The beginning of 2023 was extremely dangerous because of the word "innovation". Unreal 3D compositing launched its first paid project, while documenting dance competitions opened the first outsourced work opportunity, which reduced the company's profits but opened a new window. As result, the company gained higher irreplaceability and created repeatable revenue for the first time.
The challenge for the company this year is how to unify three separate tasks into one.
Last year, the goal was to communicate more assertively in work. In March of this year, I successfully dismissed a proposal for music arrangement and rejected unreasonable changes to the video. More importantly, I rejected the client's baseless request to reduce the budget. This was a victory for BoxHill Studio and caused Bitcoin to rise by 2 percentage points. *kidding* Through reasonable communication and sincere dedication to work, the client understood that we were not cutting corners or being greedy. Instead, we proactively rejected promises that we could not fulfill within our current scope and refused to be emotionally blackmailed.
Is my team strong? Hell yeah, we're strong. The average client may think our pre-production to post-production capabilities are 6:4, but they completely misjudge my emergency room-level saving abilities in post-production. Frankly, the fee I used to charge for emergency assistance before I started my own business is almost equivalent to the current fee for producing an entire video. Although the masters I work with are also highly skilled, even if they had half the skills, I would still make it work. The miserable experiences from my early life have led to a higher tolerance for outsourcing work in my later years. However, this does not mean that I am denying the abilities of my outsourcing partner for this project. To be honest, I don't think he should have taken on my project given his skill level.
The second challenge for BoxHill Studio this year is rest.
I now fully understand that working hard is merely an external performance. True efficiency comes with complete rest, including physiological sleep and psychological relaxation. Without adjusting, working with an attitude of sacrificing one's life is just for show. That kind of effort is appropriate for dealing with emergencies, but as a regular part of work, it is not ideal. That mindset is better suited for a TV series.
Through a lot of trial and error and adjustments, I corrected the mistaken mentality I developed over the past decade that "nothing is difficult in the world, only those who do not have the determination". Effort is indeed effective for solving most bottlenecks, but putting all of one's energy into work without being able to step back and examine one's decisions and means of achieving goals from the perspective of an observer is counterproductive. Failing to adjust in a timely manner is equivalent to inefficiency. Instead of doing this, it's better to constantly check oneself, stop losses, and pivot.
In the spring of 2023, the outside is still as cold as winter, but BoxHill Studio welcomed the warmth of spring that it had not enjoyed since July of last year.