Top tips for growing your TV production business

Despite being hit by unprecedented challenges over the last few years, the TV production sector has shown remarkable resilience, even triggering a ‘production boom’. However, with producers recording a 10-20% increase in costs* and a resultant squeeze on margins, as well as a shortage of talent, the path to sustained growth may seem unclear. Given that strong audience demand for content continues to fuel the market, there are, nevertheless, plenty of opportunities for scaling up your business; careful consideration of your options, both for the short and long term, is key.

Tips for TV production businesses looking to grow

• Seek funding. To grow, a production company needs money. You will likely have to secure a business loan or reach out to investors to secure the capital required to grow your business.
• Look for “Smart Money” where the right investor can provide you with funds as well as valuable and useful expertise and connections which complement the skillsets already in your business.
• Consider Private Equity. PE houses aim to achieve three times their investment within three to five years. Clearly define opportunities for growth and exit strategies in your pitch.
• Make sure you are armed with all the relevant information. Potential investors will lose interest quickly if up-to-date financials, KPIs and forecast data cannot be provided.
• Consider all your options. Equity is not the only solution; debt can provide a less time consuming and cheaper alternative to bridge the funding gap.
• Creative industry tax relief can provide repayable credits for an early-stage business that is yet to become profitable, improving cash flow. Seek advice to ensure you have maximised your claim.
• Explore, determine and find your niche. What type of content do you plan to create? It’s important to narrow your company’s brand identity to guide you when choosing projects to produce.
• Find channel partners. A channel partner is a company or an individual who will bring you repeat business from their own clients. This will provide your growing business with consistent demand, while introducing you to a wider network of clients who could bring in multiple projects a year.
• Produce proof-of concept projects. When your business is in its growth phase you may want to produce some shorter and cheaper samples to show off your voice and capabilities. Condensed pilots can be selling tools for convincing studios and investors to finance full-length projects.
• Develop a comprehensive training programme to offset any skills gaps. Movement of talent from bigger budget shows where roles can be quite narrow to smaller production businesses where roles are often broader can reveal gaps in knowledge.
• Work with advisers and investors you like and trust – it will be both a challenging and exciting journey. Did we forget to mention that Moore Kingston Smith have a team dedicated to strategic growth and M&A in the media sector?

How we can help

Contact us to find out more about how you can grow your TV production business.

Sources

• Creative industry tax reliefs for Corporation Tax
• How to Start a Production Company in 12 Steps
• 11 Tips to Grow Your Video Production Company
• How To Grow Your Production Company
• New research published into skills shortages across the nations and UK regions

*Pact Costs Survey Report 2022