I Launched a Business & the First Customers Will Pay Nothing.

For the past four weeks of Praxis, I've been invested in the Launch a Business module. The goal is pretty obvious: launch your own business within the time of four weeks. Some might see it as easy, others might see it as pretty challenging. I definitely felt going in like it would be a nightmare (of course one I was fully prepared to take down), however I was rather surprised.

For context, the business I launched was a remote video editing service.

Essentially, people can contact me and send me videos and clips to be edited into a professional video. The one part of this module I found the challenging was not even all that difficult. That part was the market research for determining pricing.

I'm not the most financially savvy person, but I've learned a fair amount in Praxis. I expected learning pricing for this kind of business to be a rabbit hole. It in fact was much less than that thanks to a single article from Krock.io.

https://krock.io/blog/stay-creative/how-much-video-editor-should-charge-in-2022/

This article goes over what to charge for, what experience levels justify what prices, different types of videos you can edit for people etc. I've had an acute interest in video production and editing since I was about seven. However, it wouldn't be until age 14 in freshman year of high school that I would start taking video production classes. And of course schooling doesn't include the many videos I've made on my own time for personal use and YouTube. Going by that metric, I've had seven years of experience at this point. So of course at this point, having years of experience with full video production, including post and pre-production, I figured I'd be eligible for the higher price ranges. But when I asked my Praxis mentor Ryan about pricing, he gave me some more than stellar advice.

Ryan told me instead of worrying about overcharging early clients, charge little to nothing for the first few customers. Those jobs will be pro-bono or first time customer discounts. Then overtime as I take on more clients and prove my skills, I can raise the prices. After a while, I'll be at the general pricing threshold of a professional. The lesson learned from that advice was prove your service is worth something before making people pay for it. In some ways, it's a very similar concept to how YouTube works. When you post your first video, no one will be subscribed and it will likely get a smaller amount of views than top players. As you grow your channel, you'll gain more subscribers and viewers. Once you reach the required threshold of subscribers and watch hours, you can apply to be monetized; Once you've proved you can captivate an audience and provide valuable business.

Currently, the advertising campaign is light. I used Canva to create a flyer and I posted it here as well as my personal and YouTube Instagram accounts. I plan to make printed copies and pin them on local community boards in my area. If you or someone you know needs a video edited, consider reaching out. There is a first time customer discount of 100% right now!