Looking to start up your very own video production company? Well, you have come to the right place. Indeed below you will find a comprehensive guide on the things you need to do for video production startup success. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Know your market
You know about how to produce videos already. In fact, that is the reason that you want to start up a production company in the first place. However, to be successful in this area there are other things you need to grasp.
The first of these is that with smaller startups in the video production world, taking a more niche approach can be the best approach. Of course, that means you need to do some pretty thorough market research beforehand and establish precisely what the needs are and what type of clients you can help.
Write a business plan
Once you have defined and thoroughly researched your market it’s time to devise a more formal business plan. After all, the more specific you can get with your business goals and projections the more likely you will be to devise successful strategies for achieving them.
Additionally, by having all of this information written down it makes conversations and pitches with investors that much easier. After all, just like on Dragons Den, investors won’t be convinced by your pitch unless you know your numbers inside out.
Decide where you will operate from
For a production company, a combined studio and office from which you can operate is often a must. After all, it provides the space in which to store equipment, and allow your creative team to interact and bond constructively.
However, a combined studio and office space can end up being a vast expense, one that is too high for companies just starting out. With that in mind, it is important to weigh up other options such as operating from a private residence or allowing each member of your team to work from home.
Although if you do pick the latter, you will need to find a space where you can rent meeting rooms to ensure you make the most professional impact on clients.
Find the right people
Many people start up a business based on the skills they hold. However, apart from a very few rare companies, if you want to maximize your income, you will need to recruit additional people.
The good news is that in 2021 there are several ways of doing this. The first is to take on help full time. Although this can be an expensive option especially for companies that are just beginning.
Alternatively, why not use freelancers for project work? Then you will be able to ensure you have experts working on areas that are not your strengths, but also do not have to foot the bill of a full-time wage and benefits.
Of course, most startups will use a combination of these options, depending on their needs, and their budget.
Equip your team
Having the right people in your team isn’t the only important thing. Your staff also need to have access to the right equipment as well.
Unfortunately paying out to equip a video production company can be seriously expensive as there is a vast range of practical items, tools, and software that are needed.
One way in which you can reduce this cost is to opt for second-hand items when you first start out. Of course, the critical thing here is to make sure that they are in good condition, and that the video they produce is of high quality.
Alternatively, your business will benefit from using services where you can rent a macbook for a certain amount of time. After all, Apple computers are the industry standard and require the best editing tools. They are also not cheap and you can save yourself a fortune by leasing instead of buying, something that can significantly lower your startup costs and make it easier to get your production business up and running.
Build an online presence
Word of mouth is all very well and good, but most of your bookings will come from people finding you online. What that means is you must put considerable time and effort into building an online presence.
There are many things that you will need to do for this. The first is to create a website. Of course, your site should have an example of your best video work displayed on it, as well as clear contact information.
It is also important to ensure the copy of your site is optimised for SEO. That means keywords identified as important by your market research are included, and where relevant you have backlinks to other reputable sites in your sector. Just be sure to make sure that these links are to organizations, authorities, and educational institutions rather than other production companies that are in direct competition with you.
For your website to be as effective as possible, you will also need to come up with a good name for your business. One that can be easily remembered and searched online. Be sure to check that no one else has the same or a similar company name either, as this can cause you all sorts of problems later on.
Review sites
In addition to clients finding you via your website online, it’s also a very smart idea to set up an official presence on review sites like Trustpilot as well. Indeed, with such objective review sites you will get all the benefits of word of mouth recommendations, but over the world wide web!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LfO3fXYBcMc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Obviously, how you react to negative or critical comments on these is just as important as thanking customers for positive ones. In fact, you can actually benefit twice from reacting to criticisms in the right way.
Firstly you can show the client that had the problem that you do care and would like to resolve the matter with them. While secondly, you will also demonstrate to other potential customers that you are a trustworthy business that cares about how they perform and each customer they serve. Something that is bound to help you get all the clients you need to successfully start-up and grow your video production business.
This is a contributed post.
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