As far as my life goes, I have been rather blessed. There wasn’t too much struggle for me in situations which are commonplace for people to encounter difficulty in – academia, army, family etc.

The latest blessing has to be my new career as a partner with this studio.

The opportunity to start a business, any business, does not come by easy in life. Yes, there can be many ideas but starting a business is more than an idea. It is also about capital, about the right people, about talent, about timing and about sacrifices. Only when all these align, exist an opportunity.

And I got the opportunity. To put things in context, my involvement with the studio wasn’t like the rest. Unlike them, I wasn’t there from the very start. I wasn’t with them when they were raising the capital. I wasn’t with them when Yan Zhao quit his lucrative job as a management trainee with an MNC. I wasn’t with them when they work out of a “basement” and an “attic” and I wasn’t with them when they started the company’s bank account. I was in my own career dilemma and couldn’t make a decision on what to pursue.

Traditionally, starting a business was the difficult route for many people. But in my case, my alternative career choice as a freelance photojournalist was the harder route. I was very skeptical of taking the easier route (of joining the studio) because I did not want to regret being a coward. But I considered the opportunity and decided that I will never be able to start a business with friends in something related to what I like to do again. So I took the plunge and made the (oxymoronically) harder decision to take the “easier” route.

And at this one-year mark, I feel more at peace than ever.

So what made it seemed so worthwhile?

The most important factor has to be the partners. We are in general a very sensible lot and I say this very matter-of-factly without a boastful intention. Because of this sensibility, we are never personal in our arguments and disagreements (come on, show me a company where directors always make unanimous decisions). With this, we spend less time on management aspects and politicking and channel more of our energy into our professional output. There is definitely camaraderie and I bet we know a lot more about one another (to the point where we can size up an individual’s mood the moment he/she enters the office) than we dare to admit. This seems to be a trivial advantage for a media production outfit but you have no idea how much this camaraderie is being translated into efficiency when we are out there on a shoot.

The second is the support. Working in a creative industry is never just about being creative. That is probably only 30% of the job. Business management, finance and bookkeeping, employment issues, client and sales, marketing, negotiation and tender drafting, pricing matters, meetings, meetings and meetings – all these take up the rest of the time. I am thankful for Alex and Yan Zhao who hold the fort in these aspects even as I learn more.

My only wish is that by saying what I have said above, I don’t curse us. Because there is nothing more important, not even growing the business, than sustaining this friendship that we now have.

So what are some lessons I have learnt in the course of 2010?

1) Mistakes made are opportunities to grow. It is bullshit to be flawless. God knows how many mistakes we make starting and managing this business. We have made wrong decisions, taken on wrong jobs, said the wrong words, used the wrong equipment, chose the wrong lenses, plugged the wrong ports, bought the wrong furniture, used the wrong services and read the wrong meanings in conversations. But so what? We learn, don’t we? As long we don’t make the same mistake twice.

2) Nothing is more important than to just try. We have surprised ourselves, more than I can remember, getting jobs of which we wrote our own chances off getting after submitting a bid.

3) It is extremely important to work within a brief set of guidelines or philosophy. Some jobs are simply not worth doing, for a variety of reasons ranging from creative stifling to unreasonable client requests. Running a sustainable business is like being a man, we got to do it with dignity. We can lose money but we cannot lose ourselves. Just a few days ago, I was talking to a well-regarded managing director in the printing business, who told me that businesses that go up and down are run by greed, not people. Unless we are prepared to go through that kind of anxiety, we need to know at which point to say “no”. This is the only way to achieve work satisfaction.

4) Not every job is about price. There are many parts that make up an engagement. Just because a client has a smaller budget doesn’t mean we can’t be flexible. However, clients who demand for everything and yet request for cheap quotes fall into the unreasonable basket.

5) Which leads on to this point. Client education is very important. The only way for the community/industry to gain respect and thrive is to let our clients understand how we work and what goes into our creative process and output. Do not assume that other people know our methods and procedures and do not assume that they don’t care. We have encountered clients who were so demanding at the start of a project that we predicted a tough time. But they turned out to be the most understanding during production and post-production and were willing to adjust their expectations to a realistic level.

6) Running a business and being creative have to go hand in hand but one shouldn’t inform the other. Shooting with only monetary motives in mind results in bland work that is easily discernable, no matter how well dressed your artistic statement or your project pitch might sound. Similarly, the most creative output not managed properly results in under-valued work, a situation that will only return to haunt. The most valuable assets we have at our disposal are neither camera equipment nor fancy editing suites. They are quality output and reputation, both of which require strategy and time to construct.

7) Always attempt to do projects that are not commissioned or motivated by any awards. Stripping it bare of these factors make the motivation to complete it purely personal = most sincere and effortful piece of work. More than anything, it is creative nourishment.

8 ) Running without a plan translates to a sense of emptiness at work because there is no sense of direction and no purposeful goal to meet. We make it a point to take breaks from work to reflect and plan, both as a business collective and as individuals. It is too easy to get sucked up in all that jobs after jobs after jobs that we lose direction. I know this last point is a bit ironic because we have failed twice in our attempts to do company retreats this year. So here’s to a better 2011 retreat!

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