7 Mistakes To Avoid When You Start A Business (12 mins)

Thinking of making the jump from freelancer to starting your own agency? Want to avoid some of the hidden pitfalls? Chris talks to Tim Brown, owner of Hook Agency, about some of the mistakes that Tim made while making the transition from hired gun to CEO. The broader conversation was much more in depth, but we've extracted the main points in a condensed version for this video.

Hook Agency

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Host: Chris Do
Content Director: Matthew Encina
Producer: Mark Contreras
Cinematographers/Editors: Stewart Schuster, Ricky Lucas, Jona Garcia
Social Team: Elle Money, Alex Burlui
Typefaces: Futura, DIN, Helvetica Now, Calibre, Knockout, Champion Gothic

[TheToneWork]

"Too busy for marketing" (Raises hand)

[davidmcdonnel]

Mistake #1(0:32) : Quitting your day job too quickly. (He was lacking systems and habits for client acquisition.)
Mistake #2 (1:57): Pricing based on time and not deliverables. (He felt dishonest and hated tracking time.)
Mistake #3 (3:25): Not filtering clients. (Ensure you can exceed client expectations.)
Mistake #4 (4:44): Being too busy for marketing. (Not having multiple avenues for client acquisition is a big risk.)
Mistake #5 (5:56): Not prioritizing significance/meaning. (Giving employees and yourself work that has a purpose. Reframing your perception of the value you provide to be a positive.)
Mistake #6 (7:31): Being the lynchpin. (Your company relies too much on you for key functions. Eliminate > Automate > Delegate - Tim Ferris paraphrase)
Mistake #7 (9:17): Limiting avenues for new business. (Diversify your revenue/clients: change up offerings, strategic partnerships, referrals, content collaboration, inbound and outbound marketing.)

[JournalingWithNadia]

Great talk, my main takeaway here is seeing how important it is to have great systems in place

[MrJoystickid]

Lost my job in June due to covid so didn't have the luxury of easing myself into starting my own business/studio. I'm 7 months down the line now and I couldn't be happier, I could be earning more but I'm doing alright in what is becoming the worst economic climate in our lifetimes so I not being too hard on myself either.

My advice would be to just do it or you probably never will.

[MatteoBadini]

Great video, loved it! One of my goals for this year is to transform my presence online following my passions rather than my normal work, your videos are really giving me some great tips to achieve that

[MarkSavant]

I disagree that you shouldn't take on a client if you're not sure you can meet their expecation. Don't doubt yourself! I do agree that you MUST set an expectation up front. But I think this takes some time and experience to set great expectations. Another banger Chris.

[daarii]

There’s so much value in your videos! Thanks’ a lot, keep going!)))

[lucretia_macevil]

Definitely needed to hear this today! Solid video

[rahulbhogal]

I totally agree and resonate with the valued based pricing. I’ve experimented with it as well, and while I still need to learn the art of valued based pricing and how to properly implement it, I find that a lot of the times its made a much smoother transaction with closing a deal when speaking about pricing deliverables.

[MDC.Design.Motion]

Tim's dropping some hot knowledge here. Great talk!

[shamanicchronicles]

Thank you for all the work you do! All of your content has really helped me!

[plemongrass]

Im not even in the designbusiness 😅...and yet, its the only channel allowed in my notifications and makes me go YAY when theres a new upload lol. By far my FAV channel...

Thanks SO much you all for continuously creating and sharing valuable and inspirational content <3

[vs]

Great insight thank you! I need to watch it again.. :-)

[rustindigital]

This is precisely some of the issues I have right now- so hearing the solutions (which I guess I intuitively know but fail to implement) is really good! Another great video @TheFutur.

[FilipeMeunier]

I watched this twice and got notes. This guy says valuable things.

[raisingkings]

Improving client relationships is critical to business development. Learning many things managing my business and improving the culture of how I offer the products and services.

[rahulbhogal]

Another aspect I can relate to is that right now, everything is entered around my talent, and yes I am VERY tired. This needs to change, and its nice to hear him say this.

[gichukimwai]

Listening to this was soo real on me, especially the marketing mistake actually everything that is me, a wakeup call for . thank you THE FUTUR for this.

[Pmauriat]

Excellent video. Thanks a lot for your time and effort in producing this content

[rosemaryfengchannel]

Yes He mentioned a few things that I'm worried about😊 Thank you for great videos!