The job you couldn't miss until something better came along EP#405

If you run a video production business and find yourself saying "I have to be there" about almost every job, this episode is for you. 

Den Lennie tells the story of a video production client who was exhibiting at a major trade show and was adamant he had to leave for a couple of hours on the first day to babysit an important client. 

When Den checked in later, it turned out the client work had been covered by someone else, because a bigger opportunity had come along. 

The episode unpacks why so many videographers, freelancers, and video business owners confuse indispensability with importance, and offers a simple coaching framework for testing whether you're actually as essential as you think. 

Useful listening for any videographer making the shift from operator to business owner.

Mentoring options : www.denlennie.com

Connect with Den on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/den_lennie

Transcript

 G'day, guys. Episode 405 of the Scale Your Video Business podcast with me, Den Lennie. Today, I'm gonna share a story that I think everyone will relate to. Uh, recently, I had a client who decided to exhibit at a big trade show, and, um, they were doing it as a contra deal with a view that they would get exposure to the audience that was in the room. And I fully supported that. I thought it was a great idea because there were, like, 700 businesses in the room and, and big players. And instead... i-in return, they would shoot some, um, content for the organizer, which ultimately ended up being, uh, speaking to all the exhibitors, which is even better. But what was fascinating was, uh, it's a husband-and-wife team, and the chap said, "Oh, I have to pop out for a couple of hours on the first day because I've got a, um, a really important client that I need to go and babysit." And I pushed back a little bit, but I was assured this was a really important job. And I said, "Okay, fair enough," you know. It's worth maintaining those relationships. Um, now I checked in with his wife at the event and said, "Oh, how did it go with that job?" And she went, "Well, he didn't do it. We had to get someone else to cover because another really important client came along, and we decided that he should be with them instead in a different location altogether." So what I pushed back on immediately was, was what happened to him having to be at the first client shoot that was such a non-negotiable until it wasn't. And so this is a great example, I think, of a, a situation I think we've all found ourself in at one time or another. So the questions I gonna-- I'm gonna ask this person about this would be along the lines of: What was it about the first engagement that made you so certain you had to be there? And what changed when the bigger client called? And here's the spoiler, right? Nothing changed about the first client. Something changed about him This isn't one guy at one trade show. This is actually most of us, most of the time. You see, freelancer to business owner migration has a specific failure mode. You keep operating like you're still the talent. The belief is that I have to be on this job, and it's almost never about the job. It's about your identity. It's about how you've defined your value, about what happens to your sense of self if the work happens without you. And there's some key lessons that I wanted to share with you today because I think it's important. Indispensability is a feeling, not a fact. I've seen this many times in my own career. When I first had to hire a DP, even though I could do it, I felt like I was letting go of something. But I couldn't be a producer and a DP and do both well. So you can test this instantly with one question. If you've committed to being on a project because you've decided that maybe the client's a bit difficult or they're tricky, and if you're not there, something might go wrong, what would happen if your wife was suddenly taken to hospital with liver failure? Would you still be doing that job, or would you be with your wife or husband or partner at the hospital? The answer is probably at the hospital. But similarly, if a bigger client called right now, would you find cover for the first project? And if the answer is yes, then cover was always available. You just hadn't given yourself permission to look for it So where does this show up in your life? Maybe you've got a trade show, an event that you have to attend. Shoots where you have to be on camera, directing, or just there on set. Edits you have to review personally. Client meetings where you have to be in the room. Training, conferences, masterminds you skip because I can't leave the business. The pattern is always the same. The constraint dissolves the moment something more compelling appears. And here's why this matters for the scale journey. In operator stage, you think you're indispensable, and you think it's a virtue. You think that actually I'm there, the client sees me, therefore the client's getting value. When you migrat-migrate to the juggler stage, you start feeling its cost, but you can't see an alternative. Oh, I'm gonna have to hire someone else. It might cost me more money, but, you know, I don't wanna spend the money, so I'll stay where I am. Now, what's interesting, at stabilizer stage, that person realizes the business has been organized around your presence by accident and not by design. And that's because that's how you get there. You get there by being on every job until you can withdraw yourself from that and give the client the confidence that the project can happen regardless of if you're there or not. And then we move into the, the more advanced stages of growth, where you become a, a stabilizer, where That's where the real growth requires you to engineer your own redundancy deliberately. So the most important thing here is how you reframe this. You've got to stop asking yourself, "Can I leave?" And instead start asking, "What would have to be true for me to leave?" Or another way to think about this is, what would have to be in place for the client to feel safe and secure, and for me to be able to do something else? Because that is the absolute key to expanding your business, when you can generate income and revenue without you physically being there. Because until you can't, you're operating like a freelancer, and you, you will always be trapped by your need to be there. And then build on that. Do it slowly. Do it deliberately. Do it on your timeline. Nothing has to be a crisis. The cl- the trade show client did it under pressure for a better client. You can do it on purpose for your own growth. So one question to sit with this week is where in your business right now are you behaving as if you're indispensable? And what would it really take to test whether or not that's actually true? G'day, guys. Episode 405 of the Scale Your Video Business podcast with me, Dan Lenney. Today, I'm gonna share a story that I think everyone will relate to. Uh, recently, I had a client who decided to exhibit at a big trade show, and, um, they were doing it as a contra deal with a view that they would get exposure to the audience that was in the room. And I fully supported that. I thought it was a great idea because there were, like, 700 businesses in the room and, and big players. And instead, in, in return, they would shoot some, um, content for the organizer, which ultimately ended up being, uh, speaking to all the exhibitors, which is even better. But what was fascinating was, uh, it's a husband-and-wife team, and the chap said, "Oh, I have to pop out for a couple of hours on the first day because I've got a, um, a really important client that I need to go and babysit." And I pushed back a little bit, but I was assured this was a really important job. And I said, "Okay, fair enough," you know. It's worth maintaining those relationships. Um, now I checked in with his wife at the event and said, "Oh, how did it go with that job?" And she went, "Well, he didn't do it. We had to get someone else to cover because another really important client came along, and we decided that he should be with them instead in a different location altogether." So what I pushed back on immediately was, was what happened to him having to be at the first client shoot that was such a non-negotiable until it wasn't? And so this is a great example, I think, of a, a situation I think we've all found ourself in at one time or another. So the questions I gonna, I'm gonna ask this person about this would be along the lines of, what was it about the first engagement that made you so certain you had to be there? And what changed when the bigger client called? And here's the spoiler, right? Nothing changed about the first client. Something changed about him This isn't one guy at one trade show. This is actually most of us, most of the time. You see, freelancer to business owner migration has a specific failure mode. You keep operating like you're still the talent. The belief is that I have to be on this job, and it's almost never about the job. It's about your identity. It's about how you've defined your value, about what happens to your sense of self if the work happens without you. And there's some key lessons that I wanted to share with you today because I think it's important. Indispensability is a feeling, not a fact. I've seen this many times in my own career. When I first had to hire a DP, even though I could do it, I felt like I was letting go of something. But I couldn't be a producer and a DP and do both well. So you can test this instantly with one question. If you've committed to being on a project because you've decided that maybe the client's a bit difficult or they're tricky, and if you're not there, something might go wrong, what would happen if your wife was suddenly taken to hospital with liver failure? Would you still be doing that job, or would you be with your wife or husband or partner at the hospital? The answer is probably at the hospital. But similarly, if a bigger client called right now, would you find cover for the first project? And if the answer is yes, then cover was always available. You just hadn't given yourself permission to look for it So where does this show up in your life? Maybe you've got a trade show, an event that you have to attend. Shoots where you have to be on camera, directing, or just there on set. Edits you have to review personally. Client meetings where you have to be in the room. Training, conferences, masterminds you skip because I can't leave the business. The pattern is always the same. The constraint dissolves the moment something more compelling appears. And here's why this matters for the scale journey. In operator stage, you think you're indispensable, and you think it's a virtue. You think that actually I'm there, the client sees me, therefore the client's getting value. When you migrat- migrate to the juggler stage, you start feeling its cost, but you can't see an alternative. "Oh, I'm gonna have to hire someone else. It might cost me more money, but, you know, I don't wanna spend the money, so I'll stay where I am." Now, what's interesting, at stabilizer stage, that person realizes the business has been organized around your presence by accident and not by design. And that's because that's how you get there. You get there by being on every job until you can withdraw yourself from that and give the client the confidence that the project can happen regardless of if you're there or not. And then we move into the, the more advanced stages of growth, where you become a, a stabilizer, where That's where the real growth requires you to engineer your own redundancy deliberately. So the most important thing here is how you reframe this. You've got to stop asking yourself, "Can I leave?" And instead start asking, "What would have to be true for me to leave?" Or another way to think about this is what would have to be in place for the client to feel safe and secure, and for me to be able to do something else? Because that is the absolute key to expanding your business. When you can generate income and revenue without you physically being there. Because until you can't, you're operating like a freelancer and you, you will always be trapped by your need to be there. And then build on that. Do it slowly. Do it deliberately. Do it on your timeline. Nothing has to be a crisis. The cl- the trade show client did it under pressure for a better client. You can do it on purpose for your own growth. So one question to sit with this week is where in your business right now are you behaving as if you're indispensable? And what would it really take to test whether or not that's actually true?