Today, we’re shaking things up with a live coaching call. I’ll work with a young entrepreneur preparing to launch his video production company in 2025. He’s facing some critical decisions about how to get started, and I’ll be guiding him to clarify his vision, set clear goals, and map out the essential steps to build a strong foundation for his business.

No matter where you are in your video production journey—whether you’re just starting out or already established—I’m confident you’ll find valuable insights in this conversation. As you listen, consider whether there are areas in your business that could benefit from a clearer strategy or stronger foundations. The lessons we cover today are relevant for businesses at all stages of growth, on this episode of the Business of Video Production Podcast.

This episode of the podcast is going out on the final day of 2024. So, you may be listening to it on the 31st of December. Or early in 2025. Now’s the time to reflect on what you want 2025 to look like for you. What do you want to do with it? How would you like it to play out? Who do you want to be in 2025?

I go through this process every year at around this time. And I find it a very grounding and affirming thing. So, let me share my process with you. And invite you to do something similar on this episode of the Business of Video Production podcast.

There’s an opportunity, and I don’t want you to waste it.

As we down tools at the end of the year, I know it can be tempting to just cruise through January.

But if you do, you’ll be missing out on the opportunity to get some really foundational stuff done in your video production business.

And set yourself up properly for 2025.

There’s a way you can rest and recover from a big year. And still use the incredible opportunity that January offers.

I’m going to share with you how I approach January. Both for my video business and for my coaching clients.

On this episode of the Business of Video Production Podcast.

The other day, I was reflecting on different team members who had worked for my business over the years. And what the qualities were of the very best, most successful people. The ones who became best at their craft. The ones that made the biggest contribution to the business. Made the biggest impact.

And after thinking about it for a while, the word came to me that truly captured their spirit.

The vital ingredient that will fuel you to envision and achieve the video production business you want...

Running a video production business at its heart involves creating and operating a series of interlocking processes. Once you have developed and refined enough of these processes, they operate together and support each other in a symphony.

I've done this in my business, and it's taken me years to do it. I focused on each business area and worked to distil best practices in that area and then formalise it as a system.

This makes running a business more manageable because it is easy to follow once you have created and installed the system.

Let me share two processes of mine on this episode of the Business of Video Production podcast.

Over the course of this podcast series, I’ve sometimes referenced the work I do in video production business coaching.

And when people reach out to find out more about coaching -  and whether it’s the right fit for them - there are particular things they usually want to know.

So I figured it made sense to record a podcast where I covered the most frequently asked questions about my video business coaching.

So, in this episode, I’m going to share more about it. How it came about. What my coaching model and philosophy is, and some of the main questions.

If you have no interest in business coaching, this is probably not the episode for you. If you’re considering coaching, either now or in the future, or just curious, then I think you’ll find this worth a listen.

This episode is the first in an occasional special series I’m doing called The Mentor Series. Where I talk to people who have greatly impacted one part of my life. Whether an expert, coach or mentor.

People who I look up to as leaders in their industry.

And people I’m really grateful to have connected with. Because of what I’ve learned from them. And the positive effect they’ve had on my life and business.

My guest on this is Greg Merrilees. Founder of Studio1 Design. A global design company based in Melbourne, Australia that specialises in creating websites for businesses.

Greg is a master of website design and strategy. There's a real opportunity here for you to learn about some of the gaps you may have in your website strategy, and how to fix them.

Ryanspanger.com

When you think of the words 'video production proposal', what thoughts or feelings come up for you? Do you have positive or negative associations? Do proposals feel like a burden, a drain on your time, or are they an exciting opportunity for you to connect with your prospect?

If you work in the corporate B2B space, then being able to put together a good proposal is an essential part of doing business, but it's something that I've noticed over the years a lot of production companies don't do very well, and it's an area that I've been able to help them with and make an impact on their business. So let's talk about video production proposals on this episode of the Business of Video Production Podcast. 

With the holiday season quickly approaching, it can for clients to start to wind down their marketing activities and plans for making videos for this year.

And sometimes it can be common for business owners - video production business owners in particular - to start to take their foot off the gas and coast through 'till the end of the year.

And so what I really want to emphasize in this episode is the idea of finishing strong. Of resisting the temptation to wind things down, and to finish the year in the same spirit and with the same commitment that you came in...

Welcome to the Business of Video Production podcast and to Season Two. Over the last four weeks I took a break from recording new episodes of the podcast and repeated four of the most popular episodes and I hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to check them out and I hope that they were of value to you.

The last four weeks have been a great opportunity for me to take a break from the podcast, get some perspective, refocus and get right back into it and it feels good to be here talking to you and recording the first episode of season two.

If you're new here the Business of Video Production podcast is a weekly opportunity for video production business owners, aspiring production company owners or people who work in the industry, to take some time to think about one aspect of the business and then hopefully take an idea and run with it and put it into action.