A Change of Direction

As of writing this post, it has been around 3 months since I set off down the road of self-employment and started my own video production company, TotallyMedia. Looking back, I am already beginning to see the progression I have made within this time as a business and as an individual. However, it could be argued that a significant amount of development that has been made was actually the result of one pivotal decision that drastically reshaped the face of the company.

The concept of ‘TotallyMedia’ can be traced all the way back to 2011. At the age of 14, I enjoyed recording and editing home videos on my laptop and would pretend that I was running my own television studio titled Totally Random Productions. Eventually in 2013, having set up my own YouTube channel, TotallyTVUK (for whatever reason, the channel name ‘Totally Random Productions’ was unavailable), I was able to explore the possibilities of publishing and sharing my content online. For the next 3 years, I attempted to continue the ‘Totally’ brand with a YouTube series called The Totally Random Show, and a student radio programme, The TotallyRadio Show. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that TotallyMedia was established, acting as a portfolio website for all of my video/radio projects.

A screenshot of the editing timeline for an episode of The TotallyRadio Show from April 2016

With TotallyMedia up and running, I knew it would be difficult to make the move from a portfolio website to a fully-functioning business and, for the first few months of my self-employed placement, I didn’t really know how to. It was bothering me that the company’s definition really didn’t make much sense. It was unfocused, unclear and didn’t reflect the sort of business I wanted to run.

Original definition:

“...a group of digital entertainment platforms featuring a variety of content including video uploads, radio shows and social media activity.”

From this definition, it is obvious that there was no direction and I was just trying to combine everything I had done previously. Despite not having a solution, I knew something had to change.

The original 'services' that TotallyMedia was divded into - videos, radio shows and social media

Meanwhile, around a month ago, I attended a workshop in Portsmouth, hosted by nest, allowing self-employed placement students to meet up and discuss their businesses, as well as talk to those who had just finished their placement. During a conversation with one of the founders of Polar Digital, I explained that I intended to provide video production services for a wide variety of clients over the course of the year:

“So I have a better chance of securing clients, I don’t really want to specialise in a certain area.”

I didn’t realise it at the time but, his response (while unexpected) would be extremely useful in helping me to redefine my business:

“Actually, I would say to do the opposite of that. I’d start by finding your niche and using your knowledge to provide a unique service.”

At last, I understood what I needed to do. For the past year, I had been working with two clients on short promotional content who were both based within basketball. This wasn’t a coincidence. At the time, I chose to manage their projects because not only did I have the necessary skills in video production, I also had an extensive understanding of the game of basketball. Therefore, without even realising it, it seemed I had already found my niche.

I left the workshop with a completely different mindset and was finally able to fix the problems with my company’s identity. Of course, this new direction meant removing nearly all of the original content (including TotallyTVUK, TotallyRadio and TotallyTalk) from the website. However, this was definitely a step forward in re-establishing TotallyMedia.

New definition:

“...a video production company specialising in sports media, specifically basketball. Our services aim to produce creative, entertaining and professional promotional content for players, teams or clubs.”

Examples of my most recent work since making the change

In conclusion, this may have been one of the biggest and most important lessons from my placement year so far. When starting a business, it is important to exploit what you are good at and what/who you know and, I'm sure there will be instances in the future in which the direction of the company is reconsidered to ensure that it can be effective and successful.