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