216: How to Define Success in Your Business w/ Evan Bourcier

There’s a lot of excitement for video freelancers when they start out. But often after a point, they realize that things aren’t going as planned. In order to stay in business, you have to be adaptable and clear on your mission. Today’s guest shares lessons learned from recent pivots and how you can keep your business running during tough times.

Key Takeaways

Basing your success on how others see it will set you up for disappointment. Build your work around what it is that you want out of your business, not what other people think is important.

It’s good to have goals, but focusing on sustainability is what will allow you to reach them. Focus on what you need to do to grow your skill sets and create systems to allow your business to survive for the long haul.

Learning about strategies for business success will help set you apart from the competition more than your gear or shooting techniques will. By presenting yourself as someone who will help your clients’ business succeed will make you more desirable than anything else.

About Evan Bourcier

Evan Bourcier is from northwestern Connecticut and has worked as a director, DP, and photographer for the last nine years. During COVID he pivoted away from DPing commercial jobs and leaned into direct to client relationships as a creative director and producer.

Resetting Your Business With a Clear Plan

Like many entrepreneurs in this line of work, Evan made some drastic shifts in what he does. He describes how he went “too far too fast” at the start. Since resetting, he has developed a clearer plan for his business and established a healthier work-life balance. These changes were only accelerated with COVID. Evan recounts how his calendar went from packed solid to empty in an instant and how he took this as an opportunity to further adapt.

Being Adaptable to Find Truly Joyful Work

More than anything, Evan learned that it takes time to get good at what you do. The short-cuts to success that many online personalities peddle are not going to get you there. Evan discusses the importance of process and consistency, as well as adaptability, in achieving sustainability and success.

We also talk about finding work that you actually enjoy doing. Sure, there’s a lot of prestige that comes with making an ad for a big brand. But often, that work is frustrating as the visions and needs of too many other people collide. Evan gives some great advice on how to identify who you really want to work with and the type of video you can make for them.

How has your vision for your business changed since the start? What type of work do you find the most joy and fulfillment in? Tell me in the comments on the episode page!

In This Episode:

When it’s time to reset how you run your business [5:20]
What to consider when success feels like a failure [11:13]
Why consistency and process is more important than goals [20:40]
Finding work that’s actually fun versus work that just sounds fun [29:00]
Shifting your requirements to find more enjoyable and diverse work [34:30]

Quotes

“I’ve worked with so many agencies that don’t seem to understand basic creative and just hand production companies stuff that doesn’t make any sense and you’re trying to fix it on the day. So I’d rather be ahead of that point on the curve and have that relationship with the client.” [10:07]

“You’re not going to go to the Olympics in four years in any sport. So to think that you’re going to be Nike’s go-to production company three years after you get your first DSLR is just stupid. And it’s just stupid that people on Facebook are going to sell you on how to do that.” [25:10]

“Do your homework on the ‘boring stuff’ because there are even a lot of big agencies that aren’t good at that. You’d be surprised how many big conversations you can win just by knowing your stuff.” [38:23]

Links:

The 5 Day Grow Your Video Business Challenge

Core

Storyblocks

Find Evan Bourcier online

Follow Evan on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

StoryBrand

BRAND is a Four Letter Word by Austin McGhie

Additional Links:

Check out the full show notes page