Case study · 11 months
A six-person company stopped losing money on events.
Not by shooting differently. By finding out, for the first time, what an event day actually cost them — and re-quoting from the real number.
The company
- Size
- 6 staff, 20 freelancers
- Work
- Events, corporate, branded
- Volume
- ~90 productions a year
- On Slatebook
- 11 months
EVENT MARGIN
48%FROM 31%
Same clients, re-quoted
QUOTE ACCURACY
±7%FROM ±26%
Against final cost
ADMIN PER WEEK
4 hrsFROM 11 HRS
Coordination and chasing
KIT CLASHES
0FROM 7/YR
Reaching the shoot day
What changed, in order
- WEEK 1
Crew and kit imported, nothing else
Twenty freelancers and thirty-one assets moved across from two spreadsheets. No process change asked for. The only rule was that new bookings had to be entered.
- MONTH 2
The first clash caught in pre-production
Two producers had promised the same radio mic set to jobs four days apart with a service in between. Previously this would have been found on the morning. It cost a phone call instead.
- MONTH 4
Events showed up as the problem
With four months of committed cost recorded, event coverage was running at 31% margin against 58% on interviews. The cause was overtime: quotes assumed ten hours, days ran fourteen.
- MONTH 6
The event quote was rebuilt
A twelve-hour base day with a named overtime rate, priced from their own historic cost. Two clients queried it, both accepted. No client was lost.
The owner
“I did not think we had a pricing problem. I thought events were just hard. Turns out we were quoting ten-hour days and shooting fourteen, four times a year.”
SIX-PERSON PRODUCTION COMPANY, LEEDS
PHOTOGRAPHY —
THE TEAM ON AN EVENT DAY