Business Startup Help

Hello fcp.co community,

Okay I have 2 inquiries:

1) I am in the process of forging an LLC for my startup production company and having a serious problem coming up with a name. I am actually doing a promo for a lawyer and, in turn, he'll be taking care of my LLC and all the legalities. I was told naming a business in my name is a poor idea. I am a creative person (as we all are) but I'm having such a hard time coming up with a solid name. Name's Ryan Windess. Any ideas, tips or help to figuring this all out?

2) Pricing. How do I price a job out? I'll start humbly at first, but I don't even have a bar to set my rates against. Can anyone explain how they price things out for a client, please?

Thanks in advance! I could really use the help!

I was told naming a business in my name is a poor idea.

Ford, MGM, Harley Davidson, Daimler, Goldman Sachs.... hmmm?

For me, it is some sort of honesty; e.g. my 'nic' on this board - 99% me
You stand with your name for your business.

…… on the other hand:
Industrial Light and Magic - what a promise! (and what a good melody…) ....

…… and on the other hand, all those start-ups ending in -o. And why the hack 'uber'??? Or is it über, and the funny dots are not avail on some keyboards....

Money … 
calculate backwards: what do you need for living, health, insurance, future finance etc. (not to mention profit) Multiply with taxes, fees, unions etc. Stay realistic how many jobs you have per month/year. You'll be perplex, how some can offer a wedding movie for 599, for a week working, using all sort of machinery ..

Using your name for a business is NOT a bad idea. Who ever told you that, NEVER take advice from them again. I've been running Balser Productions, LLC for over a decade, and using my name never hurt me in any way. Plus what Karsten said; "Ford, etc". Just stick the word Productions, or Film, or Video, or Media, or something on it to indicate what you do.

There's a formula for how to figure your rates:
How much do you need/want to make annually?
How many jobs do you realistically think you can get in that year?
Divide your annual income with the number of jobs, and you have a solid baseline to work from.
You'll have a labor rate, and an equipment rate, which together total what the job is going to cost.

Check out this article on the subject.
larryjordan.com/articles/calculating-the...-time-and-equipment/

Then, decide if you're doing to charge by the job, by the day, or by the hour.

The tricky part is that this type of work costs dramatically different rates in different parts of the Unites States. Shop around your own area for folks to do a production job for you, the same work you want to be hired to do. Have a friend or someone call them and ask what they'd charge for X,Y,Z. Most wedding videographers post their rates on their web sites, so look for all the web sites for folks doing what you do, in your local area.

Or better yet, check out MeetUp dot com, find a digital filmmaking or videography group in your area. Join it, go to meetings, get to know others. Knowing and having good relationships with others in this industry locally is VITAL to being successful. You'll eventually be contracting or hiring some of those folks. And you'll eventually benefit from educational, experiential, and client reference exchanges.

Personally, I have a problem with folks doing digital video calling it "film". No, you don't work with celluloid film, and most never have. You work with digital video, call it what it is. Geez... But that's just me.

Also, I've set up several LLCs over the years, and it is super easy to do on your own. I'd say you're wasting money having a lawyer do it for you. Why? Because he's just filling out the same state forms you can download online and fill out yourself. Articles of Incorporation, list of officers, and a feee, that's about it. It is super simple, and there's no "tricky legalize" to it at all.

Honestly, I'm not a huge Larry Jordan fan for a wide variety of reasons, don't hate me for it, but he does have some great articles on the business side of what we do.
larryjordan.com/editing-as-a-business/

Thanks for all the help guys! I really do appreciate it!

The only tip I can give you about the name is to choose one that it's easy to understand. I chose a name for my (ex) company a few years ago, my partners and I thought it was a great name but later on we where tired of spelling the name again and again because nobody understood it when we were giving our website address or email to someone by the phone or in person.

Pricing is the area I struggle the most. A friend of mine always tells me "don't charge too little as you always do". Then I do and end up working too much for too little. My reasons for that is a mix of:

• Mostly working with artists that are also usually at least acquaintances. I am also an artist. We never have money.
• Self doubt. If I charge too much I feel like I can't live up to the price. This one's a bit weird as if I look objectively at what others do that charge much more than me, I can tell my work is, if not better, at least on par with theirs. Emotionally though, I want to kill myself everytime something I've shot and edited is not looking as good as Blade Runner
• A genuine disinterest in money. Money is not, and never has been, a driving force in my life. I just want to create beautiful images.

As you can see, that's the recipe that got me nominated for the "Worst Businessman Award" every year for the last decade

But one tip I heard somewhere (on this board maybe?) that I'm trying to incorporate into my routine is, that it's almost impossible to raise your fee. If you have recurring customers, and you give them a good price. Raising that price is very hard. And the tip was to give a price lets say €400 and then give them 50% off, they pay €200 but see that the real price should have been higher. That could be a thing to do with new customers in the beginning when you're unsure of the pricing.

So what to charge totally depends on your contacts, experience, clients and sometimes if you can afford saying no to badly paid jobs.

Sorry for the incoherent rant... I guess the suggestion was; whatever you do, don't do like me

Accepting really bad jobs is absolute the worst thing you can do. If they can't afford you, if it smells bad, if you're not comfortable, turn the sucker down. You'll not regret it.

My 2c

1) Choose a name that everyone can spell AND pronounce - an former client choose Chrysalides - I could never spell the name let alone pronounce it. It seemed a fun, cool name for them but from a practical perspective it was a disaster and they eventually ditched it.

2) Do a detailed search as if someone else has the name you'll not be able to use it perhaps have legal problems down the road. An LLC take 5mins to setup, and $10 a year to maintain.

The name is the least of your worries, how to make a living out of doing video production with the onset of cheap DSLRs and intern / work for free culture is your challenge and something I personally encounter.

As many have commented before - it not what you do, it's how you sell it and your personality (putting passion aside) if you can sell then you will do well whatever the product or service , that's all there is too it. Problem is with creative types, we love to do the creative work and perhaps are not super outgoing but fail on the BS that goes into selling and yes you have to be full of a little BS to sell We get caught up in the tech side but don't realize it's just a business and if you, or someone else is not pounding the pavement selling 24/7 your will be penniless - unless of course you are doing the business one the side.

Nothing matter but doing quality work, getting happy clients to spread your name. Word of mouth is the number one way to sell a business. If the work is good enough, folks will spread the word.