How to Start Animation Studio Business
An animation studio is like a company making animated objects for the media. Typically such companies visualize an idea, with the production equipment; it converts the idea into an article of trade.
The company who hires operators for the equipment has a stake in the revenue generated from the sale or rental of the media produced. If the company created merchandise, it has creative rights over such characters thus created, the same way an author of a book holds copyrights. Earlier, they could have rights over animation techniques used in some studios employed to enhance output.
Some animators who are trained to work as freelancers, only a few of those talented animators have their studios. The question people keep asking is how to convert their talent into a great profession. The option available is to start an animation studio business that is to be called your own. If you are ready, I will take you through on how you are going to do it and break-even before one year.
How to start animation studio business:
- Know what you want to do:
- Organize your team
- Choose a good name for your business and regularize it:
- Create your business plan:
- Set out the business strategy
- Who is your target market?
- Services to be provided
- Conclusion
Know what you want to do:
The field of animation business is huge and it is a good idea if you make up your mind the area you exactly want to specialise. As has been said, the field is vast; you can specialise in one or offer multiple services. In this case, you can offer a short film (clip), motion graphics or 3D and 2D, whiteboard explainer videos, etc. Once you establish in one area, over time, you can move up the ladder and offer multiple services.
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Organize your team:
The animation business is huge and multi-talented, and it may not be possible to have all the required talents in you alone. You can’t be all things to all people. Even filming will require multi-talents such as editors, directors and producers. It makes sense to hire experts since you can’t handle all the above tasks simultaneously.
Take time to choose the right people, experts who are bringing complementary skills to your business. It may be necessary to employ people you know but ensure they are people who are compatible with your level of zeal and devotion. Seek out for team members experts who fit well with your overall business vision.
For example, if you are good in animation, you may want to bring in a designer; if you can make 3D films, you will want an expert in modelling, texturing, lighting, rigging, etc.
Choose a good name for your business and regularize it:
Your business name should be what people should remember about you and your business so shouldn’t be taken lightly. Your business name should be an integral part of your branding and therefore the name of your business make people remember you.
Don’t take this lightly. Yes, don’t. Your business name should help people remember positive qualities about you and also support your brand values. A good business name should define your business goals also. Don’t wait to a later date to make the right choice of a name, it is a better idea to make the choice today and watch your business grow.
Register your business name:
As the selection of business is over, get it registered at once so that you secure your business legally.
Create a website presence:
Maintain a good presence on the web by creating an interactive website. Build your site with a profile photo, engaging content and other attractive features that will drive traffic to your site.
Have a logo and brand your service offering:
Create an attractive logo and use branding strategy to differentiate your service offering from your competitors. Make use of your unique selling proposition (USP) to brand your service, if possible.
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Open a business bank account:
A business account is necessary to separate your account from business income and expenditure. Without a separate bank account, confusion is likely to set in when reconciling the two accounts.
Register your business for taxes and procure insurance.
If the need is, get the services of a legal practitioner to advice on how you go about registering for taxes, levies and procuring insurance. Now you are likely to hire experts on the various specialist services area, you are likely to obtain the Employer Identification Number (EIN).
Create your business plan:
The business plan summarizes what you intend to do with your business. It is like a road map that shows you the way forward until you achieve your set goals. It defines your idea of business, who you are, what you set out to achieve, your products or services, how much it is going to cost to set it up, your potential market and the competitive activities.
It will also feature the financial overview and projected income and expenses. Your business plan will also lay out the legal form in which your business is going to stand upon. Legal forms of business include; the sole proprietorship, partnership and the limited liability company (LLC).
The sole proprietorship is the most common type of business organisation. It is formed to accommodate only the owner who assumes the full legal liability of the business in the event of business failure. The partnership is formed where there are two or more people who are in business with a common view of making profit or loss. All the partners share profit/loss and assume equal liability should the business be sued for any reason whatsoever. But when the owner wishes a separate entity of the business from them, they will form a limited liability company (LLC). With this form of business, the liability of the owners is limited to the number of shares owned, whether paid or unpaid.
The cost of setting up a full animation studio will run into millions of dollars. The point is that even if it is a one-minute flash animation with a small conversation you want to produce can cost over USD 1,000, The amount of money to be invested therefore will depend on the intensity of detail, frames per second, how many characters, hired voice work etc.
There is no answer yet to the question of how much one needs to invest to start an animation studio, all you have to do is to start small just like most businesses, more likely as a freelancer, then moving to the level of the independent contractor until you get the level where you can rent an office space and hire experts to join hands with you unless you are lucky to have access to other sources of funds.
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Set out the business strategy
This describes in broad terms what the animation studio is going to do to achieve its goals. It expresses the features and benefits of the products, how the market is going to be further explored, and the volume of sales to be achieved and what the company is offering better than competitors. It will also show the company’s growth path, new product introduction, skimming or penetration pricing strategy and promotional efforts to be adopted. The business strategy will also show the timetable for the promotional campaign.
Who is your target market?
Your target market should consist of all or some of the following:
- Advertising Agencies
- Households
- Other Corporate Organizations
- Adults, Young and Older Children
- TV stations
- Recording Artists
To reach the target market, you should make use of some of the following promotional strategies
- Launch your films and animation studio, together with your brochure by using direct mail to reach corporate organizations, advertising agencies, religious organizations etc.
- Reach government agencies and other corporate organisations by bidding for animation video production contracts – online and offline.
- Promote your business in appropriate local newspapers, TV and radio stations.
- Attend relevant local expos, seminars, and trade shows.
- Use social media and other online advertising such as Google ad to promote your business
- Join relevant local chambers of commerce and industries to network and promote your business.
- Encourage referrals and word of mouth marketing from your satisfied clients
- Distribute flyers and handbills in target areas
- List your animation studio business in local directories.
- Direct all your staff members to wear your branded apparel and also brand all your vehicles and as this will help promote your animation studio business.
Services to be provided:
Income generation from animation studio business varies and may include post-processing services to audio content editing, and formatting animation content’
Your animation studio business will typically generate income by offering the following services;
- Post-processing service – video content
- Editing of audio content (sound effects and looping)
- Producing and appending graphics and animation or other special effects
- Animation content formatting for various media
- Using test results from the audience as feedback
- Creating other promotional activities for clients
- Inserting subtitles or dubbing and other closed captioning
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Conclusion
The animation studio business is capital intensive and since there are many components to it, the owner has to be versatile or has to engage experts to be able to handle the various issues involved. This article sums up what is involved from how to start an animation studio business to marketing the services. Even if you have learned the trade, you still need experts. Learn from them and be ready to learn more and be open to suggestions, but be yourself; don’t take every word for it, evaluate it closely the suggestion that is given. It is expected that the struggle begins from when you begin as a freelancer, to an independent contractor until when you set up an animation studio business that is yours. It is a question of time; your first job as an animation studio owner will arrive.