We were lucky to catch up with Sensei Chop recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sensei, appreciate you joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?
I personally don’t ask or expect friends and family to support my business. Support can be a variety of things like purchases, word of mouth, etc. but my friends and family are just that…friends and family. I have no expectation for them to be my customers, investors or promo/marketing team. Some business owners tend to think their company is failing due to lack of support from those close to them but in reality it’s failing because they don’t have a clear idea of who their actual customers are. For example, someone starts a bottled water company and believes everyone is their potential customer because, in their mind, everyone drinks water which isn’t true. And out of the people that do drink water everyone doesn’t drink the same type of water. I drink water but if this person specializes in purified bottle water then I wouldn’t be a customer because I drink spring water. Also, the way the water is packaged is important to me as well. This is why market research is important. If business owners spend more time learning and catering to their customer demographic then, without a doubt, they will experience the success they desire. Each time someone close to me tells me how great my work is or let’s me know how proud of me they are is all the support I need from them.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I go by Sensei Chop and I’m an Atlanta native.. I’m a cinematographer, director, and musician. I created Sensei Eye Films in the Spring of 2017. I started by doing branding jobs for different companies and influencers before I decided to shift my focus to in-house productions. This year we completed our first film, “Thirst Trap”, which is a documentary based on the water boy culture in Atlanta, Ga. It will stream on Tubi in the Summer of this year. Sensei Eye Films is currently in the process of producing more original content to be released this year.
I started creating music years ago when I went by the name Poke Chop. I’ve worked with artists such as Kevin Gates, Shop Boyz and Young Money just to name a few. I took a hiatus from music to focus more on filming but I have recently released new music under Sensei Chop. My first single “Expensive Glass” is available on all streaming platforms. Even though I plan on releasing more of my own music my main focus, as far as music goes, is an artist I manage by the name of Daygo Fatts. He starting to gain a lot of traction and grabbing the attention of some industry heavyweights so be on the look out for Daygo Fatts.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
One of the main resources I wish I knew about earlier in my career is GOODcredit. I never realized how important and necessary credit is to have when starting and building your business. Cashing out for everything is definitely not the move, even if you got it like that.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I spent $300 on a used camera from a pawn shop and that’s how Sensei Eye Films started. Camera equipment, software, lights and etc., can be VERY expensive. I used a lot of money from clients to reinvest in more equipment but that didn’t leave me with much money to live off of. I knew I needed capital but I didn’t want to involve an investor. One of my clients was a credit specialist who not only taught me about credit but even helped me get my credit on the correct path. I took what I learned and not only built my personal credit but my business credit as well. Between credit cards, loans, lines of credit and net accounts I was able to comfortably finance my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: senseieyefilms.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/senseichop
- Facebook: facebook.com/senseichop
- Twitter: twitter.com/senseichop
- Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13488776/?ref_=tt_ov_dr