Category: BUSINESS TIPS

Business tips

  • How to Start An Online Business In Kenya and Its Cost

    There are several approaches to setting up a successful online business in Kenya. It all depends on the what one is aiming to achieve at the end. Its therefore important to ask yourself; what is my online business goal?

    Are you trying to build a personal brand?

    Do you want to take your existing offline business to the online marketplace?

    Are you into building a digital service business from scratch?

    dart pins on electric dartboard

    Whichever your goal is, it has to start from somewhere. In this blogpost, I will share with you the fundamental approach to starting and running a successful online business in Kenya.

    The Process

    At this point, you have niched down your business idea and is now ready to setup an online business in Kenya.

    If you haven’t, read 4 Ways To Identify a Good Online Business Idea with Traction.

    Here are the steps I suggest you follow to setup a legitimate online business.

    Video- How to start an online Business in Kenya

    Step #1 Register Your Business Name With BRS

    Identify a name to call your business and register it. Here is a blogpost I wrote about factors to consider when deciding on the business name to register. Also, I have a created a step by step video on how to register your business here.

    BRS Portal
    BRS Portal

    By doing this, your business will become legal. With a registered business, you can charge tax on the goods and services you offer. Also, you will be in a position to benefit from tax exemptions on the goods and services you offer.

    Business registration in Kenya is undertaken by Business Registration Services online.

    Step #2 Purchase A Business Domain Name

    A domain name is the address where people will find you online. For example www.cheptiony.com is the domain name for this blog. In Kenya, you can purchase a domain from Kenic.

    Take time to settle on an easy to remember domain name. This is important. Also, choose a popular domain extension like .com or .co.ke for Kenyan websites.

    The cost for this starts from $9/year.

    Step #3 Get Hosting Service

    This is where your website will be hosted. All files and content you share on your website will be stored in the cloud by your hosting service provider. You will purchase hosting based on the amount of information you will be sharing.

    Most hosting providers charges are based on the web space you will get, number of websites you intend to host on the platform and more. Please check plans and pricing on the hosting service provider of your choice.

    Carefully do you research and consult before purchasing your hosting. Where you will host your website is critical. Their servers must be reliable. You will not want to wake up to find out that your website is down and not loading.

    If you are looking for pocket friendly hosting service, you can get it here starting from $20 a year.

    Step #4 Website Builders And Content Management Systems (CMS)

    business coffee composition computer

    This can cannot go without mentioning. You can get a domain and hosting directly from the popular website builders and Content Management Systems (CMS) like wordpress.com and wix.com. While building a website using website builders is easy for anyone with basic computer knowledge, the cost per year for the service is quite high.

    Both options does the job well so choose carefully.

    Step #5 Design Your Website or Hire Someone to Design it For You

    Both options above (using CMS and Web Builders & Purchasing hosting) will require your input in designing a website for your business. First, write down the content describing the services you offer. If you have images and videos that you will want to share alongside your services, sort them and save them in one folder.

    When done, design your website using the content.

    If you are not good at designing websites and prefer someone else to do it for you, you can hire a professional website designer for as low as $50.

    Here is a blogpost I wrote detailing how I hire a WordPress website designer from the popular freelancing platforms.

    Step #6 Link Your Business To Your TAX Pin on ITAX

    This is mandatory when you are transacting business with government. Therefore, its important to do this at the early stages of your business. Please consult with your tax accountant for assistance to do this. Alternatively, you can do this yourself by contacting KRA on ITax portal.

    Step #7 Market Your Business Once Its Live

    Once you have followed all these steps above successfully and your business is live online, start marketing it. When you have a well detailed website, its easy to market it. Take time to make changes on the site based on customer feedback. You will have more command and authority over your audience when you have functional website in place.

    Summary of the cost

    Service Type Cost in (Ksh)
    Business registration950
    Domain Name registration1,000
    Web Hosting Service2,000
    Website design 6,000
    Total 9,950
    Summary of the cost of starting an online business in Kenya

    That’s not all. Incorporating videos in your marketing plan will take your business to the next level. Apart from enabling users to see what your business is all about, you will able to build a lasting trust with them. For help with any video services, you can contact us on our production website on www.techtubestudio.com.

    And that’s it. You have successfully set up a legitimate business online in Kenya.

    Conclusion

    There are of-course other more requirements you will need going forward in your business as you grow. Those ones, I suggest you get them as needed. What is most important is registering your business first and making it legal.

    I hope you found this blogpost helpful. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • 4 Factors to Consider When Deciding Which TAX PIN to Use In Your Business in Kenya

    Many people find themselves in dilemma when deciding which PIN to using for tax purposes in their business. Before making a decision on this, there are several factors that one must consider.

    Video Guide – Which Tax Pin Do You Use in Your Business in Kenya
    man working using a laptop
    Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Pexels.com

    Before we delve in, its important to have in mind that one can use his/her personal Pin to run business.

    In this blogpost, I will share with you 4 factors to consider when deciding which tax PIN to use in your business. The information I am going to share with you here is based on my personal experience.

    Business Registration Level

    Business registration levels vary and matters. There is the Sole Proprietor Business, Partnership Business, Private and Public Limited Company and Company Limited Guarantee. Each of these have different requirements at the time of registration.

    Its only possible to use individual tax Pin with Sole Proprietorship and Private Limited Company businesses. This is because an individual can register and run them as the only director. The rest type of businesses don’t qualify because it requires more than one director when registering.

    While with Private Limited Company, one can use their own personal pin, I recommend getting an independent Pin for this type of business. It will safe you a lot of trouble as your the business grow.

    Individual Preference

    Some people prefer to have their business affairs separated from their personal life. In this case, it will be good to get a separate PIN for your business if you fall in this category of people. This way, all the activities associated with your business will be dealt with separately e.g VAT returns, WHT returns e.t.c.

    Alternatively, if it’s a Sole Proprietorship business or Private Limited company and you are okay with using your individual PIN for business transactions, you can do so.

    Number Of Business Owned

    How many businesses do you own? If you own more than 2 businesses, I will advise you to have separate tax PIN’s for each of the businesses. This will make your record keeping and management easy. As each of your businesses grow, more accountability is needed.

    This means that at some point, you will employ an accountant to help you keep the books of account and file your tax returns. For security purposes on your individual taxes, I recommend having a separate tax PIN for business.

    Type of Taxes Your Business is Eligible

    Your business will be taxed according to the products and services the business supplies. I suggest your check out the various taxes levied on different businesses in Kenya on the KRA website here.

    When you know which taxes your business will be required to pay/remit, its easy to decide on whether to use your individual PIN or not.

    Conclusion

    When deciding on which TAX PIN to use in your business, its important to consider your business registration level, your individual preference, number of business owned and the type of taxes you are eligible for.

    Additionally, its good to put into account your projected business growth. As your business grows, you employ people to manage your accounts. When this happens, it will be save not to allow people to access your individual tax account. This thus means that having a business tax PIN is preferable.

    With all this said, I hope this information is helpful to anyone setting up their business out there.

    Finally, if you are looking for professional video production services, Techtube Video Studio is ready to help you out. Request a quote today on their website here. You will get a response within 12 hours.

    And until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • How To Edit Video With Camtasia Studio 2022

    How To Edit Video With Camtasia Studio 2021

    In this video I am going to be showing you how to edit videos with Camtasia studio 2022.

    New Features on Camtasia Studio 2022

    1. The Camtasia welcome screen is new. Here you can access new projects, templates, learning resources, and more.
    2. Automatic cursor replacement. Camtasia automatically replaces the cursor in your recordings.
    3. Cursor Path Editing. It’s now possible to Edit, delete, or add cursor paths to Camtasia recordings or images as you desire.
    4. Visual effects. These include blend mode, spotlight, and outline edges.
    5. New visually appealing transitions.
    6. Simplified export windows.

    Download and try Camtasia studio 2022 today here.

    Looking for help to produce screencast video tutorials? Request a quote for free here.

  • Taming Your Greed For More Business Online As a Entrepreneur

    Are you greedy to win as many jobs/contracts as you can as a entrepreneur online? If you are then you are not alone. Many online entrepreneurs don’t realize they are greedy for more work until they find themselves overwhelmed by work and still not rich and contented as they projected.

    Entrepreneurs who have ventured into the online marketspace know the beauty of owning an online business. One of them is the freedom to work anywhere once your business is established.

    But there is a spirit that one picks once he/she has had a taste of good money generated from the online market place. They want more and more of the money and the only way to satisfy this hunger is to look for more clients who are willing to pay well for the services on offer.

    It will take one many years to realize that accepting many contracts without a proper plan of execution will lead to trouble. If one is not careful as an entrepreneur, it will be hard to know if they are making progress financially or not. This is because he/she will be very busy working on and taking more contracts in order to make more and more money.

    Facts About Owning An Online Business

    • Online business success is dependent on targeted human traffic. More traffic means more sales.
    • The market is huge. You can get as many clients as you can based on your marketing strategy.
    • Quality is the King here. If you deliver quality services, you get more recommendations through positive reviews.
    • Clients will review your business negatively if you deliver poor services. If your interest is money and not value, then you entrepreneurship goals will not last online.

    So how do one tell he/she is greedy for more jobs? He are some pointers.

    You Are Busy Pitching For More Jobs

    If you have 2-3 ongoing contracts and you find yourself interested in getting more work, its time to stop and think. Ask yourself why you need more work? Is it because you are having a lot of free time with you? If this is the case, then you are on the right track. But if your schedule is full and you are applying for more work out of fear, then you are looking for trouble.

    First, if you don’t like any of the jobs that you are currently hired for, cancel the contracts. This way, you can create more room for more new jobs.

    In you evaluation, you might find out that you are doing so because your current contracts don’t pay enough to help you pay your bills.

    You Are Doing Almost Everything Yourself

    Most entrepreneurs start up as self employed. They do everything by themselves first as they raise capital. If this act of doing everything yourself is not tamed early, it will turn out to be greed. As more and more clients come to purchase your services, you will always want to do everything yourself in order to keep all the money.

    This if compounded will amount to greed and in turn stagnate a business from growing. If you are currently an entrepreneur who is self employed, look at your behavior verses your growth.

    How do you handle tasks as your business grows?

    Are you a person who is open to outsource as many tasks as you can to allow your business to grow?

    Answers to these will be helpful in taming your greed. That is how a company is built.

    You Have Payment Issues with Your Employees/Contractors

    Many entrepreneurs will not agree with this fact but the truth is; they struggle to pay their employees despite receiving payment in full for the contract. This is a question of integrity. They love money and feel pain paying dues to others.

    Such can only be summed up to greed. One wants to keep all the money and contravene the agreement they had with their contractors.

    If you run your business this way, its time to change and be accountable. This way, you will be in a position to inspire everyone else under you to be accountable.

    At your early stages of accountability, it will feel uncomfortable as this is not something you are used to. Be resilient and make it a habit of paying everyone else first.

    By doing so, you will be able to recalibrate your business and thus grow.

    Your Website Always Looks The Same

    As you grow, your website should also improve. Don’t get swamped up with work to a point that you forget about improving how your website looks and adding more features.

    I know its costly to keep your website up to date. But truth is nothing comes easy. You have to inject money in for you to grow.

    If you feel that doing so is an expensive affair yet you are making money out the website, then you are greedy. Time always reminds an entrepreneur that they have to do something on their website to maintain their status.

    Don’t let your websites current high conversion rate deter you from fixing bugs and errors on your website. Spend a portion of the money you earn to fix every little bug on your website.

    You Are Avoiding To Pay Relevant Taxes

    Its now becoming very difficult to do business when you are not remitting all the necessary taxes to your government. Businesses are taxed differently. For example, if you provide services online in Kenya, one is expected to charge 1.5% digital service tax.

    This tax is supposed to be remitted to the government while filling your returns. Many online entrepreneurs avoid paying this because they don’t charge their clients the same. Some clients online will deny you work if they notice that you have included tax in your quotation.

    As an entrepreneur who want to build a long term business, you should include tax in all their quotations and remit the same to the government.

    When you are able to manage this successfully, you will be way much ahead of your peers in business.

    Conclusion

    As you might have noticed, greed comes in where money is involved. So be always on the look out in order to tame it. Its a question of practice and practice makes perfect. You will succeed in business when you are able to tame your greed.

    And that is it from me here.

    How can entrepreneurs tame greed for more work and money online? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you are looking for professional video production services online, you can request a quote today on Techtube Video Studio. You will get a response within 12 hours.

    And until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • How to Close a KRA Pin Online

    In this video I am going to show you how to close a KRA Pin online. Stay tuned.

    How to Close A KRA PIN Online

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  • How to Remove A Director or Official From Your Company Or Business Online

    In this video I am going to show you how to remove a director or official from your registered business or company online. Click play to watch now

    Video – How to Remove A Director or Official From Your Company Or Business Online

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  • Freelancing Or Business? Which Of The Two Should You Invest Most of Your Time And Money In

    Freelancing and business share a lot in common. That’s why many people are capable of tackling both of them at a go. But which of the two should one invest more of their time in?

    On this blogpost, I will try to demystify the strengths and weaknesses of each one of them so that you see where you need to invest most of your energy in online.

    All the information I am going to share with you here is based on my experience freelancing on different freelancing platforms and running a video production business based in Nairobi Kenya.

    First, I will start with the common things that freelancing and business share in common.

    Common Things That Freelancers And Business People/Entrepreneurs Share

    low section of man against sky
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
    1. Freedom To Make Choices – Freelancers and business people have freedom to make their choices. They choose when to work, what to work on, where to work, when to go for vacation e.t.c.
    2. Can Propose or Set Their Rates – When a client or prospect shares details of what they want done, freelancers or entrepreneurs can propose how much they will charge for their services. If the client agrees to it, they can set up a contract based on what has been agreed upon. This is the beauty of being either a freelancer or an entrepreneur.
    3. Unlimited Earnings – Freelancers and business people are capable of making a lot of money based on the amount of contracts they win. More contracts means more money.
    4. Can Work Anywhere – While a business person needs a permanent business establishment/location/offices for for them to operate, individuals who own online businesses offering services can work anywhere. This is the same case with freelancers, they can work anywhere.
    5. Can Partner In Projects– Freelancers and business people can collaborate together very well in business dealings. In many scenarios, the business owner is usually the employer while the freelancer is the contractor.

    With this said, it exists important things that differentiates freelancing and business.

    Difference Between Freelancing And Business

    FreelancerNOBusiness Person/Entrepreneur
    You are limited on the who to contact for business. Most freelancers rely on invitations for interview and bidding on job posts on a freelancing platform.1Depends on your aggressiveness to look for business. You are free to identify and contact as many prospects as you can.
    A freelancers is governed by a freelancing platform terms of service. Their profiles are at risk if they break certain rules. 2Businesses are governed by the rules they set by the founders. Clients have the choice of either accepting or rejecting work offered to them.
    Most of the project rates are set by the client. There is little freedom to make choices. 3Business people send quotes based on the clients brief. They are free to quote the amount they want.
    Growth is dependent on your past clients reviews. You have no control of any negative review you receive. 4You have control on the reviews. You can grow depending how knowledgeable you are in a given assignment and not on what other people say about your services.
    The clients you meet or have are yours as long as you remain on a given freelancing platform. You are not allowed to contact them outside the platform. 5The clients who hires you are fully yours. You can communicate freely with them and ask for business.
    If you are hired by many clients on a freelancing platforms, you are not allowed to sub-contract the same work to other freelancers unless you have a freelance agency on the same site. 6You are the boss. You can contract and sub-contract with your set terms and conditions. This is the beauty of owning a business.
    You are exempted from PAYE tax and only required to declare income tax on all your earnings annually. In some countries, income earned from a foreign country is not taxed. 7Your business is governed by the tax laws of your country and you must be compliant to them. Failure to comply may result in your business being closed down.
    The future of your success is at the mercies of the freelancing site you are in. If the site finds any small discrepancies in your account or a client reports your account for no reason, your account will be closed or suspended.8You hold the future of your business as you will grow from the repeat work from same clients. When you do good job, clients will recommend your services.
    Comparison Between freelancing and Business

    As you can see business wins when it comes to a long term investment with high returns. However, its important to point out the roles that freelancing plays when starting up.

    Why Freelancing Is Important When Starting Up An Online Business

    Freelancing plays a major role when starting up an online business. Here is why it might be a good idea to invest your time in freelancing first before launching your online business.

    woman inside booth
    Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com
    1. Raise Capital – At the early stages of starting an online business, one needs to invest money into building a system in form of a website. You can raise capital to build your online business offering freelance service online. The rule to this is; Don’t be carried away by the freelancing jobs to a point you forget about establishing your online business.
    2. Identify a niche Within Your Skills– Freelancing platforms is the home for different skillsets. If you succeed freelancing in a given niche, it’s a pointer that there is demand for that service and others that are trending on a given freelancing platform in the same niche. This way, you can position your services in the online market place with a lot of confidence.
    3. Income To Sustain Yourself – Before you start earning from your business, you need money for upkeep. This is the money that you can easily earn offering freelancing services.

    And that is it from me. I hope this article was helpful to you.

    Should people invest more of their time offering freelance services or doing business?

    Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you are looking for professional video production services, you can request a quote for free on Techtube Video Studio website. You will get a response within 12 hours.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • Is The Freelancing Site You Are Working in Holding You From Your Dream Business?

    Freelancing sites are perfect avenues to work in when you have clients who give you recurrent tasks and pays you well for the services you offer to them.

    photo of woman using a laptop
    Photo by Oudney Patsika on Pexels.com

    But have you ever asked yourself where you will be if the freelancing platform you are in collapses today?

    Freelancing website platforms have a way of holding unto freelancers and keeping them in their comfort zone. I mean thats what they have to do in order to remain afloat in business.

    Many great entrepreneurs lose the vision they had of setting and running a successful online business the moment they start getting freelancing clients.

    One slowly starts allocating more of their time to freelancing and before they know, their drive to own an online business dies.

    So how do you know that your dream of owning a business is dying as a freelancer?

    Keep reading as that is what I will be discussing on this blogpost.

    Tell Tell Signs You Taken Away By The Freelancing Platforms

    #1 All Your Current Clients Are On A Freelance Platform

    Unlike any other job, freelancing is the quickest path to owning a business. This is because you have the freedom to plan your time.

    This is unlike 9-5 job where you depend on someone else to make decision for you. So if you only have clients you met on a freelancing platform, then you are loosing it.

    #2 You Always Talk About The Freelancing Platform

    An entrepreneur should always market his business whenever he or she gets a chance. A freelacing platform is business like yours and has a mechanism of marketing itself. You too should spend more time marketing and telling people about your business instead.

    If you are currently doing the opposite, the

    #3 You Are Signing Up On More Freelancing Platforms

    Thats what will motivate one to take such action by signing up on more platforms in order to tap on more clients. What they forget is, the clients they find there is not their own clients, its the freelancing platforms clients.

    The freelancing platform can decide to suspend their accounts anytime on the platform. If you are currently working on more than 2 freelancing platforms and you are an entrepreneur, stop and think, because you are loosing a lot.

    #4 You Are Doing Everything Yourself

    pexels-photo-5941591.jpeg
    Photo by Eva Elijas on Pexels.com

    Freelancing limits you to doing the job yourself. If you try to have someone do the work, you make losses because the pay is not enough.

    Dont let freelancing take everything from you. If the earnings from freelancing is the one that fuels your business, then dont accept many jobs.

    Be always open to invest in a team even if it means training them on the skills you have. Write ‘

    #5 You Are Always Complaining of Low Paying Clients

    Lets face it, in every 3 job postings on a freelancing platform, 2 are paying very poorly. Complaining on different online forums wont change this, as its mostly up to freelancers to apply on not to.

    Always ask yourself instead is, where can I find well paying clients? Once you find an answer, go out and look for them. Don’t limit yourself to one place.

    #6 Successful Freelancers Hype

    Whoever said there is no free lunch was right. Take the motivation and and if you want, buy the course but never let it blind you from going for your dream business. While in all this hulabaloo, remind yourself that you have a business to market.

    Dangers of Putting All Your Efforts/Mind/
    Focus On a Freelancing Platform

    • Competion becomes fiecer everyday as more freelancers join a platform.
    • The freelancing site can suspend your account anytime they want and you have nothing to say.
    • The clients you meet on a freelancing platform are not your clients. You are not allowed to share contacts and communicate with them directly on e-mail or you will be violating the terms of the platform.
    • Freelancing platforms algorithms can eliminate you without your knowledge. I have been a client there and have seen many applications being hidden. Application being hidden is like an e-mail being marked as spam. So put yourself in that shoe and think.
    • Being in many freelancing sites doesen’t necessarily mean you will be successful. Some clients post same job in 3-4 freelancing sites in order to find the lowest bidding freelancer. And you can know this if you are a freelancer on all those sites. That means they might hire someone in the site you are not in.
    • You might end up leading a lonely life. The jobs you get does not pay enough for you to outsource and build a business. If you work from home, you will find yourself so tied up on the jobs you have and detatched from the outside world. Lonely life is the worst thing one would want live especially in the African setting in the name of wanting to become rich Freelancing.
    • With the growing number of freelancers joining the freelancing platforms and number of clients hiring through the platforms shrinking, its becoming hard to succeed freelancing and becoming rich than it was before.

    Conclusion

    All freelancers have high potential of becoming sucessful in businesss. If your original dream was to become a sucessful entrepreneur, stick to it.

    Dont be carried away by freelancing platforms which offer you quick connection to clients by just setting up a profile. Aim for sky. The sky is the limit. Within no time, you will have found those high paying clients.

    And thats it from me here.

    What’s making you hold unto a freelancing platform and forget about your business? Let me know in the comments section below.

    If are looking for professional video production services, let me know here. You can request for a quote on www.techtubestudio.com.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care. Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • 6 Step Guide To Setting Up Your Terms As An Online Business Owner or A Freelancer

    ‘Having Clear Terms‘ is the means to success online as a business owner or a freelancer. Experience has thought me that if you don’t have well defined terms, the probability of you succeeding online is very slim.

    So where do you start? The answer to this is reliant on your level of experience serving online clients as a business owner or a freelancer. Do you understand how online marketplace work?

    For example, have you used Escrow payment before or do you know how it works? Working out your ‘own terms‘ is not something that you can do in one day. It comes in as they are needed.

    Let’s say it’s a paragraph or point that you add to your existing list of terms in a document as the need arises.

    When defining your terms, its good to know where to start. That is what I will focusing on this blogpost.

    1. Scope of Work

    It starts with the clients scope of work. What does the client want you to do and can you do it?. This is very important. Many online business owners and freelancers I know in the video production industry are good at video creation and editing. However, when it comes to animations and motion graphics, they outsource.

    Make sure you are very clear with your client in what you can provide, outsource and what you cannot. Don’t lie that you can do it or find someone who can do it and end up not doing it. You will have failed the client and yourself.

    Making your stand very clearly understood by the client is in itself a term. e.g Telling the client “I will require you to provide a given list of items” makes it clear to the client on what you will provide.

    2. Cost of The Project

    Once you have agreed with the client on the scope of work and both of you are happy, move on to the cost of the project. How much will the project cost? Based on the defined scope of work, come up with a quotation listing each item and it’s cost. Most clients are ok if you do this directly on the e-mail body.

    Professionally, I recommend doing your quotation on Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets and sharing it as a link or attaching it to the e-mail as a PDF file. This way, collaboration will be easy and the client can print the document and put it on a file for records.

    Costing is usually easy if you have your own standard production rates.

    3. Payment Terms

    Now that the client has agreed to your proposed quote and the deal is closed, go ahead and discuss with him/her, how you would like the client to pay you. Mostly, it’s good to break down this into two parts.

    • Payment Breakdown – Since you have not met the client in person and probably the client is on another continent, have them make a down payment of 50% as a show of commitment. Alternatively, if you are using Escrow service, have the payment broken down to 2 parts of 50/50. 50% when you deliver the first draft of the video and the remaining 50% once you are done.
    • Payment Methods – Share with your client the payment methods you prefer. e.g. PayPal, Credit card e.t.c.

    Most clients love it when you are clear on how you would like to receive your payments. They know that by honoring your terms, their work will be completed on time.

    4. Revisions And Modifications

    Once you deliver the project and the client needs revisions or modifications, what are your terms on this? For example you can say, you offer 3 rounds of revisions for free. Anything after that is billable.

    If you are new to online business and freelance marketplace, you will not know it until a client requests for several revisions to a point you are tired of making them.

    When revisions and modification term is in place, everyone will be careful not to make any mistake from their end because of the cost implications.

    5. Mode of Collaboration

    As an online freelancer or business owner, expect to receive large files from your clients. This means you must be subscribed to a paid cloud service like Dropbox, OneDrive or GoogleDrive. This way, you can have your file sync automatically on the background.

    Agree on a mode of collaboration for their project. E.g If you are a content creator, you can decide to use google docs for scripting and Dropbox for videos. Either way, it will be easy for each of you to quickly locate a shared file and share their feedback.

    If you are dealing directly with the client, communication through e-mail is ok. However if you are dealing with a team, then using free collaboration apps like slack will be great.

    6. Refund Policy

    Lastly, it’s good to have a refund policy in place as part of your terms. What happens if the client requests for a refund after you have started work with them? That’s why this is important. This way, when the client is getting into work agreement with you and making partial payments, they understand clearly the policy.

    A good refund policy is the one that is considerate. A win win. i.e. ‘If the client cancels the contract after delivery of the first draft of the video with no clear reason, 50% paid as the down payment will not be refunded.’

    Conclusion

    Ensure the client signs and sends you back the contract terms you share with them before starting work.
    We all know, people hate signing documents with long form terms. Insist that you have an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) in place anyway before starting any work. Clients with high value contracts are the ones who requests you to sign an NDA because they know the risks and consequences of what may arise later.

    For example, if you offer video production services like me, and in your contract with the client, you had a clause on commercial license fee of 10% of the contract sum. You can sue the client if they use the content commercially without consulting you. Contracts are there to protect each party from abuse.

    And that is it from me here.

    What are your guiding pointers when defining your terms to a client as a video producer?

    Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you need professional video tutorial services for websites and apps, you can request a free quote on www.techtubestudio.com . You will get a response within 12 hours.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • 5 Important Lessons That Every Video Producer Should Keep Dear

    A Video Producer does many things especially if he/she is self employed. They send video proposals, prepares quotations, draw up invoices, employ video crew, directs their shoots, write the scripts, edit the videos e.t.c.

    This is too much work considering how demanding each one of them is. It thus begs the question, why would someone do all the work instead of employing people to do them?

    black dslr camera

    Well, it depends on the BUDGET the producer is working with. At the end of the day, as the producer you have to make profit after paying everyone in your team.

    Most entrepreneurs who are video producers, try to limit the number of crew in their team in order maximize on profits.

    Having been in the video production industry for a while, it’s easy to loose track of what is important when you focus on profits alone.

    On this blogpost, I will share with you 5 Important lessons that every video producer should keep dear to themselves both when things are good and when things are not that good.

    Watch video – 5 Important Lessons to Freelance Video Producers

    1. Your Value Should Always Be On The Rise

    In my life as a video producer, I have experienced good seasons and bad ones. Each one of them presents its challenges. In high seasons, due to high demand, you are confident and you keep raising your charges. During low seasons, the pressure you get from the cost of living and low income or no income at all tempts you to lower your rates.

    This should not be the case. As a professional video producer, you should never lower your rates at any given time despite the fear of loosing it. It’s better to maintain it as it is than to lower.

    Note: If you raise your rates during the low season, you lose nothing. After all in low times, business prospects asking for your services are rarely there. If they are, then their proposals are mostly not even close to the amount you currently charge.

    2. Normalize Saying NO

    Saying YES is easier than saying NO in business. That’s why most businesses fail at their early days. They say YES to any business prospect without considering the cost of doing business with them. You as the Video Producer is always the price.

    If the budget you are given to work with by a client is not enough, say NO and propose otherwise. Normalize doing this and never think twice on it. In the long run, you will be able to sift your prospect list and attract only high value clients.

    3. Never Forget The Lessons You Learnt In The Past

    The most hurting experience most producers share is making losses after a huge production. It’s easy to forget this when your business is down and end up accepting any job without considering it’s opportunity cost.

    Never forget the traumatic experience you underwent after huge production that made you losses. Its better to stay without a job than do a job that will make you losses again or put you in another season of stressful situation.

    4. Update Your Gear And Use The latest Technology In Your Production

    black flat screen computer monitor

    This majorly depends on many things. But again, as a Video producer- and with a little bit of creativity- a lot of ideas can be accommodated. For instance, if you are doing a series of TV drama show, using a drone may not be necessary. As a video producer, think of how you can accommodate drone footage to bring aliveness to some scenes.

    Also, use the latest version of the video editing software. It comes with a lot of improvements and is efficient. Learn to embrace the latest technology that the modern generation can relate.

    This way, you will be on taps with the latest video production industry market trends.

    5. You Don’t Have to Own Any Equipment To Do A Production

    When a new video producer starts making good money, they start investing in their own gears with the hope that in due time, it will help them cut down their production costs. This is true depending on where you come from.

    As a video producer who started with nothing, I can confidently tell you that owning your own gear is not necessary. I have done several productions with zero equipment’s that I own. I hired all the equipment’s I used in these productions.

    There are many companies nowadays who are ready to lease out their production equipment’s.

    Secondly, with the fast changing technology, its very expensive to own video production gears. Every year or two, a new version of the camera equipment you own is launched with better specs. It somehow renders the ones that you already have obsolete.

    You can grow and progress even faster when focus on leasing rather than owning.

    Today like never before, most of the prospects I meet want 4K quality videos something that the camera I have can’t record.

    Conclusion

    As you grow as a video producer, its easy to forget the many values you drew from your experience. I am here to remind you that you should not forget them if you want to experience growth and see change in your life.

    Always remind yourself of these five things;

    • Your value should always be on the rise.
    • Normalize saying NO.
    • Never forget the lessons you learnt in the past.
    • Update your gear and use the latest technology in your production.
    • You don’t have to own any equipment to do a production.

    When you remember these, you will find your life becoming easy and satisfying.

    And that is it from me here.

    What other things do you think video producers should never forget in their journeys? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you need help with any kind of digital video production, do not hesitate to reach out to me. Alternatively, you can request a free quote for the service you want here.


    And until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.