Blog #8 What do you need to start a video production service?
What do you need to start a video business? How long does it take? How much money will I require? I had all these questions before starting my business. A lot of the things that I thought would be difficult, time consuming and expensive turned out a lot different than I expected. I’m going to share some tips on dealing with the various necessities you need to start a video business in Ireland, whether you are a wedding shooter, a filmmaker or just someone who works in the many areas of video. Let’s go!
Name. You may have a name picked out already for your business. Whether you can use it is another question. The first thing you need to do is check the online CRO (company registrations office) website to see if your name is free. You will also want to check if any similar names/likenesses are taken. Mine was free, so full steam ahead. Before I registered my trading name “Newtown Productions“ with the CRO as an RBN1 form (this form is for sole traders, it’s a lot easier than a company form), I bought the domain newtownproductions.ie . When you are purchasing your business name through the RBN1 form (it’s only €20 online), you are asked for any sort of proof of ownership or affiliation with the name. As the owner of the domain, there was proof aplenty that I was affiliated with Newtown Productions and already owned the domain. At this point, I didn’t even have a website up and running, I just owned the domain. If you want to register a company, you will need professional help and it will cost you a few hundred euros. Of course, companies have benefits like limited liability. For sole traders, there’s no need to register a company and is thus easier.
Business plan. You NEED a business plan. A business plan covers so much and will open your mind to so many areas of business. It will give you a sense of how expensive it will be, what type of services you want to offer and what markets you want to target. You even look into things you likely would never have dreamed about, such as your health and safety policy or privacy policy. It includes your Year 1 projections and more importantly, Year 2 and 3 projections because businesses aren’t just for a year, they’re for life. Another thing you will do in your plan is market research, which gives you a sense of what people are looking for and also what they are thinking. You can figure out exactly how much to charge before you offend people. You can also figure out how to frame your pricing in a way that makes it clear to your customers that you need to cover costs first, which is why sometimes pricing can be higher than anticipated.
Bank account with some MONEY in it. You can do research on different banks and which one you may choose to open a business account with. The important thing to look out for is fees, whether based on a percentage or a fixed fee. Once you’ve chosen a bank and created an account there, you have to think about how much start-up funds you need to deposit. Here’s the big number: €1000. I put one thousand euros into my business account to start up, that was all I needed. Your number may differ and I want to point out this number doesn’t include equipment, registering the business name or transport, i.e. a car with fuel, insurance, etc. (You can of course deduct business travel costs from your yearly returns). All in all, it is not hugely expensive to start a business from scratch. This one thousand euro start up fund went to covering cost of a website (domain and hosting), business insurance (€292.50 for the first year) and some small equipment costs, like a video light and printer.
Start-up funds
4. Equipment. As written above, I didn’t include equipment costs into the start-up funds. For a videographer, you will need a camera system, tripod, lighting with stands, memory cards and a decent computer to edit all your footage on. Obviously you need a car with insurance, tax and fuel if you are driving, which I know not everyone does but in the countryside it is non-negotiable. Chances are you will have most of this already and don’t need to invest heavily.
5. Social media. I would recommend a website also but you need social media pages and the good thing is they are free. One of the good things about social media is that sometimes your page will be tagged in a post without you asking for it. Essentially, a page can do free marketing for you this way. I share blog posts on my social media every Monday, which helps the algorithm see your page as trustworthy and consistent. Having an Instagram page is useful these days, even if it’s a personal page because you can be tagged in business posts even on your personal Instagram handle. I have my business website in my Instagram bio to make sure my personal page connects back to the business.
6. Logo. You’ll need a logo for just about everything. For anything to do with your marketing, i.e. your social media pages, your website or your van. You can put your logo on anything, from quotes to invoices, to give a sense of professionalism and remind people of your brand. I made mine up in Photoshop, using a few simple gradients and textures. It may not win awards but it’s as good as any generated logos you’ll find on business card templates and I can edit it however I please.
That’s all I’m going to share. Some people will need an accountant, employees and/or funding. Every business is different so I’ll leave that up to your discretion. Good luck out there!
-D.C.