My dvd business came about when I was at a crossroads in my business life. I’d spent 17 years running a successful small chain of Pet and Fishing Tackle shops and it was time to either reinvigorate myself and the business or let it go. I had the chance to sell, so I did.
Previous to my Pet shops I’d worked in retail and when I set up that business I chose Pets as they were a big part of my life. I had several and enjoyed working and training dogs, being the chairman of the local dog training club. It seemed natural to take my hobby further. So, on finishing with Pets, what was next?
Well a 6 month holiday for starters, working 6+ days a week for years on end, I felt I deserved a break!!
Then I looked at my options. Filming my family and holidays was always very enjoyable and a few people had asked me to film their wedding for them, as they knew I had an interest, so moving into video seemed natural – you go where your talent takes you.
The business side of things came easily to me, but video, when you start getting into it deeply was difficult, so much to learn. I used sites like this to read and digest information. I used forums and spent plenty of time asking question after question in my quest for knowledge. Until all of a sudden I had an email from Microsoft asking if I’d like to become an MVP – Most Valuable Professional http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ - it was then I realised I’d moved from pupil to teacher, I’d moved from asking the questions to answering them.
My business went well, I videoed things like weddings and school plays etc. As my business grew, so did my clients. They needed ever larger numbers of dvds. It was at this point that my business moved slightly in its direction. I couldn’t find anyone who offered a reasonably priced dvd duplication service for those people like me, who only wanted maybe 20 or so discs doing. So I bought some dvd duplication and printing equipment and set about doing it for myself.
Word started to get around and I ended up getting more work for my reasonably priced small run duplication service than for my videoing skills. I bought more and better equipment to service my clients’ needs and now these clients range from members of the general public who want a few discs copied or a vhs/cine film converted to dvd to clients who work with large multinational companies and for whom I supply thousands of discs. Being based in the UK, I have even had clients from the USA and Canada, ex-pats who had PAL videos they needed converting to NTSC to watch in their new homes.
Working for yourself is never easy, always long hours and hard work, but its rewarding knowing that you are doing it for yourself, and good fun, because you work with something you enjoy.