Work Load balance

[Neilg]

We're priced significantly higher than most - some clients dont get it and complain that they can get the work done for 1/10th the price or even less elsewhere. so be it, if thats what they want. Doesnt stop us being fully booked for months at a time.

[glorybound]

It is a capitalist market, so we can charge what we get, I suppose.

[Morbid Angel]

It is a capitalist market, so we can charge what we get, I suppose.

Its an unfortunate reality. If you wish to scale up, if you wish to become more then just one artist, you will be forced to charge more as your expenses will go up exponentially. I've seen this too many times to count, where a boutique shop stays the same small size and is successful, then they change and scale up grow really big, and then collapse because they can't sustain that volume.

[glorybound]

You described exactly why I wouldn't be excited about expanding. There are some successful studios out there that have been doing it for a long time, so some do make it.

[Morbid Angel]

..who does not risk does not drink the champagne

[glorybound]

Yep! No risk no reward. I watched a good documentary on Donald Trump. The guy bet the barn, many times.

[lukx]

Bobby maybe you should think about writing ebook or something about marketing and sell it. For sure you're doing something right that you got so much work which is quite spectacular for most of us in times when I got emails from China and India offering 3d for 50$, which is very hard to compete with.

[Pixelcon]

We turn down tons of jobs. Better to be quiet than end up overworked and having to make compromises. Just say 'sorry, i'm booked'
If you're finding yourself continuously booked months out at a time then you need to raise your prices.

Couldn't agree more.

[joconnell]

Yep! No risk no reward. I watched a good documentary on Donald Trump. The guy bet the barn, many times.

The difference is past a certain point, you can just walk away from your debts - he was and is in the too big to fail category, hes got insulation from the financial system, that we don't

On the work front, a guy I know who swaps between 3d and training work has a certain amount of money he needs to make each year to cover everything, beyond that point he's got a choice of turning things down as he sees fit or taking the work as a bonus. He takes all of august off too so pretty much everything is geared towards fulfilling those two criteria. He worked as a manager of a large 300+ staff supermarket before so his business sense is probably far higher than most 3d artists!

[squintnic]

bite the bullet and hire someone to help you

[rivoli]

The guy bet the barn, many times.

the guy, or better, some of his companies, went bankrupt more than once. terrific, beautiful bankruptcies. but I'm afraid one would be more than enough for any of us.

[glorybound]

I knew a very successful building, or I guess house flipper. Basically, he had his whole family working for him and filed bankrupt, one after another. Each time they would just change the name slightly and the next family member would start up again in their name. Again, run up debt, file, and move to the next family member. Everyone was driving corvettes, living in luxury apartments, and flashing cash all over town. I think several are now in jail for tax evasion.

[joconnell]

The annoying thing is that the big guy is big enough to get away with that through contacts. If small individuals were able to do that, why wouldn't they? The authorities have to utterly hammer small individuals that try to get away with the same things as the big people - if the entire tax base was trying to avoid tax the world economy would collapse

[glorybound]

The middle class supports the country. The poor and rich get away without paying, but the problem is, the middle class is shrinking; a collapse is inevitable.

[andybot_cg]

- if the entire tax base was trying to avoid tax the *** economy would collapse

cough, cough, Greek cough