Chris Blair
Forum Replies Created
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We’ve been in business for 12 years and we’ve gotten many loans, however, only recently have banks been willing to loan us money for equipment. The first 6-8 years in business, we had to use leasing companies to get equipment.
We did get a bank loan at startup, but it was for capital purposes only and the bank did check up and require us to document just about every thing we used the money for…so we couldn’t fudge and use it for equipment purposes.
The difference in a lease and loan is that the leasing company required a security deposit (typically 10% of the value of the lease) and you end up paying higher interest (ours was typicaly 10-12% compared to 6-8% on the bank loan). Other than that they work pretty much the same. Our leases were structured so that at the end of the lease term, we had a $1 buyout. You also got your deposit back at the end of the lease term…although we typically requested it be applied to payments during the final year and the lease companies always agreed and did so.
Naturally a bank loan is a better deal with no deposit required and lower interest, but they also require a LOT more paperwork, better credit and a lot more security to back up the loan.
When we got our first loan, we had a full business plan, 3 other investors in the business (totaled about $27,500), another $7,500 in startup from 3 principals, a lease agreement for roughly $110,000 worth of equipment, and about half-a-dozen letters from potential clients stating they were ready to use us for services as soon as we were up and operating.
Only one bank in town was willing to give us a loan for startup even though we had all that in place…and the only reason they were willing is because one of the larger investors knew the guy that ran the business loan department.
So bottom line, you have to show the bank that you’re viable and will have business and revenue to pay back that loan. Another option is to back it up with your house, car etc. Taking out a second mortgage is an easy route to getting money, but you put your home at risk should something happen to your business.
Hope that helps.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
Wanted to update this thread. It’s been a month and in that time we eventually had to threaten to suspend work and withhold uploads of the client’s spots. Within a day we had a check for $50,000, and a week later a second check for $50,000. The Dir. of Advertising has promised to stay on top of this and get us paid weekly. The client is now current with billing although they have another $100,000 in billing coming to 30 days early next week.
We’re still doing work and incredibly, the last month was the highest billing month we’ve ever had with them despite this economy and their recent troubles.
Their business appears to have stabilized with no reports in the last 3 weeks of any additional store closings and no reports on franchise websites or blogs of any additional future closings.
Unfortunately, this has strained our relationship with their Dir. of Advertising, who is undoubtedly under tremendous pressure of her own without the added stress of our billing issues.
It has also damaged the enthusiasm people in our office have for the work they’re doing for the client. We still want to do good work, but we used to do ANYTHING to get this client’s work out the door and ensure it was well-done. That attitude has naturally cooled some after all this.
We’ve also recently gotten LOTS of questioning about piddly line items in our bills…like scriptwriting charges, which are typically 2-3% of total billing. Very odd indeed considering each spot goes through about 8-12 revisions (which include re-writes).
So we’ll “ride the pony” as long as it’s still kicking and see where it takes us. We’ve discussed internally dumping the client after the first of the year, but in this economy, we’re not sure this would be a good move. We’re seeing cutbacks in several of our other big clients so coupled with that, dropping our largest client might not be such a good idea, even if it did mean more sanity and joy in our lives!
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
This was over a decade ago when we were eager for business and would do just about any job and agree to just about anything clients wanted.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
So are there no other suggestions for getting a Decklink HD Extreme to work with Vegas? We’d love to give the software a serious look, but without being able to input/output SDI from our DVCPro50 decks…or being able to monitor to an NTSC monitor via SDI or component…we wouldn’t be able to use it.
I still can’t believe Blackmagic & Sony have promoted this since version 6, and with obviously “known” issues, they both STILL promote it now at version 8.
We’ve spent hours trying to get Vegas to recognize the Decklink without success. Could the fact that Premiere CS3 is installed have any bearing on whether Vegas works correctly? As I’ve posted, we’ve tried drivers going back into the 5.x.x numbers…all the way to the most current on the Blackmagic site. We’ve installed and uninstalled Vegas 7, Vegas 8 and made sure we have all the latest updates on it. We have WinXP 32 bit, updated to latest service packs. In fact, this is on an HPxw series workstation that is only a few months old, and runs perfectly in every other way.
Thanks
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
We’re using 6.6.4 drivers but we’ve tried the older ones too. Yes we have the decklink icon. We’ve tried every combination of settings we can think of. It works fine with Premiere with any driver version but we cannot get Vegas to recognize the Decklink. Have been through complete uninstalls/reinstalls (of Vegas and Decklink software etc.)
I’ve found scores of posts on other forums where people have the same problem…so it apparently is a pretty common issue. I just don’t understand why it works for some but not others. It makes no sense, and Blackmagic is clueless about it.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
Mark,
I almost fell out of my chair laughing at the “Hauling Oats” story. Wow…that’s a classic!
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
We’ve done a handful of informational kiosks and we got a lot of help from the Director forum as well. The ones we designed had touchscreens that would trigger video, informational graphics, animations etc. on a larger LCD or plasma display. In each, we basically built a wide presentation with the menu on one side and the display info (including videos) on the other.
What seemed really complex turned out to be pretty simple in terms of structure and design. We designed everything and produced the videos, but doing the programming was pretty complex so we hired out a freelancer for that.
But I bet there are some people on the Director site that have done stuff similar to what you’re asking.
Also…I just got back from a Disney vacation with my family and their theme parks have some of the most amazing kiosks, wall displays and interactive stuff I’ve ever seen. Wonder if the Disney folks frequent these forums?? Worth asking around.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
I think I’d find a new editor! Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-toh…it’s all semantics. But it’s still wrong.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
Funny responses. But the original question is pretty vague. Creating a brand strategy for any company can go from simple to very complex. It can depend on budget, goals, existing market position etc.
If it’s a new company, defining their market if probably the first thing to do. Who’s supposed to be buying the music? Where and how will it be distributed? What marketing vehicles does the target audience view, read, listen to?
Maybe even more important, what’s the culture of the company? Is it something that’s unique and valuable to the potential buyer? Is it worth promoting?
Man…you could go for days asking questions. I’d recommend finding a good book on branding. But I’d also caution you to avoid all the corporate “adspeak” advertising agencies spew. Keep it simple. Keep in focused. And for God’s sake…MAKE IT FUN. It’s music.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
Yeah but I wouldn’t do that to a client. The only reason I’d want ownwership is to insure we get paid and so that the client doesn’t take our ideas to another production company to emulate it for a cheaper rate.
We’ve actually had that happen. A regional ad agency had us shoot for several days for a client. Then had us design a graphics package and cut the initial spots for a TV campaign. They requested the raw foogage and said it was “standard practice.”
Being eager, stupid and naive, we gave it to them. A month later, they’re editing with a competitor that charges about half what we charge, copying our graphic look, After Effects comps, using our footage etc. It sucked. This competitor couldn’t have designed the look and feel of the spots in a hundred years, but here they were reaping the benefits of a long-term campaign based on our designs, photography and concepts. They went so far as to submit it for Addy Awards (which it won), and took credit for it!
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com