Mike is a videographer and motion designer with over 12 years of experience producing videos in the technology sector. Based at the POP shop here in Dunoon and working for clients across the UK, Mike is the creative lead and owner of Sure Shot Film.
Tell us what your business is about.
Sure Shot Film is a media creation company. We create different kinds of media including video, aerial, photography, audio capture and web design.
What are the biggest challenges you face at the moment?
Finding and maintaining a steady stream of business is one of our biggest challenges. My services can be seen as expensive, but this type of creative work is labour-intensive. There are overheads to consider, with professional equipment and software to cover alongside my time.
It takes time to produce quality video and 3D animations, and this isn’t always obvious, as everyone has a phone in their pocket. The work I do is very bespoke. I provide a high-quality media creation service for my clients, and that helps them get the most out of the medium.
What is your ambition with the business?
I’d like to focus on raising the profile of my business and connect more people to the services I offer locally. Alongside filmmaking and photography, I can also use the drone to do roof surveys. This service reduces the need for scaffolding, which can be expensive, so is a really useful service to offer businesses and homeowners.
In addition, I've been working with Hannah at the POP shop to develop website-building services using low-emission servers, so this is something we can now provide alongside technical support and advice.
Tell us about the businesses you connect or work with locally and how this helps you in your work.
The POP Shop and Tacit Tacit are obvious connections for me. Through having a desk here at the POP shop, I have connected on projects and work opportunities that I might not have heard of otherwise. For example, I made films for the Beach Hut project and Dunoon Goes POP. Through meeting other people who are also using the space, and taking part in meet-ups, further work opportunities followed.
I also produced a 3D animation explainer video for the University of Glasgow and made a promotional video for Grow Food, Grow Dunoon.
A few architects and councils commissioned me to do building surveys using aerial photography and film. It is a lot cheaper to do a drone survey of a roof and building than erect scaffolding, so there is scope to develop this strand of the business alongside film-making.
What do you love about doing business in Dunoon?
Dunoon feels like it’s another world compared to across the water. And I like that.
What support or services have you received from the POP Shop, and how has this helped?
The POP Shop is where I run my business from and this gives me a presence in the town. Through working at the POP shop I’ve met and been involved in various local projects and formed relationships with each one. I accessed a free start-up desk here for the first 12 months, so have been in a better position to find advice and funding by simply talking to people who are doing that themselves.
I've had a bit of support through one-to-one business coaching through the Social Enterprise Academy. This helped me think through how to price work and talk through marketing strategies and business challenges. I have childcare responsibilities, so this flexible type of support has worked well for me.
By talking to people and following up on opportunities, I’ve also managed to take advantage of grants to buy new equipment. And, I’ve been commissioned to do a bit of work in the POP shop, setting up the server here and looking at green tech solutions to support the development of new services that we hope to be able to offer people from the shop.
Find out about Mike’s work:
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