Is it wise to invest early on?

[vapeskorea]

I just started selling about a week and a half ago (my account is older because I was a buyer).

My main gig is video testimonials. I wanted to dip my toe in the water and see if I could be successful. In about 10 days, I’ve had 10 orders. Average sale is $12. All 5 star reviews.

Yesterday I went out and bought about $600 worth of camera gear so I can produce better videos.

My question: should I continue investing in this opportunity (microphones, lights, screens, etc), or should I wait a bit longer and see if it is worth the upfront costs?

TIA.

[woofy31]

If it were me, I would wait a bit longer, get myself properly seated on this ride named Fiverr, test the waters across several months, invest time in perfecting my craft with the tools I already have, especially since you’ve already invested in gear.

I know the enthusiasm of getting newmore gear after quickly glancing at a treasure is very big. But I would first secure my “tentacles” on all corners of the treasure before doing that, otherwise you risk seeing someone else grabbing the treasure you just found, and you’ll remain with a lot of gear in your tentacles hands 🙂

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But when is the time right to get more, to upgrade yourself? Well:

• sometimes, although rarely, your clients will expressly tell you that “you work is awesome, you should get some gear to provide That Thing as well” , or if you fancy the negative side of things: “rather poor quality, seller could needs to upgrade their gear”

• other times your gear will become all rusty and act fishy, which would make a good opportunity to upgrade instead of getting the same gear

• you might even get a huge order, more than you would’ve ever thought of, which would make it a great opportunity to grab some more gear, or just upgrade

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However, you will obtain a solid ground to base your decisions (regarding whether to get more gear, upgrade old gear, keep freelancing or switch careers) after months of good & consistent sales, or better yet, after a full year when you’ll have seen the pattern of how people buy from you on holidays, in periods of low money due to paying taxes, on vacation days, before starting school, and all that

– NOTE: all that I’ve said is based on the fact that Freelancing has a lot of ups & downs, and requires you to put a lot of hard work to make it work in the long run; it’s not a regular day job, and you’re also your own boss, which not everyone can deal with

[vapeskorea]

If it were me, I would wait a bit longer, get myself properly seated on this ride named Fiverr, test the waters across several months, invest time in perfecting my craft with the tools I already have, especially since you’ve already invested in gear.

I know the enthusiasm of getting newmore gear after quickly glancing at a treasure is very big. But I would first secure my “tentacles” on all corners of the treasure before doing that, otherwise you risk seeing someone else grabbing the treasure you just found, and you’ll remain with a lot of gear in your tentacles hands 🙂

---

But when is the time right to get more, to upgrade yourself? Well:

• sometimes, although rarely, your clients will expressly tell you that “you work is awesome, you should get some gear to provide That Thing as well” , or if you fancy the negative side of things: “rather poor quality, seller could needs to upgrade their gear”

• other times your gear will become all rusty and act fishy, which would make a good opportunity to upgrade instead of getting the same gear

• you might even get a huge order, more than you would’ve ever thought of, which would make it a great opportunity to grab some more gear, or just upgrade

---

However, you will obtain a solid ground to base your decisions (regarding whether to get more gear, upgrade old gear, keep freelancing or switch careers) after months of good & consistent sales, or better yet, after a full year when you’ll have seen the pattern of how people buy from you on holidays, in periods of low money due to paying taxes, on vacation days, before starting school, and all that

– NOTE: all that I’ve said is based on the fact that Freelancing has a lot of ups & downs, and requires you to put a lot of hard work to make it work in the long run; it’s not a regular day job, and you’re also your own boss, which not everyone can deal with

Thanks for that amazing write-up!

That’s pretty much my train of thought, but figured I would get some expert advice.

The gear I bought won’t be considered wasted money, as I was co soldering buying a new camera before vacation next month anyways. Fiverr just encouraged me to buy it a bit sooner (and look for different options).

I will definitely wait a bit. See where this road leads. I’m not too concerned about the money. This experience is more like professional development. It allows me to research and learn new things. Maybe that’s why I’m so quick to consider investing more money- so I can learn new aspects of video making/editing/sound, etc.

Thanks again!

[miiila]

Amazing write-up, I´d add something Fiverr-specifical - you´ll find a lot of posts on the forum by people saying that Fiverr gives a ‘boost’ to new sellers/gigs for a while and that, for some, orders dropped considerably after that ‘boost phase’, usually people observe it after getting level one or two, so, also for that reason, I guess it makes sense to wait at least so long before investing a lot to see if your gigs and your pricing and all will be sustainable. 🙂

[woofy31]

Thanks for that amazing write-up!

That’s pretty much my train of thought, but figured I would get some expert advice.

The gear I bought won’t be considered wasted money, as I was co soldering buying a new camera before vacation next month anyways. Fiverr just encouraged me to buy it a bit sooner (and look for different options).

I will definitely wait a bit. See where this road leads. I’m not too concerned about the money. This experience is more like professional development. It allows me to research and learn new things. Maybe that’s why I’m so quick to consider investing more money- so I can learn new aspects of video making/editing/sound, etc.

Thanks again!

You’re most welcome!

I’m not too concerned about the money. This experience is more like professional development.

If that’s the case, then by all means go ahead and upgrade, you’ll definitely gain an advantage over some of your competitors 😉

Fiverr gives a ‘boost’ to new sellers/gigs for a while

I had completely forgotten about this new development - thank you for reminding me of it, Mila!

[vapeskorea]

Amazing write-up, I´d add something Fiverr-specifical - you´ll find a lot of posts on the forum by people saying that Fiverr gives a ‘boost’ to new sellers/gigs for a while and that, for some, orders dropped considerably after that ‘boost phase’, usually people observe it after getting level one or two, so, also for that reason, I guess it makes sense to wait at least so long before investing a lot to see if your gigs and your pricing and all will be sustainable. 🙂

That’s another thing I was concerned about. I have read those posts as well. Perhaps this is all just ‘beginner’s luck’ 😝

[miiila]

I think there´s always a demand for quality work, it might slow down a bit after the boost phase, especially if you’ll have to up your prices to not work yourself to death, ideally you’ll have a few return customers until then, though I don´t know how easy that is in your category, I’m lucky in that regard.
But just don´t give up, adjust if needed, and you’ll be fine probably. 🙂

[woofy31]

I think there´s always a demand for quality work, it might slow down a bit after the boost phase, especially if you’ll have to up your prices to not work yourself to death, ideally you’ll have a few return customers until then, though I don´t know how easy that is in your category, I’m lucky in that regard.

But just don´t give up, adjust if needed, and you’ll be fine probably. 🙂

you’ll have to up your prices to not work yourself to death

I’m the perfect example of that - back in 2012 I worked myself to a point of getting into the hospital, having to take a break of almost 4 months! After that horrifying experience, I learned my lessons!

– lately things have changed though - I barely have enough time for the forum due to all this annoying work stuff 😃

[photoswatch]

I just started selling about a week and a half ago (my account is older because I was a buyer).

My main gig is video testimonials. I wanted to dip my toe in the water and see if I could be successful. In about 10 days, I’ve had 10 orders. Average sale is $12. All 5 star reviews.

Yesterday I went out and bought about $600 worth of camera gear so I can produce better videos.

My question: should I continue investing in this opportunity (microphones, lights, screens, etc), or should I wait a bit longer and see if it is worth the upfront costs?

TIA.

My question: should I continue investing in this opportunity (microphones, lights, screens, etc), or should I wait a bit longer and see if it is worth the upfront costs?

I’m in this predicament now. However I’ve been selling for months and have almost made the revenue to reinvest and really start a career out of fiverr.

You may want to try and forecast your next 3-6 months and calculate what your expected earnings should be based on the existing revenue and rate of growth you have.

Then you can make a solid decision as to whether investing is the right thing to do at this stage.

[thecreativeguys]

you’ll have to up your prices to not work yourself to death

I’m the perfect example of that - back in 2012 I worked myself to a point of getting into the hospital, having to take a break of almost 4 months! After that horrifying experience, I learned my lessons!

– lately things have changed though - I barely have enough time for the forum due to all this annoying work stuff 😃

Oh my, I hope your completely healed by now! (5 years)

[businessexpert7]

In my experience whenever I have invested in tools, teams etc. I have always made progress as it mentally prepares you for bigger/new projects and boosts up your confidence. 😊