We recently connected with Carlos Moreno and have shared our conversation below.

Carlos, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

I started my business at an early age. Building a business isn’t the easiest thing for an 18-year-old. I had minimal knowledge in videography and photography. But the demand was there and I knew it. I had already done a few shoots and figured it was easy money. It was time for me to get serious and expand my work.

I want people to know that anyone can start a business its not exactly rocket science. But one of the most crucial aspects in my opinion is your starting point and your business plan. You have some of the best momentum when beginning to build your business. You’re motivated, you’re dedicated, and you feel like you’re ready for the world.

Being part of an industry that heavily relies on technology can be overwhelming when you start to make your first few purchases. Research is key and depending on your budget, your money will drain fast. You’ll have to sacrifice in some aspects to gain in others. In my case buying equipment, from lights to camera gimbals/Rigs, were my first few purchases starting out. I was in a new world with money in hand and I was excitedly ready to spend.

I was unfamiliar with brands and the nature of this industry. I was still falling for the gimmick key words like megapixels, HD, and jargon that didn’t matter. I was unknowledgeable with the emerging technology and if that technology was even something I needed. I mistakenly surfed the web for only a few hours before settling on a tripod, a rig, and a few lights. I had covered my bases and could now do the bare minimum for the work I had intended to do. I had bought the best of the best money could buy and I was ready.

What I wasn’t ready for was the learning curve. That all these new fancy things were well beyond my knowledge. And I quickly learned that just because you have state-of-the-art equipment doesn’t mean you’ll be the biggest badest guy out there.

I had spent thousands of dollars, part of that was on new LED lights. At the time, LED’s were this new lightweight piece of equipment that would help lighten your load. Long gone were the big bulky lights. I was one of the few people who had these new types of lights at the time. It was groundbreaking. But little did i know is that I paid for a whole lot of nothing.

LED had just come into the market and was very fresh technology, which was the problem. I spent three times the amount on lights that would perform less than ideal. I thought I had gotten the best money could buy because they were expensive and new. That didn’t exactly transfer to best in quality or necessarily reflect my needs. The caveat of these lights were its power. LED’s were yet to reach the power level they are now. I didn’t have enough light and I hadn’t really understood what kelvin and lumens meant. I was so focused on “new” and “LED” that the rest didn’t matter. What I was left with was dark images.

The rig took a bulk of my budget. My camera was armored from lens to screen, fully protected and ready to be shoulder-mounted. But have you seen a Hollywood camera rig on a tiny prosumer DSLR? It’s a laughable sight. I had bought a 20 ILB rig for a 1-pound camera. I had defeated the purpose of a lightweight camera ready for action. I was now a slow cumbersome man sweating to keep up with the crowd.

The tripod was my only good buy, which has been with me for the last 8 years. The rest has been sold or sits collecting dust in my storage. But the moral of this is to do your research. Even more so, ask your local camera shop. Ask your Facebook group, look up YouTube videos. Use what you have to learn and research what you’re buying.

I feel it’s easy to lose sight of what you need vs what you want. What looks cool and amazing doesn’t always turn out to be so. I also have learned that money well spend is money well used. Don’t cheap out on equipment. Don’t spend money on the cheap 50$ tripod, when you’re going to end up buying that cheap tripod 5 times over when you could spend $200.00 on the good one once.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am Carlos Moreno and I am the owner and founder of Create Imagine Design, also known as “CID Studios”. I originally started as a 3D animation student, naturally, it brought me closer to using cameras and the like. Picking up a camera for video also began my journey into photography. At first it was for fun, but it wasn’t long before it became a core reason on why I started my business.

I solve all creative problems for my clients and if can’t do it, I know someone who can. My team is full of professionals that deal with anything technical and creative. May it be websites, podcasts, and even a couple’s special wedding day. We do it all. I believe that’s what sets us apart from anyone. We don’t do just photographs. Why go to multiple businesses trying to get your marketing strategy or your event needs to be done when you can just go to one place and have it all done in one fell swoop and at a cost-effective price. Because when you buy bulk, we can offer discounts that no one else can, because they don’t do it all, as we do.

At the end of the day, it’s not the pricing or the services we offer. It’s the experience. We are not people who decided to grab a camera and wanted to make quick money. We are all professionals who came from our respected areas of expertise. We are engineers and artists who live, bleed, and sweat every day for our craft. To not only provide you with a service but to build a name for ourselves. To have the opportunity to do what we love and that is create.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I had never seen myself as a business owner. I had always figured I would be hired at a studio and live out my life as an editor or animator of some sort. There were a lot of reasons that ultimately helped me make my decision into being a business owner.

My first job in a studio was a big eye-opener. It showed me that it didn’t matter how much money or time you had in the industry. At the end of the day, a job isn’t what makes you quit, it’s the people. You could have the best job in the world, but if you have terrible management, it will turn into a job you don’t want to go to. I was with a man who claimed to have years or broadcast experience. The team was small, about 3 of us, in charge of editing multiple shows a day. But there was no organization, there was no system in place, and were shooting on 10-year-old cameras that we’re struggling to meet demands. It was a disaster. I was there for about 2 years and it was my first look into the industry. It was the perfect example of what not to do, it was a great learning experience at the end of the day.

During the time, I had also been doing a lot of photography as a hobby. I was learning a lot about cameras in general, learning the science and how each aspect changed the mood or tone of an image. It wasn’t long before I had been asked to do a couples shoot. At first, I wasn’t sure, all of this was for fun and to help me along with my career in animation. Then the money was offered, and at that point, it was a no-brainer. Photography was just the stepping stone into it all. It was what got the ball rolling and as demand and business picked up, so did my services.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being your true self is what I believe is what keeps our clients coming back. About 75% of our customers are returning clients. Some of them even sign up for our monthly service plans and work with us on a daily basis to get their content. I think a key reason why they continue to work with us is how easy it is. We don’t use any tickets or fancy systems to submit your requests. We are a phone call, text, and email away. You get to talk to us in person or on the phone for anything you may need.

Our quality is everything to us. From the content, we create with you to the experience you have with us. Quality of work and quality of people goes a long way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://createimaginedesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cid_studio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Create-Imagine-Design-2272892336291498
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-moreno-4a48291b7/