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 KenyaPhoto 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.
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.
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.
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.
‘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.
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?
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
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.
The demand for video services online today is huge. More and more companies are looking for competent video producers to work on their video projects.
Watch video – 5 Skills to Make You Money Online Today
Anyone who is committed can succeed making money online producing videos for individuals and businesses.
In this day and era, you can learn any skill related to video production online for free on YouTube.
Arts and Design category leads with 77% in representation by freelancers compared to other categories. This is according to Freelance Forward Economist Report 2021. This means there is a huge demand for Arts and Design skills compared to others.
Upwork
Getting Started
So how does the video producer decide which skills to employ in a given project?
Its mainly based on the script provided to them by the client. Largely, video producers, editors, animators and motion graphics designers are paid to work on projects that are meant for use commercially.
The end determines the means. How best will the message be communicated? This question will be answered based on the assets the client has and proposes to be used in producing the video. From here the skills needed will come out automatically.
On this blogpost, I will be sharing with you Top 5 video production skills that can make you money online in Kenya and are self thought.
List of top 5 Categories in Video production that will make you money online.
Screencast video production is a little hyped category in video production but has a lot of demand in the tech space. The potential of growth with this category of video production is high. Screencast video production is basically recording computer/tablet/phone screens of a software or SaaS application in action showing users how to use the product or service.
Application of screencast video production knowledge can be used in many areas in video production.
Screencast videos are the ones you find posted on most of the giant website help pages showing users how to do certain tasks on the platform.
While this can be done by anyone, most of the product owners prefer to have the work done by someone else professionally.
This is where they employ the skills of a screencast video producer, freelancer or a production agency. Screencast video production is more than recording the computer or software screens.
There is a learning phase where you study how the software or application works before doing the actual work.
To do screencast videos, you need to have access to a professional screen recording and editing software like Camtasia studio.
Potential Earnings Per Month
This skill has potential of earning you a minimum of $1000 to $5000 a month as a freelancer. It requires a lot of patience and commitment at the beginning before you break through.
Motion graphics has many different definitions. I will define it using my own words. Its basically animation of text, graphic designs, videos and images to communicate a message in the most entertaining way.
Infographics animation on the other hand is more less the same. The difference is that with infographics, your are adding motion to existing informational graphics or data. e.g case studies.
Depending on your experience, you can use basically any professional software. To be on the safe side, I recommend learning how to use Adobe after effects. With the software, you are not limited in what you can create.
Motion graphics skill has demand all over. Once you have built a name around it, your earning potential will be huge.
Potential Earnings Per Month: One video of 2 Mins can make you $300-1000. If you do let’s say 5 videos a month, you are good.
3. Production of 2D Animation and Whiteboard Explainer Videos
2D animations and whiteboard explainer videos are two different things but share a common ground. Vector graphics and illustrations are used to produce them. For 2D, its more of custom designs and animations. e.g Tom and Jerry or the The Pink Panter.
On the other hand, whiteboard explainer videos are produced using pre-designed templates that comes with the video production software you purchase. You just only drag and drop the elements you need in the video based on the script you have.
2D animation projects pays well if the assignment at hand entails working on a TV show or a movie.
Potential Earnings on 2D Animation
One can earn up to $100k to work on a long form movie animation that may take almost a year to produce.
On the other hand, whiteboard explainer videos created using premade illustrations and templates don’t pay much but is highly on demand.
Earning Potential Doing Whiteboard Explainers
On average one gets paid a minimum of $100 to create a 1 minute whiteboard explainer video. You only need to produce 10 Minutes of animation to make $1000.
Software’s like Animaker, Vyond and Powtoon are popular for use in creating whiteboard explainer videos.
3D animation is one of the most demanding skill compared to other categories in video production. That’s why many video producers don’t like it much. In order to model a very smooth and good quality 3D animation video, you need a computer with high specs, time and a lot of RAM to render your animations.
That’s why it may cost up to $3000 to develop a 1 Minute high end 3D Animation.
If you have the right equipment’s and software to work on 3D animations, the potential to earn good money as an independent professional is high online.
Earning potential
$500-3000 per minute of a 3D animation.
5. Video Editing
With many individuals and businesses embracing Youtube as a way of marketing their businesses, there is a constant and growing demand for video editing services. Business minded individuals are looking for video editors to work on their YouTube content.
This means if you are a good video editor, you have the potential to earn good money editing videos. The secret behind succeeding as a video editor is looking for many long term clients.
Earning Potential
If you charge $20/hour to edit a video and a client hires you to work for 10 hours a week, you make $200/week. In a month, you make $800 from one client.
If you are able to get clients who collectively pays you for 40 hours a week and offers to assign you work for a long term, you make good money. In a week you will be making $800 and $2400 a month.
Conclusion
Earning potential of any creative in the video production industry depends majorly on their aggressiveness, how well they communicate, their creativity and negotiation skills. If one is able to negotiate for a good pay, they will earn good money at the end.
And that is it from me here.
What other category of skill in video production can a creative make money with online?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
And if you are looking for professional video production services, Techtube Video Studio is ready to sort you out. You can request a quote for Free on their site here.
There are many elements that makes up a video. While each one of them is important, there are those that are basic. Basic elements are the ones that makes a video presentation look professional and pleasing to watch.
In todays fast paced world, one must be able to match the industry production standards in order to compete. If you learn to include the elements I am going to discuss on this blogpost on your videos, they are going to stand out.
Before I begin sharing with you what these elements are, I will like point out why people create videos today.
When you scroll through different content on Youtube you will notice that many people create videos for different reasons e.g as a hobby, selling, marketing, teaching, entertainment, e.t.c.
If you are a beginner, it is important to know the kind of video elements to use for different type of videos.
With this said, let’s now get right into the elements that will make your videos pleasing to watch. I will put them in two categories namely;
Reusable Elements
Non-reusable Elements
Watch Video- 8 Things To Add To Your Video And Make It Pleasing To Watch
Reusable Elements
Reusable elements are designs that you create once and can later be modified and reused again and again.
Animated Intro/Outro
This is your brand identity or that of your business. For companies, animated intro video is usually a logo and a tagline. The impact of it depends on the way animation is done. Simple animation still works well today.
When working on animated intros and outros, consider including your address and contact information in it. For example, in my vlogs intro, I have a logo with my domain. This is because I want people to visit my blog. The intro is only 3 seconds.
Lower Thirds Templates
If you are a seasoned video editor, you know what lower thirds is. The latest versions of video editing software’s come with ready made collection of lower thirds.
Lower thirds is the title design that appears below the video and has the name and tittle of the person appearing. You can include social media handles of that person.
Quotes And Long Form Text Templates
If you are a vlogger like me and produces videos on a regular basis, you will need to have a reusable template for quotes and long form text. For instance, if you are quoting something or someone in your videos, you can use this tittle template. You only change the text and maybe the color if necessary.
Also, if there is something that you are emphasizing on your videos, you can use this template.
Animated List Template
Animated list template comes in handy when you are sharing a number of things in form of a list. It’s good when the items appear one by one.
When you have a template for it, things will be easy for you. You will be only changing text and adjusting time.
Title Templates
Premade tittle templates work in many areas of a video. Mostly, title template are used when talking about a subtopic in a video. Create one that reflects the theme of your brand.
When you have a collection of tittle templates, your editing will easy and seamless as you will only be changing the text each time you use it.
Non-Reusable Elements
Video Subtitles .
Video subtitles are very relevant today. For example, if you are posting your content on YouTube, that video will be watched by different people including the deaf. Having subtitles will help them follow and understand what you are saying.
Also, some people who find it hard to grasp what you are saying because of the accent, can follow your videos using subtitles. Having subtitles is a professional way of presenting your content today.
Video Thumbnail
For a video to attract attention of online users and make them click, video thumbnail is necessary.
While you can have a thumbnail template that can be re-used, a new thumbnail design for every new video is good.
Video Credits
Professionally, its necessary to have credits on your videos. Credits are the list of names of people and brands who played different major roles in your entire production. It can appear anywhere in the video.
Many vloggers don’t have this on their videos-me included😃- because they think that no one will notice or care to go through the list of credits. But credits are very important.
It make your content rich and professional.
If someone considers hiring you, they can do that confidently knowing that you have a team behind.
And that is it from me here.
I know there are many more.
Which ones did I miss to mention? Let me know by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.
And if you need professional video production services, do not hesitate to contact us.
The recommended file size for GIF video animations on various website platforms vary. As a video editor, its good to know how to compress GIF videos or animations.
Video: 3 Ways To Compress GIF Videos or Animations
In some websites, any GIF video file size will play, while in others, GIF’ whose file size is more than 5 Mbs will not play.
If the final file size of the animated GIF you have produced is larger than what the site recommends; how will you compress it without losing the video details? In this blogpost, I will share with you 3 ways of compressing GIF videos.
Reduce Video Pixels
This is the first option you have to consider. What’s your video editing dimensions?
For instance, if you want HD video and your editing dimensions are 1920×1080, you may have to consider reducing the dimensions to that of a smaller version of HD. In this case, the size will be 1280×720. This will dramatically reduce the final GIF video size by Half. If you are using Camtasia studio, go to project settings and select 720p HD. Most sites recommend a GIF video of 1200 Pixels. So this means you will reduce the dimensions from 1280×720 to 1200×676 pixels.
Reducing the Video editing dimensions on Camtasia
Reduce Rendering Frame Rate
Popular rendering frame rate for GIF videos is 15 Frames per second. The highest frame rate recommended is 30 Frames per second and minimum is 1 Frame per second. The higher the frame rate, the higher the size, the lower the frame rate the lower the file size.
In the past, I have found out that 5 frames per second is very effective in dramatically reducing the video file size without the final GIF file lagging when you play.
To do this; in your rendering settings menu, click on the frame rate drop down menu and select 5.
GIF Video Animation Rendering Frame Rate on Camtasia studio
Using Free GIF Compressors Available Online
There are many GIF compressors available online today. If you have tried the options above and your GIF video size is still larger than the recommended size, you may have to consider this 3rd option of using a GIF compressor. I have tried and used a free GIF video compressor found here. The results was very good. I was able to reduce my GIF video size by 68% without losing the image quality.
Bonus Options
If all the above options of compressing your GIF video file fails, you may want to consider reducing your GIF Video duration. If your GIF Video is say 60 seconds, you can try reducing it by 5 seconds and see the difference.
Add clip speed to the GIF video
Another way of doing this is to speed up the video on the timeline. This will help reduce the file size by a slightly small percentage.
Conclusion
Learning how to compress GIF video files directly from your video editing suite is the best way I recommend. I know there are many other ways that one can do this.
Do you know of any other way of compressing GIF videos that I have missed to mention here on this blogpost? Please share and let me know in the comments section below and you will another freelancer out there wanting to compress GIF’s.
Many people today will tell you they have a brilliant business idea. If you ask them why they haven’t started it yet, most blame it on several things among them being lack of capital to start.
So, how much does it cost to start a business in Kenya? Let’s walk through this together on this blogpost.
At this point, I assume you already have an business idea and is looking to start a business in Kenya. Things have changed over the years. The process of starting a business that worked well 3-5 years ago no longer works right now.
This is owing to the digitization of most of the services and constitutional amendments on how businesses are being operated in Kenya. This in turn has resulted in business owners being asked to update their business information to match the current requirements or risk their businesses being ceased from operations.
Video on How to Start Business in Kenya in 2021
In this blogpost, I will guide you step by step on how to start business today in Kenya. You can do nearly everything online.
Ease of Doing Business In Kenya
Doing Business In Kenya
The World Bank Report, Doing Business 2020, indicates that Kenya has improved from position 61 to 56 globally in its attractiveness to investors. Doing Business report captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms.
Among the quantitative indicators on regulation looked at in the report include starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes, trading across borders and more.
The report captures the complete changing environment in the way business is done in Kenya from now going forward.
Now, lets focus our attention on how to start a business in Kenya.
Step 1: Register a Business Name
This is a name that you will use in trading. The mode of operation varies with businesses.
Before you register a business in Kenya, you have to reserve a business name. Business registration in Kenya is undertaken by Business Registration Service on brs.go.ke. In order to access this service, you need to have a eCitizen account. This is an account you use to access all government services Kenya. Click here to create an account if you don’t have an account with them yet.
Once you have an eCitizen account, prepare 3 business names that you propose to register as it will be required for search. At the end, you will pick one from the approved names. A business name is a name or title under which a person or entity conducts business.
sample-Business-registration-certificate in Kenya
It’s important to note that you have a room to submit up to 5 names for search. 3 of the names you submit are mandatory. Enter all the required information and submit for search.
Please click here to download business registration guide from BRS to read the dos and don’ts when submitting a name for registration.
You will notified of the names that was approved and you can proceed to register one of them.
Cost
Service Offered
Fees
Document Lodged
Document Issued
Time
Registration of Business name
Kshs 950
BN 2
Certificate of Incorporation
1 day
Limited Liability Partnership
Kshs 25000
New Registration LLP 1
Certificate of Incorporation
1 day
Private Limited Company
Kshs 10650
CR 1, CR 2, Cr 8, Statement of Nominal Capital
Certificate of Incorporation
3-5 days
Public Limited Company
Kshs 10650
CR 1, CR 2, CR8, CR 10, CR 12 and Statement of Nominal Capital
Certificate of Incorporation
3-5 days
Unlimited Companies
Kshs 20050
Cr 1, CR 4, Cr 8 Statement of Nominal Capital
Certificate of Incorporation
3-5 days
Company Limited by guarantee
kshs 10000
CR1, CR 3 and CR 8
Certificate of Incorporation
3 days upon receipt of vetting report from NIS
Business registration cost schedule in Kenya. Source BRS.
Refer to BRS fee schedule here for more information on registration.
Once you have your business registered, you are now few steps to starting to do business Kenya.
Step 2: Set Up Your Business Contact Information And Online Presence
Its good to have separate contact details for your business. Once you have registered your business, setup official business contact information and update them with registrar of companies under your business.
The most important basic contact information for your business is a custom e-mail address. In this, I mean an e-mail with a business name e.g name@yourbusiness.com. This will give you a professional impression in all your communications via e-mail.
I also recommend setting up a website or purchasing a domain related to your business at your early stages of business. A Kenyan domain of .co.ke costs only Ksh.500/yr. Basic starter website design will cost Ksh. 5,000 which is done by a local designer.
Kenic – Kenya domain registrar
Online a good place to start your business. Having an online presence and later proceeding to setup a physical location for your business is the best path to follow especially when you don’t have capital to go out rent a space for your business immediately.
Step 3: Open a Business Bank Account
Its a recommendation for everyone who runs and operates their business in Kenya to open a local bank account. Again, this solely depends on the kind of business you run and your citizenship.
For example, a Kenyan sole proprietor business owner can get away doing business using their personal bank account.
But in order to track and evaluate the performance of your business, make opening a business account your priority. It’s important to note that one of the requirement by the many Kenyan procuring entities when submitting a tender quotation is to furnish them with your business bank account details.
Requirement to open a bank account varies with many Kenyan bankinginstitutions. However, they have common requirements that they need you to provide in order for them to open an account for your business.
For a sole proprietor account, you will need to provide them with a copy of the registration certificate, National ID, Kenya Revenue Authority PIN No, details of your business address (you can use your home as address) with a proof of Utility bill, Lease agreement e.t.c.
After you have provided these documents, you will pay a bank search fee starting from Ksh. 250 or more depending on the bank that you pick.
Once the search is confirmed, your bank account will be opened. This usually takes a maximum of 1 day.
For a limited company, requirements are more of the same except that you will be required to provide CR12 showing names of the company directors and company Tax PIN. This takes me the next mandatory requirement for limited companies, company Tax Pin.
Step4: Apply For Company Tax PIN
Unlike in the past, having a company Tax PIN is mandatory. It separates you as the director and the company itself. In this case, the company will be responsible for all its liabilities.
Kenyan Tax Personal Identification Number
To apply for Tax Pin for your company, go to www.itax.kra.go.ke and click on new PIN registration. Follow the screen prompts for guide and complete the process. Once you have the PIN, go ahead and open a bank account with your preferred banking institution.
Step 5: Physical Location
While you can start your business operations from your home location, some businesses can’t be operated from home especially if you are supplying goods. There many ways that you can find a suitable business location within your nearest town centre by employing services of real estate agents that you choose.
What’s important here is obtaining a business operation permit. This is issued by the county council. Please find out where their offices are located in your town and then pay a visit to them and find out the process and cost of obtaining one.
If you are in Nairobi, you can apply and pay for it online via the Nairobi services portal. This is one of the important licenses you need in order to avoid being harased in your business premises by the county council inspection officials.
Also, it’s important to note that when you make an application, the officials from the county council will visit your business premise to inspect and ensure that you have adhered to all their regulations before they issue you with the license.
Step 6: Other Regulatory Bodies Registration
There are other certificates issued by different regulatory bodies depending on your profession. This includes film, health, accounting, tourism, media, building and construction, Youth and people with disabilities e.t.c. Based on the kind of business that you run, I recommend you check with your respective regulatory body for certification and approval.
Summary
Here is a summary of the minimum estimated cost you will need to start a business in Kenya.
Name of The Service
Estimated Cost
Frequency
Business Name search
Ksh. 450 or $4 (once)
Once
Business Name Registration
Ksh. 950 or $9
Once
Business Contact Information/Online Presence
Ksh.5000 or $45
Annual
Open Business bank account
Ksh. 1000 or $9
Once
Rent a Business space
From Ksh.5000 or $45
Monthly
Register with Regulatory bodies
From Ksh. 1000 or $9
Annually
Business Operation Permit
From Ksh.5000 or $45
Annual
Sign up for Tax Pin with KRA
Free
Annual Income Tax returns needed
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST
Ksh.18,400 or $166
A table showing estimated cost of starting a business in Kenya.
This is the basic cost of starting a business. Its important to note that it varies depending on individuals capability and location. For example, a business premise for rent in Nairobi central business district is different from the same size of business premise in the Nairobi outskirts.
With all these steps completed successfully, you are now a business owner. Congratulations!
Conclusion
As you can see, it doesn’t cost much to start a business in Kenya. This confirms that people don’t necessarily lack the capital they claim to need, but they lack the motivation to believe that they can startup a business with what they have today.
If you are still here, its means you are very serious in starting your business and running it the right manner . Keep up with the good spirit.
With all the above documents, you are all set to do business in the Kenyan market place. Often, entrepreneurs fail because they look for businesses in the wrong markets. Be very deliberate on who your target market.
At your early stages, commit yourself to do one task a day and in the end, you will find out that you have cumulatively achieved more.
Did I miss out on anything that one requires in order to start a business in Kenya? Please let me know in the comments section below here.
If you need help with video production services, you can enquire and request quote for free here.
In this blogpost, I will share my top tips to guiding newbie clients wanting to hire you online for the first time and are new to the skill they want to hire you for.
This guide is ideal for both freelancers and entrepreneurs who own and run their businesses online. Here is what you need to understand when a prospect contacts you for the first time.
By the time the prospect reaches out to you, they have done their own research and are in the process of evaluation. They believe you have the skills they need for their project. On the other hand, they are ready to give your services a try, hoping for the best. This means that you have all the power to make it happen.
Act like the authority the prospect expects. Listen to what they want accomplished. Most clients are very clear on what they want by the time they reach out to you. Listening is very important. This way, you will be able to collect all the necessary information to help you guide them on how to go about it and achieve the desired results.
Ask Them Relevant Questions
If on listening to them you don’t clearly understand their needs, ask them relevant questions.
Wrong question : I don’t understand you well. Please explain more..
Right Question:What do you aim to achieve with this video project (if it was a video)? You can explain more and tell them why its important to align the end goal to their requirements. Mention this is important to you as a creator. E.g Say it will help me fine tune the script well for the video.
While asking questions, be specific. Ask the things you don’t understand. If there is information you need them to provide in order for you to complete the project, mention it.
Don’t assume the client knows what you will need. Before proceeding to discuss the budget, be clear on the requirements. List them down and have the prospect confirm what they will provide. In video production for example, script, voice over, sub tittles, video editing, video assets are the key requirements. The client might be ready to provide some of them. Prioritize this and let it come before budget so that everyone knows what they will be required to provide.
Budget Matters
Prospects differ. There are those who have a fixed budget for the project, and there are those who are dependent on you to give them a quote.
In an occasion where the client is working on a fixed budget, match it with their requirements and see if their allocation is enough for the project. e.g If their budget is $500 and the cost of production is within the $500 budget, confirm to the that the allocation is enough. If the project costs is more than their budget, give them an alternative quotation with a breakdown to show them why it will cost them more.
If they insist on you working within their budget, outline to them what they will lose in the process. e.g They will get the project completed in 15 days as opposed to 7 days.
Having them to willingly commit and award you the contract is end goal of all this process. Play your part well and let them make that decision themselves without you pushing them to do so. If you are able to walk them well all through to the budget stage, you are good. They like you. Give them time to do their evaluation before they commit.
Conclusion
Walking a client through your workflow process is best way to market your business or skills. Be professional and do it well. Don’t underestimate a prospect. Most of those prospects you think they are not good enough may in turn be the best clients you ever met.
I hope this blogpost was helpful to you.
Do you think its worth guiding a new prospect on your workflow process? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you need professional screencast video services, you can request a free quote here.
In the past few months, I have found 5 new features I love on Camtasia 2021 software which I would like to share it with you today. This is based on my experience recording and editing screencast videos and my vlogs. At the end of this blog post, I will share my favorite feature that is available in all versions of Camtasia studio that I discovered 5 years ago.
Get Started Screen
The new get started screen is noticeable. It looks modern and sleek. The webinars, video tutorials and academy has been put together under one menu item called learning. Also, help link was not there in the earlier versions. While this is a good thing, I feel people will rarely use this link unless Camtasia program crashes😒 which rarely happens.
Camtasia 2021 Get Started Screen
Overall, I love the get started screen. It always reminds me that I am using the latest version of the software😁.
Camtasia Recorder
There are two things I love about the Camtasia 2021 recorder. The first one is the new interface. It looks different. All the important controls are now modified and larger than before. By sliding on the respective buttons on each feature, I can choose what to record and what not to. For instance, by sliding the system audio button to the right, I chose to record system audio. Sliding it to the left, I turn it off.
Camtasia 2021 Screen Recorder
The second thing I love about Camtasia 2021 recorder is not having to minimize the recorder while recording. This is unless its blocking the buttons I am suppose to click when recording the screens. Otherwise, by default, the recorder will not appear on your screen recordings like it used to in the previous versions. So you don’t have to worry about it. Its worth pointing out that you can enable and disable in under options menu.
Software Stability When Editing
With the latest windows update on August, I now experience more stability when editing video footage and screen recordings with motion graphics and video transitions combined. The software used to buffer a lot when loading motion graphics and previewing transitions.
The second occasion was when editing mobile screen recordings. In the past, I had to export mobile screencast videos and re-imported them to the timeline in order to better match with the voice overs due to lagging.
The new Camtasia 2021 looks like it has solved this. The loading now is seamless. But I don’t know how others editors find it. It will be interesting to know. Share your experience in the comments sections below.
New Transitions
This cannot go without saying. More than 100 transitions are now available for you to explore and use in Camtasia Studio 2021. I have found a couple of them I love and repeatedly use them across my vlogs.
Camtasia 2021 Screen Recorder
It was designed to fit to all occasions depending on the video that you are working on. That’s why it’s worth trying Camtasia 2021 today.
New Feature I Find Not Useful
At this point I still find emphasize audio feature not any useful to me at all. This makes it my less favorite feature among the new features. I prefer to adjust audio points manually than use this feature. This is because I barely notice it’s impact when I apply it to my audios while editing videos on my timeline.
Camtasia 2021 Audio Effect
I have watched videos of people applying it and I am still not convinced🤐.
Do you find the Emphasize audio feature useful in your day to day edits? Let me know in the comments section below.
Custom Library
Finally my unto my favorite feature, custom library. This was there in the previous versions and with each update, it gets even better. It gives a sense of ownership.
Custom Library in Camtasia 2021
Each time I edit a video, I add one new template so that I don’t have to recreate motion graphic screens and transitions each time I produce a video. To do this, I group animated designs on my timeline and save it in the library under a name that I chose and a specific folder based on the project I am working on.
Next time I want the template, I will only drag it and drop it on top of the video I am editing.
This saves me a lot of time. You can modify a template as you go to suite your new requirements at hand and save it under a different name.
Remember you can download the latest version of Camtasia 2021 using the link here. Its free to try.
If you are a vlogger and is looking for a video editing software that is easiest to learn; then I recommend Camtasia 2021. It’s easy to learn using it.
The interface is clean and most settings are straight forward when it comes to customization.
Finally, if you need help to create and produce professional screencast video tutorials for your software, website or app, you can request a free quote here.
Was this article helpful to you? Let me know in the comments below.
