorrect. In his video he adds 20% ($618) to his total cost of $3400 which brings his total to $4080. If you take $4080 and remove 20% profit ($816) your initial invoice would actually be $3264. Instead you need to add ($850) to your invoice in order to actually get a 20% profit margin and your total invoice would need to be $4250
There’s a difference between Markup and Profit Margin. The calculation he used in the video is called “markup” not “profit margin” these terms often get confused. Also in order to make a business profitable it is recommended to have at least a 30%-35% profit margin. This is when you have to have factor in rent, utilities, payroll, maintenance, vehicle, capitol purchases and inventory. You may be able to get away with less profit if you run a business out of your home. But if you want to grow your business you should look at a higher profit margin.
I have been struggling for the last year on how I can grow from a freelancer to a small production company and how to work out costing for clients. This video showing up in my feed is exactly what I needed to see and what I needed to hear. Some excellent tips here and I shall definitely be putting them to use going forward. Thank you for posting this video 🙂
Very valuable information. I love the point of hiring a DP if you can't make it but you make no money, so you need to account for company profit. I have not thought of it from that perspective but it makes absolute sense. No care brand charges just for labor, they need to mark up. Thank you, Saj for the insight!
Great video. I’m doing mostly corporate work and my line items are usually day rate and editing rate. I build everything into the day rate to avoid questions and having to explain everything that like items bring up.
Wow I've been stuck for a couple years trying to build and grow my production company and this video was tremendously enlightening thank you! Looking forward to the course!
It’s certainly not as easy as typing out these numbers. But it’s been over 10 years since I’ve done a video for under 5k and I’m in a very competitive market. Often times, people are trying to explain the value of video to the wrong type of client. If someone blinks twice about a 5k video and you’re still trying to explain the value, it’s time to move away from that client or market. I struggled for years to explain the value of video and turn realized there are clients that pay far more and already know the value and don’t need any explanation. But it does take time to get to that level
Thanks so much for these videos Saj. I've learned so much already to apply to my business. Really appreciate you taking the time to share the knowledge!
Thank you tremendously for taking the time to share this knowledge. Your channel has been a huge help in getting my company off the ground, the right way. I can’t thank you enough🙏
I love your videos, thank you! Line item budgets and placing profit into each line item (or not having specific line items at all): I hear you, and your argument makes sense. If we’re doing a corporate video we probably should usually follow that advice. Commercials are different, though. Those really require, at least for us, line item budgets and a profit/production fee line item at the end. Sort of a simplified AICP budget, really. Reason being, those types of clients really do want to see the details (and sometimes it helps us if they’re all “why didn’t we have a steadicam?” “Because it’s not in the budget…”).
I always expect my shooter to have backup shooting gear in case critical elements like the main camera go out (doesn't have to be the same body, but just something that ensures we can capture to spec in case of issues). So yes, you should be charging something to have backup equipment on site - frankly it should be built in to the price of the main camera.
Nice content, you got a sub. I would add that 20% of profit margin is not that great considering that taxing in a lot of countries will eat that up especially if all the money for the hired freelancers goes through your company. I prefer going with 30% its a more safe variant. But I guess it also depends on the taxing in the country where you run your business. All the other things are right to the point.
At least in the U.S., tax would be another line, charged on the total you are charging the client, including your profit. Total, plus tax, equals new total. Either that, or you include that in your overhead costs.
@@bullettin i think you are referring to the sale taxes. There are also federal income taxes that vary depending on the yearly income. I was referring those.
Each of the forty-six US states with a sales tax makes their own rules and laws. In my state, taxes are applicable to tangible good sold, not services. You gotta check your local taxation, it’s not a blanket rule.
@@BrewReview i was referring to the federal income taxes that you get at the end of the year depending on your yearly income. The more income passes through your business you could get in a higher tax level. I'm not in the USA and I guess a lot of viewers are not also. But I know that you have different income tax levels in the USA also.
This is very helpful information as I start to transit from a freelancing position to a business through getting out of this pandemic. Thanks a lot for sharing this!
I've been watching many of your videos of for a while now. I'm a fan of them and your channel. I'd love to see what one of your 5000 dollars pro videos looks like. Do you have any you can show.
Thanks, Saj. I wish I got this video last week, but I am grateful you shared this, and it has changed my mindset. Going back to my books and working better and smarter as a business
Hey! That's an incredible video! I'd like to add more to this to help improve upcoming photographers/cinematographers with their business. I started my own studio about a year ago and had run into all the issues that you mentioned above. And, i sat myself down to work out this issue. I'd like to know - how can I reach out to you, to share my resources so that the material could probably be useful to your audience?
This is super great advice but as a one man show, when I keep adding all those "extras" the final price will seem way too much to the clients for a video done just by me. I need to overcome that.
Yea it’s a lot more difficult when you do a solo video. But I would try it when you get a new client. Even if it’s just the pre-production part and bump on your rate for profit
@@Filmmakingmentor thanks man. I will try it out! I really like taking into account the gear used. Do you have an excel or google sheet template for tracking down what gear is been used how many times w / projects? It would be awesome to have a visual graph of that.
How do you add the profit into the actual total cost of the project? Meaning where do you list it? Sorry just heard the answer on the end of the video. Thank you.
Another video full of practical knowledge. I realized that never included the fee of using my own gear. What would be a reasonable fee for a 10k $ worth of gear in Chicago area cause I am from here too...thank you sir.
This is outstanding information and we are using these steps in our business and upgrades must be part of the equation. The pre production work, I wasn't charging for. Every thing else, including insurance, I'm fine.
My issue is that I can't find anyone willing to pay for my services esp when they "have a nephew that can just shoot the video on his iPhone" 😂 it's SO frustrating
@@Filmmakingmentor right, but my point being the client shouldn't think they're getting great for nothing, so a trend didn't start. Good stuff. Just a note from the backseat 🤣
Yea for sure. I usually don’t share this type of breakdown with my clients anyway. It’s more for internal pricing and budgeting for me. I only share pre-production, production and post-production costs with my client in a budget. Not line items
Yea sometimes. I just broke down the invoice into pre-pro, production and post. Didn’t break down any more though. If they want line by line, you can just build in the overhead and profit margin into each line
Yea for sure. I think skills first, gear second and then learning self promotion or marketing and the business side. It’s gradual process. Hard to point at a moment when you feel ready in any stage
That usually means it’s the wrong client. There is always going to be someone cheaper on the smaller job, but the higher end you get, the closer the pricing. No one is doing jobs at my level for half the price. If the client hears that, they know that person has no idea what they are doing.
Great video and it was very helpful. I'm not in video production, but the subject of pricing is something that so many people need help with and it's relatable to just about every field. I do have a question that may be too wide open to really answer. It concerns overhead with things like insurance, rent for an office, things that have a definite cost to you that you know ahead of time what they'll be for a year, as opposed to something like advertising where you may have the ability to suddenly use something that is much cheaper. How do you approach building that into the pricing of a job? Do you do anything like seek to take care of one months rent for each client? Or do you approach it like you feel it won't be a problem to get a certain number of clients per month or per quarter, so you factor in each job to take care of a percentage of rent?
The second option for me. I know my monthly overhead that I can’t change. Rent, salary, insurance, subscriptions, ect. I basically built in some buffer into the profit margin to account for overhead that is a hard cost. And I know how many jobs we need to do to cover that overhead each month. If we don’t get that number, it eats into the profit margin
3:11 How do you go about pricing your gear costs to the client? Do you go off what it would cost to rent the equipment? We typically just charge for labor and the equipment is included, but I definitely see how we're undercharging. We're a two-man crew and do everything ourselves, so just trying to get an idea how to go about it!
Yea we charge based on rental house pricing around us. You also don’t have to show it as a line item in the invoice. You can build it into your rate. But it’s important to separate the two internally.
Yea you do have to be in a range. But I’ve found that every real company that I compete with does exactly this same thing. In the freelance world, it’s harder. So I usually don’t complete on price as much and compete on skillet. Also once you specialize and become the market leader in the specialty, pricing competition goes out the door. I know a production company that can charge 5x what I can in one category, because they are the expert and well known for that style of video.
Also I should mention, I wasn’t suggesting 3x price. I’m saying to charge competitive rate for labor and gear, don’t do free work during pre-production and charge 20-30% profit margin which is what every service company in any location does to survive long term
a lot of you guys will have no job! no way that I can hire you and be profitable on RU-vid! This is way too much money in my opinion. And this does not include editing
Yea of course not. I don’t make youtube videos at this rate. This is for creating commercials and corporate videos for high paying clients. You can find cheaper freelancers that are new on upwork for youtube videos. This pricing model is for people trying to run a real production company. Not for people looking to work as freelancers for youtube channels
Do you guys always hire an assistant/grip when using lights? I often work as a solo filmmaker for documentary/corporate work and I feel not comfortable to carry and set up lights meanwhile I have to focus on camera, sound, directing (and sometimes client talking to me). So I was thinking when pricing next costumers to offer lighting only with an extra budget for assistant-grip… or some basic lighting should always be included? What do you think?
I don’t do one person jobs anymore. I used to but it’s harder to charge the right amount and someone has to do eat too much, increasing the risk for mistakes.
Include it in your offer. Don't do the things you dislike and distract yourself. Works for everyone's benefit. Charge his hour rate 120%, and you gain from it even more.
Well the profit margin is the only part that gets taxed and you won’t have self employment tax if you are an s-corp. the rest of the cost is a business write-off and you won’t have pay tax against it
And there is a huge amount of business that can and do pay 5k plus. It’s hard to get those clients as a single person video creator, but it’s all any production company I know does. We haven’t done a video for under 5k for nearly a decade
@@chadillaq It's not necessarily a "wasteful corporation" that has a larger budget. Any client should be paying for the value of the product you produce. If your work helps them make more profit, you should get a share of that by charging accordingly. Their image is directly affected by the content being produced.
@@bullettinI totally understand and agree but like I said, small businesses don't have those size budgets. $5k is a ton of money! that is 4 or 5 months of mortgage payments so to act like it is common for a daily shoot actually misleads the up and coming video entrepreneurs. Notice how I am challenging the message because it isn't realistic for most people building a business while working with other SMALL businesses. No one starts out and gets a $15k gig with Ford.
I used paid ads to get these type of clients. It’s usually small business to mid size business and we make marketing videos for them. 80 an hour is pretty standard for this type of work. I was making that as a freelance DP even. I’ll make more videos about getting these type of clients
@@Filmmakingmentor simplified and more realistic quotes for the majority could be of more use. One man band type of freelancers. 5 years ago I had retainers totalling £6000 per month. These days I struggle finding any work at all. I blame Gary Vee and his ‘work for free’ rants
That’s the problem though. Most people are struggling because of staying as a one man band and fighting for the small budget stuff. My entire channel is design to help take people from freelancer to running a small video production company, which is exactly what I did. The days of making a lot of money as a one man band are going away and this transition is needed to make more money. So I’m teaching exactly what I did to do that, because that’s what I do now.
No real production company works for free, but freelancers will always do so and that’s why freelancing as a one man band is so damn hard these days, because it’s hard to compete with free
If you’re doing $500 videos, you’re working with the wrong clients my man. That’s why I make these videos. We all start making $500 videos. It’s all about how fast you realize that’s not normal. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. If you make a legit company and do this right, you’ll quickly see the average budget from the right client is 5k, not 500. If you keep doing 200-500 videos, you’ll always struggle making a decent living
Also, if someone is paying 200 for a video, they are 1000% taking advantage of you and you taking the project are 100% bringing prices down for everyone else.
@@Filmmakingmentor Perhaps cultural differences could be a factor since Arts generally worth a lot less in Asia. And in this industry, most of the high ticket clients are working with one or two big companies. It's a huge monopoly here so just like the smart phone market, it's hard to compete directly with apple so people ends up making cheap chinese made android phones. Plus I genuinely believe my clients aren't taking advantage of me, they're just broke af just like other SMEs. Rent and bills takes up to 70% of the revenue so they really don't have enough budget to do much.(But they still have to keep creating content like everyone else, kinda like telling people they are still alive)
Then you might considered finding another set of clients that can afford a different tier of video. I also never see video as art and more as a marketing/advertising tool unless I'm working on a film. Most companies will spend on advertising if they can justify the end result of that ad. I've literally seen companies in India doing animated marketing videos globally and making huge profits since labor cost is so low. There are always clients out there that will pay more. Finding them is the tricky part.
I need help. I just found your channel. A friend of mine asked me if I could do a video for his wife's shoe store. She saw a video I did of him training at his gym; he's a professional boxer. So he said we'll pay you for it. I said sure. This would be my first paid job. However, I'm trying to figure out which route to go. I was thinking a flat fee of $500 for the day including the editing process. But he mentioned she wants drone footage also (I just got certified so I'm able to do this). So with that included the price would have to go up. Since this is my first paid job I could charge $700-$800. But out of curiosity, what would you recommend? Should I ask him what their budget is and go from there? Or just charge them what I think it's worth? I don't want to undervalue my service just because it's my first paid job.
That’s sounds like a fair price if it’s your first job and you can use it as an example for upcoming jobs. But yes, it’s best to ask if they have a budget range in mind and you can offer them something within their budget. Sometimes, the budget will be higher than your rate and you can actually make more and spend more time on the video
@@Filmmakingmentor Another question, hoping you see this. What about doing the job first and then deciding on a price for it? If it comes out really good I could charge $700-$800 with no hesitation.
