Unit 15 Assignment 3

Developing a small business in the creative media industry:

Draft idea:

An animation business that people get in touch with when they want an animation for their company, website, branding ect. The animations could be different types like stop motion, 3D-2D, hand drawn or through computer.

Final Draft Statement:

I plan to set up a business that’s selling animation for online branding, advertisement, social media, web content and TV.

Sources of work:

My business can continue to find work by making small animations and promoting them on social media and by having our own website and have a show reel of best or all previous work.

Scenario- The college gives me a task of making them an animation showing a student walking into the college and getting its qualifications then walking out, including a happy sound track a 'cute' fun art style. This would take about 2 weeks to complete, would task a few days to plan and draw it and consider the costs. Then it can be made using a certain software depending on what animation they want it in.

Equipment costs:

• camera for stop motion- £319
• computer desktop- £399
• computer monitor- £ 847.19
• lighting- £32.99

Income:

hourly charge: £25

per product:

• Stop motion- £700
• 3D animation- £650
• 2D animation- £500
• Advert- £500
• Website- £450

Formal proposal:

1.  Name- TC Animations 
2. What will i do- Will be making animations for various clients and hopefully working with other animation companies.
3. How it fits in the market- There are more companies wanting to brand/advertise their company, an animation company can help with that. this could be done as a website, advert, gif Ect. 
4. Example of another company- Bottletop
5. Running cost and where can base myself- Running costs will be used for the electricity, heating, equipment like cameras, computers, lighting ect and plumbing. Can be based in manchester, its near centre of England and its in a big city where many people work so its good opportunity for getting work.
6. Staffing costs and skills required- Staffing costs (salary) The average salary for an Animator is £24,729 per year and staffing skills that are required are creativity and imagination, drawing and modelling skills, communication and presentation skills and IT skills.
7. Competitors- All other animation companies
8. Unit costs- I need to sell animations to multiple clients at a reasonable price, typically in the hundreds but depends on what type of animation they want.
9. USP- The USP is that it will be a small company with few staff so that it will help produce better quality results as will have better communication and wont be over crowded.
10. Contingency- If struggling with money then can try doing more promoting or advertising on social media, possible asking previous clients if they want another animation or know of people who want to be promoted or advertised. I could also work with colleges or universities to teach their students about animations which could charge them a certain amount per class or specific amount of students.

Staffing requirements:

staff that will be needed are graphics designer, animator, 3D designer, designer and camera operator.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

• well designed animations
• cheaper animations
• smaller team, better communication
• animations can be done quite quickly

Weaknesses:

• May not get much work at first 
• the animations being cheaper is less money coming in
• small team can be tricky if do get a lot of work offers and not enough staff to be able to do them on time or do as many

Opportunities:

• under cut other businesses, my business will be cheaper that the majority of the animation companies so some may decide to do ours if the client is on a budget. We will also be getting to know the client on a 1 to 1 basis in hope that it will encourage them to come to us again. Would also be trying to get clients on a contract stating that they have to come to us if they want any animation.

Threats:

• Bigger companies
• All animation companies 
• Not getting much work 
• Getting too much work 

Comparison:

An example of a company which is where I want to see this in future is Dragonfly, they are a small company that make videos for promotional purposes and other uses. They can make different variety of videos like animated and location filming. their team is made of about 8 people which is "a heady mix of talent". This company is similar to my idea as it is small yet very good at what they do and have great communication with their client which is what I imagine this idea doing in its future.

Click here to see my presentation

Unit 68 Assignment 3

My 4 page spread to promote my environment:

Unit 15 Assignment 2.2

Report to help someone start up a business:

click here to see my report

Unit 68 Assignment 2

Finished map:

finished map, the center is a pond

Another angle

i made the path with a modified line to connect all the places

Unit 15 Assignment 2.1

Developing a small business in the creative media industry:

What is the legal status of small business?

It is important to get the legal status sorted from the start as it effects a few things like the design of letterheads and invoices, through to having major implications for the amount of tax a business pays and the timing of tax payments. 

The four basic business formats are:

• sole trader
• partnership
• limited company
• limited liability partnership

What legal protection does a small business?

Unincorporated legal forms:

1. sole trader- this is setting up a business by yourself which gives you control with fewer administrative burdens,  however it has implications for tax and raising finance. Also sole traders have unlimited liability and could therefore risk personal loss if something were to go seriously wrong. Sole traders pay income tax and national insurance contributions (NIC) on the business profits. You will be assessed after you complete the self-employment section of your tax return. 
2.  Partnership- when there is two or more people running the business then they will share profits, losses and unlimited legal liability. This is a is a common format, and is often very successful, formula, but it is essential to define the rights and responsibilities of partners and to set them out in a partnership deed. Which this can require accountancy and legal skills. All partners include an annual self-employment return with their income tax return, also a partnership tax return (showing how profits were divided between the partners) and pay income tax and NIC on their share of the profits. Payment timings are the same as for sole traders.
3. Limited company- A limited company which is legal entity separate from its owners. Ownership could be changed or extra capital raised through the selling of shares, without necessarily affecting the management of the company. However, there are a number of additional legal requirements with limited companies that can substantially add to the time and money spent on administration, so the costs and benefits of this approach need careful consideration.

Incorporated legal forms:

1. Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)- Unlike in a standard partnership, the liability of the partners in a LLP is usually limited to the amount of their partnership commitments. Requirements regarding accounts, audit, returns to Companies House, winding up and insolvency all follow normal company law rules, but taxation follows the rules for partnerships.

What can you tell us about the tax liabilities of a small business?

The main taxes are:

• Corporation Tax- Corporation Tax is a tax on limited companies’ taxable income or profits.
• Value Added Tax (VAT)- Value Added Tax (VAT) is a tax on the final consumption of certain goods and services in the home market but is collected at every stage of production and distribution.
• National Insurance- National Insurance is a deduction from earnings, set up originally to fund various State benefits such as the NHS, the State pension and other welfare-related schemes. In reality, it is just another tax.
• PAYE- Pay As You Earn (PAYE) is a scheme operated by HM Revenue & Customs to take income tax from employees as they earn it.
• Stamp Duty- Businesses may have to pay Stamp duty for transactions on the transfer of land or interests in land; grants or assignments of leases; and transfers of chargeable securities such as shares in companies.
• Capital Gains Tax- From 6th April 2008, the Government has applied a flat 18% CGT rate on business disposals. However the so-called “entrepreneurs relief” scheme allows business owners to pay a reduced rate of 10% on business disposals up to a lifetime allowance of £10 million.
• Capital Allowances- The system of tax relief on investment in business equipment can be complicated. As a rule of thumb, when your business makes a significant investment in capital equipment, you cannot normally set the entire purchase cost against that year’s profits.

Millions of small business owners will see the amount of tax they pay go up following the Spring 2017 Budget. If you are a limited company shareholder, you may have to pay personal tax on any dividend income you receive.

What sources of finance (grants, loans, investment) are available for small business?

Usually small business funding is due to either friends and family or banks, however there are actually a range of business finance solutions available.

Why raising finance is important-

• If your company needs to grow quickly to accommodate demand and make a mark, organic profit revenue may not help.
• If you encounter difficulties which were a surprise (delays with suppliers or late payments from clients) a financial cushion could save your business.

The sources that are available for a start up business is:

• Internal sources- this involves personal sources, Retained profits and Share capital.
• External sources- this involves- A bank loan, bank overdraft, share capital–outside investors and business angels.
• Personal sources- Savings and other "nest-eggs", borrowing from friends and family and credit cards.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31676/11-1399-guide-legal-forms-for-business.pdf

http://www.bytestart.co.uk/section/tax/tax-guides

https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/sources-of-finance-for-a-startup-or-small-business

Unit 15 Assignment 1

Developing a small business in the creative media industry

Dragonfly:

What is the management structure of the company?

Dragonfly's staff is made up of a producer, account manager, script writer, coordinator, writer, creative, senior producer and a director. there may be some junior workers that they hire for apprenticeships or for part time. "Our core team is a heady mix of talent from all areas of media production; directing, writing, production, animation and broadcasting, but they’re united by a common belief in making videos that really stand out" this is taken from their website below team, 

Income:

they charge a certain amount to their clients depending on what kid of style they want e.g 3d animation, hand drawn, promotional video, commercial, event filming etc. 

This is an example i did 

how does the business illustrate the skills required to run a small media business?

"The way we work means we can produce more effective video content for a smaller piece of your marketing budget, and still keep the passion that makes it fun to come into work each day. Our core team is supported by a carefully selected network of freelancers, which means we can tailor our crew to our clients’ needs on an individual basis. This ensures we continue to pull in the best talent for each job, and allows us to keep our overheads low and our fees competitive". this is taken from their website and they are explaining hoe they are different to other companies, they are well organised and know exactly what they are doing to make sure they give best work for their clients.

how does the business obtain, maintain and deploy its resources?

They have roughly 8 workers who are based in london, they have already worked for big companies like the BBC, channel 4 and Hollywood films. They may have a small staff but for them that helps them to be more flexible for their work and clients, they charge their clients enough for them to be able to keep up with their resources. "Small means flexible, personal and effective. Our team is adaptable, personal and effective. You get our time, attention and passion in each and every project no matter how big or small. We embrace any challenge and we always aim to take your expectations and exceed them" this is taken from their webite, they know exactly what they are doing and are well organised with their work, they have a lot of resources to work with and they seem to be growing more and will eventually get more big clients which will help them get more resources.

Unit 68 Assignment 1

3D Development

My 3D environment:

This is the main building i have made for the environment, designed to have something different on each floor and a place at the top so people can go to look over the whole area and to relax.

This building is designed to be a sports centre/gym.

This is a building that will be used for a play area or/and a day care so parents who want to go to the gym but don't have anyone to look after their kids.

This is a football stadium which i used the bevel tool to make it look like a real stadium

i added a pitch to it and visitors will enjoy it due to it being like a real stadium

these will be pitches too, one is for tennis or badminton and other is for basketball

My environment being put together:

Maps being put together

Another angle of map

light with no shadows