The problem with case studies is that, unlike coffee shops or other straight forward operations that share very similar results, this industry is pretty unique in terms of what leads to success. One company finds internet marketing to be a waste of time, while another gets loads of work from online channels. One company succeeds because of huge investments in equipment while another fails
because of such investments. One company enjoys 50% profit margins while another gets closer to 5%, and in some cases the company with the 5% margin is more successful overall. Some people define "paying the bills" as successful while others think anything less than $5M in annual revenue is a waste of time. When you add in other variables such as target market, region, customer service, area of expertise, pricing etc. it's almost impossible to successfully apply case studies to your own situation.
In my opinion, you can learn from the mistakes/experiences of others when it comes to specific topics (should I buy my own cameras vs. rent) but looking at business models or case studies might not be very helpful (or wise). The studio that saw no action from online marketing might not have been doing it properly. The company with the 50% profit margin may be scaring away long-term customers and ultimately fail within 3 years. In the end, the saying "results may vary" applies heavily here.
Your question is ultimately something like "how do I run a successful production studio?" The answer is not to look at the overall models of others, but to look at key pieces of information and formulate your own picture. In your local area, how many
other studios are there, that offer the product you want to offer? What do they charge? Are they successful? Are they micro-studios or large agencies? What are your
SWOTs? Are you going to need to steal customers or is there a large, local customer base? Based on your research, what advantage can you leverage to break into the local market and/or beat the competition? In essence, it's
business 101 that applies to ANY business out there. Answer the fundamental
business questions, then build a business plan around those answers.
Once you have a solid plan, follow it religiously or you will be like a ship without a rudder. It's nearly impossible to improve your operations if you can't reliably look back and identify what failed and why. A plan is
nothing if not a series of benchmarks against which to compare actual results. When you deviate from the plan, you rob yourself of the ability to compare actual results to the plan and modify as necessary. Did the plan fail because it was a bad plan, or because you didn't follow it to the letter? You will never know, so it's best to build a plan you can trust, based on research and informed projections, and stick to it without fail. At the end of each month/quarter/year, compare actual results to those projected by your plan and, if needed, adjust the plan's assumptions that failed to hold true. After a period of time (possibly a few years) you will have worked the bugs out of your plan and will have a very reliable method of projecting future growth and income. It is at this point that you can put together a larger, more ambitious plan and really grow the business. Trying to do so before you've worked these bugs out is a bit like slamming on the gas in a car with bald tires - you'll probably just sit there burning rubber but going nowhere fast.
One final point - sometimes the "business plan" you build is a one-line plan that simply says "Don't do it." You absolutely have to be willing to go where the numbers and research point you, and sometimes you find that there is simply no money to be made, either because of local conditions, lack of access to capital, inability to realistically compete etc. In these cases, you can either make major adjustments to the plan to make it "work" or go back to working for someone else, comfortable in the knowledge that you just saved yourself years of frustration and many thousands of wasted dollars.
Good Luck
Brendan Coots
Splitvision Digital
www.splitvisiondigital.com
