At Dublite Productions we pride ourselves on exceeding our clients expectations. We love what we do and we’re always learning.
Last year we’ve lost over 200k in proposals.
I’ve felt beat down.
No one likes to lose.
It made me wonder what we are doing wrong.
Did we not communicate enough value up front?
Are we trying to help the wrong customers?
Are we providing them with more quality than their budget can handle.
The answer yes and we needed to do something about it.
We needed to make a shift for how we qualify leads.
And develop an entirely new process to make sure we are a good fit for each other.
But I never expected what would happen next.
Rather than working with customers that didn’t understand the value we could provide, we started working only with customers that did.
The results have been fantastic.
We now have more proposals pending with quality leads that understand the value we provide.
Through this process I’ve realized that the journey often doesn’t make any sense,
But being laser focused on who the right customers are for your company will have a tremendous impact on your business.
Without focus you will get distracted, you’ll waste time chasing worthless proposals and you’ll bang your head on the table when it all goes awry.
Your job is to figure out who the right customers are,
Then provided them with so much value that they don’t ever think about anyone else.
Dublite Productions is a Chicago video production company that creates content for some of the best brands in the world through video production, photography and graphic design.
4%
Is the percentage of Scouts that become Eagle Scouts.
I am an Eagle Scout and I have a fancy little document proving it hanging on the wall right next to my degree.
I’ve learned something from being an Eagle Scout that is tremendously valuable.
Being a leader is one of the hardest things you’ll do in life.
I’ve sat back and let others try to lead.
We failed at simple tasks we were given.
Often times our leader didn’t know how to bring the team together.
Over a decade later, I still believe being a leader is the hardest part of being an entrepreneur.
But reading countless books on how to lead rather than manage and to trust that people inherently will make the right decision will not make you a great leader.
You need practice!
I had the opportunity to lead our team through a very complex project that spanned 4 countries, 30+ interviews and it took 6 months to complete.
We knocked it out of the park and my team came together to produce three stunning videos!
During those 6 months I learned more than I could have ever learned from just reading.
Why?
I threw myself into the unknown.
Books will give you the ideas of how to be a good leader,
But getting out of your comfort zone and making it happen will allow you to grow as a leader more than you can ever imagine!
Dublite Productions is a Chicago video production company that creates content for some of the best brands in the world through video production, photography and graphic design.
I had a handshake deal with a client.
After the project finished I didn’t get paid the 30K I was promised.
I thought about suing, but a handshake deal is hard to prove in court.
I was pissed and frustrated for several years
And I carried a chip on my shoulder for a long time.
One day I realized that I needed to let it go as there was nothing I could do about it,
After all we didn’t sign anything.
What I could do was move forward and only do business with people that I trust.
In life, your word is your bond and it’s all that you have.
My promise to all my clients has always been that my word means something.
Could I be in a better position today if I would have had everything in writing.
Sure.
And a little more cash to grow the business wouldn’t hurt either.
But life’s too short to waste time thinking about what could have been.
As the founder of Dublite Productions I know we are in the game for the long run.
If we commit to something, even if the deal is done by a handshake, we deliver.
Running a successful business isn’t about how many commas are in your bank account.
It’s about the culture and values that you inspire.
Moments like this will define who you are for the rest of your life.
Dublite Productions is a Chicago video production company that creates content for some of the best brands in the world through video production, photography and graphic design.
When I was twenty years old I knew one thing:
I wanted to build my own legacy and help as many people as I could along the way.
Over the course of ten years, I failed over and over again.
Each time I took a step forward, I took two steps back.
I could have settled and found a corporate job like everyone else was doing,
But I’m following my gut and I’m risking it all to create a better life.
I do my best to cancel out all of the negative thoughts:
“What if one day I have to shut my company down and I am a 30+ year old trying to find his way in a corporate office”
You can’t afford to think like this.
I’ve seen people stay at a job they hate way too long and then complain about it because they’re too afraid to take a leap of faith.
They’re too afraid to believe in themselves.
Whatever age you may be, chances are some of you may not have a lot of responsibilities.
Now is the perfect time to take a risk and prove to all those out there that you were meant to do something special with your life.
It’s significantly more difficult once you get married, have kids and a mortgage.
You are the only one stopping yourself from taking a leap of faith.
There are billions of people in the world that you can connect with.
Stop wasting time doing something you don’t love.
Dublite Productions has recently been recognized as a top Video Production Company on DesignRush!
A lot of you reading this are an employee of a company and you don’t post your experiences on your social channels.
You may be scared.
“What if my boss reads something I post and takes it the wrong way”
“What if management doesn’t want me to share what is going on at our company”
This year I’m breaking free from the norm and sharing more transparent stories about my entrepreneurial journey with you.
Something remarkable is happening: I’m having a lot more conversations.
Which is why I’m taking a moment to share with you each week a glimpse into the life of an entrepreneur
And I believe that companies should encourage their employees to share their own experiences.
Why do you ask?
You will have more meaningful conversations with your community.
You will stand out in a sea of competition.
You will develop trust through a transparent culture
And with transparency your company will recruit better talent that believes in your culture.
It’s time to give your employees the ability to share their awesome experiences.
If you’ve spent the time to build the right culture now is the time to trust that your employees believe in you as a Founder or CEO.
And most importantly it’s time to show your community what you are doing to change the world!
I’ve don’t remember what it’s like to be an employee of a company.
It doesn’t mean I haven’t had my moments where I was sitting at my computer and applied to hundreds of big brand companies.
I’ve never committed to shutting my company down, but I know why I have sent out my resume.
I felt tired.
Beat down.
Tired of living project to project.
Tired of coming to work everyday doing the same thing and expecting different results.
Tired of being rejected all the time because their friend with an iphone can do it for free.
Tired of not being able to commit to vacations with my wife because I’m always working.
It takes a toll on you.
It can feel like the weight of the entire world is on you.
You read, reflect and think critically, yet nothing seems to help.
I see people all the time that work for corporate companies. I see facebook pictures of them sitting on a beach with their friends, attending events and experiencing life.
Not so much for us lately.
I’m brainstorming, photographing, testing and implementing new strategies to grow the business.
It can be very lonely being left with your thoughts, but you tell yourself everyday it will be worth it.
I can build something great.
I can look back someday and know that all the hard work was worth not going on vacations 2 or 3 times a year.
You continue to push harder because you believe in what you are creating.
You believe that there is no telling how far you will have to run while chasing your dreams.
Most importantly you believe in yourself.
“All you do is press a button”
“You’re too expensive, my buddy said he’d do it for free”
“Being an entrepreneur is for those that can’t get a real job”
I hear these comments all the time.
I embrace them.
They make me want to go out and win even more.
It’s pretty easy to feel bullied once you start doing something you love.
People will attack you left and right without ever understanding what you do.
I know I’m not perfect.
I’m an entrepreneur who founded a photography company that morphed into a production company 11 years ago.
I discover new weaknesses everyday.
That’s why I’m using this platform to be transparent about my business, so I can get constructive feedback and grow genuine relationships.
This means sharing my failures and successes.
And expecting some of you to give me shit about my failures, but you still realize I’m not an expert in all things in business.
I’m always learning.
And for the all of the entrepreneurs out there who risk it all to grow awesome businesses in the face of haters.
I respect you!
We left to a new city in 2013.
My then girlfriend, now wife, and I knew 1 person in a city with 9.5 million people.
I needed a way to dive deeper into the community to find my way.
When we made it to Chicago, I felt that I had taken the first big step in accomplishing my dream of building a high-caliber production agency.
3 months into our new adventure we lost almost everything through a partnership.
I now had to reinvent my agency.
I made it my mission to connect with as many business owners as possible.
I went to coffee, experienced their office cultures and I asked a ton of questions about their approach to business.
What I learned was it takes patience and
You need to surround yourself with people invested in your success.
After 5 years, a failed partnership, a reinvention, too many low moments for me to count, we are finally becoming the company I believed we could be and have a support team that wants us to succeed.
