Financial viability of my new project.

[Foggy]

Hi folks,

Having recently completed several personal projects and graduated from University as a mature student with a very respectable first class degree, I am now once more in the big bad real world.

I am looking at making enough money through freelancing to firstly and most importantly pay my bills, and secondly (if I am lucky/work hard enough) to be able to finance my own personal creative endeavours.

I have several irons in the fire so to speak, I have a meeting with the owners of several local bars later in the week in the hope of making promotional videos for their websites and social media outlets, I also have regular freelance work with a sports journalism company however with the football season having just finished that means no income for several months.

I have long been a member of a car forum here in the UK and my second passion is classic japanese cars, I have been talking to the owner of the forum and he has allowed me to use its branding and logos etc for another money making idea I have had.


Basically the forum has 15,000 members, of which maybe 3,000 are active. My plan is to make a film whereby I visit prominent members with the nicest and most popular cars and film the meetings, with plenty of discussion and close ups of rare modifications etc, I am thinking an hour long video with 5x cars at 10 minutes each and 4 x 2 .5 minute adverts for companies who cater to these old japanese machines.


I am struggling to do the maths to work out if it is worth the time, and would be financially viable. I have worked out a budget of £500 for shooting(mostly travel expenses) and having looked online I can get the DVD's authored and in jewel cases with printed covers for around £750 for 500. Add £500 for me to send the disks out to buyers and your total spend is £1750, which would mean selling 175 DVD's at £10 each just to break even.

Do people think this is a worth while endeavour? I know its a very specific thing but any advice is hugely welcome.

Cheers.

 

[directorik]

If your numbers are correct and you feel you have a market
of people willing to pay for your product then this is a worth
while endeavor. Many times a small, dedicated fan base is a
way to make some money.

 

[ItDonnedOnMe]

I'd say the numbers don't look particularly strong. With 3000 active members you can at best count on 5-10% buying your video, which puts you at just over your break-even point or maybe a slight profit at best.

Break even isn't that bad though - you'll also get the experience and have a solid production under your belt for demo/portfolio purposes. You might want to see if you can find some other forums around the world where people may be interested, as that could significantly increase your potential market. If you can get the forum community behind the project that can help too - many of them may be members of other forums or communities and can help promote to a larger audience. There's also probably a market at car shows and meetups - selling DVDs out of your trunk directly to enthusiasts. Basically you just need to put some time in looking for these ways to get the market numbers up - there's probably quite a few more that I wouldn't think of since it's not a subject I'm involved in.

 

[Sweetie]

There is value in a catalog of work you can sell from when you've moved on to greener pastures.

It actually sounds like a decent stomping ground for you to learn in. A potentially dedicated market with no competition. I'd say go for it. You never know, you might find a way to make a decent living if you work out how to expand the market or find a bigger fanbase.

 

[HIFF]

I am struggling to do the maths to work out if it is worth the time, and would be financially viable. I have worked out a budget of £500 for shooting(mostly travel expenses) and having looked online I can get the DVD's authored and in jewel cases with printed covers for around £750 for 500. Add £500 for me to send the disks out to buyers and your total spend is £1750, which would mean selling 175 DVD's at £10 each just to break even.

My experience with such things is that:

1. Those featured in the movie will 100% buy a copy (or more) of the DVD.
   
2. Those with similar cars as to those featured may buy a copy of the DVD.
   
3. Those who are very active members of the club may buy a copy of the DVD.

So there are a lot of mays in there.

Maybe cut £1250 off the equation by not offering a DVD (or postage) but download-able edition only. That much better stacks the odds in your favor and significantly lessens the financial risk (if you decide to proceed with the project).

Good luck!

 

[ItDonnedOnMe]

You might also consider something like createspace which can produce and ship the DVDs on demand - it'll cost more per unit, but eliminate the upfront cost to you (as well as the time and cost to pack & ship them). Another alternative could be to kickstart the DVD production - basically use kickstarter as a pre-order system so that you know you have the sales necessary to justify doing a run, as well as the funds.

 

[Foggy]

Cheers folks,very useful comments. I have decided to go full blast at it and give it a go,if I break even I'll have a great portfolio piece for no outlay other than time.

I have decided to cover DVD costs by setting up a group buy on the forum itself so people can preorder. Very similar to a kickstarter but with less faff.

I will look into that dvd shipping on demand Don that sounds good.

Now I need to get on with the logistics and upgrade some of my gear to more appropriate stuff.


Cheers folks.