I have an amazing team of employees and sub-consultants. Truly, I am blessed to have so many amazing talents to work with and alongside.
My graphic designer is so used to hearing me say “hey I have this idea, do you think you can do it?” and nearly always responds with saying YES.
My website designer is far from the least expensive; but has worked with me so successfully to help me develop and build a website that exceeds my expectations and achieves my goals.
My videographer is very timely, hard working and creative. He has a great way of helping to shape my visions into reality.
My production manager is absolutely invaluable. From securing location permits, to assisting me to redefine workflows she has helped me nearly double my business.
My assistant has working alongside me for about seven years and his increased support and creative visions are such an important part of our planning processes.
So yes, I have an outstanding team. And as you can imagine, I pay a fair rate for their support and fantastic services. Sometimes when the conversation comes up of what I spend on my team or my subconsultants (or if I’m working on a collaborative project with a few other people) I will hear some of the following comments or questions:
– Why don’t you just use this other videographer who is willing to cut you a better deal?
– My cousin is a web person and would be willing to help us out.
– There is this other person who wants to build their portfolio so is willing to work for free or trade.
When I hear that, I cannot help but to this back to when…
– I had a videographer I worked alongside for awhile, but after years never saw a single video.
– A friend who was a web and graphic designer who would sometimes have time to help me meet my deadlines
– A subconsultant on a trade basis who doesn’t really care about the deadlines that I have, or is not shy about having to cancel or pull out last minute.
Now I am not going to be audacious and state that all trade services are this way. Nor am I going to say that the more you end up spending, the better. I think this works on a bell curve and you just need to find your sweet spot with your budget and the services you get for it.
There are three strong benefits to hiring someone:
1) Accountability. When I hire someone, they are accountable to provide the services that they are being paid for. There is an agreement. A conversation. An understanding of what is expected for the price.
2) What you get is what you pay for. As I mentioned above, I am not an advocate that spending more is always better. But understand that service providers price themselves at what they feel they are worth.
3) Lastly, and most importantly – when you invest, you become invested. Something truly shifts in one’s mentality and in how they approach their business and their brand when they invest into what they are doing.
These are they reasons I have such a great team and my business is all the better because of it.
James Patrick
jamesmpatrick.com
