Video production · 6 min read
What business video really costs — before the camera rolls
The crew, shoot time and editing choices that change the quote, plus the simplest way to get more from one day.
The short answer
For a UK small business, a single simple promo or social video typically runs from a few hundred pounds for a half-day phone-and-lighting shoot to around £1,500–£3,000 for a scripted brand film with a two-person crew. The price is driven by shoot length, how many finished edits you need, and whether you need scripting, actors, voiceover or motion graphics.
By Raja Wahab, Co-founder, Fixby Studios · Published · 6 min read
The five choices that change the quote
- Shoot time. A half day on site costs far less than two days across multiple locations.
- Crew size. One operator is cheapest; adding sound, lighting or a second camera adds cost and quality.
- Deliverables. One long film is one edit. Ten social cuts in two aspect ratios is ten more.
- Pre-production. Scripting, storyboarding and casting are real work and should be priced separately.
- Post-production. Motion graphics, colour grading, licensed music and subtitles all add hours.
| Project | Typical scope | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Social content day | Half day, one location | Several short vertical clips with captions |
| Service or product film | One day, scripted | One 60–90 second film plus short cuts |
| Brand film | One to two days, crewed | Scripted film, interviews, motion graphics |
Shoot once. Turn it into a month of content.
- Shoot once, cut many times. Book one day and plan every clip you'll need for the next quarter.
- Use your real premises and real staff instead of hired locations and actors.
- Write the key messages before the shoot day, not after.
- Agree the number of revision rounds up front — usually two is plenty.
Four ways a good shoot gets wasted
- Commissioning one polished film and nothing to post in between.
- Forgetting vertical versions, then cropping heads out of frame later.
- No captions, when most people watch without sound.
- No call to action, so a good video produces no enquiries.
“Cost follows three things: days on site, number of finished edits, and extras like scripting or voiceover.”
The moment video starts paying for itself
Video earns its keep when it removes a doubt. A walkthrough of your workshop, a thirty-second explanation of how your quote works, or a short clip of a finished job answers the question a customer would otherwise email you about. Put those clips on the relevant service page as well as on social, so the same shoot works twice.
Your questions
- How much should a small business spend on video?
- Start with one shoot day that produces a batch of short clips. That gives you months of content for a single fee rather than paying per video.
- How long does a video project take?
- Usually two to four weeks: a planning call, one shoot day, then editing and two rounds of revisions.
- Do I need a script?
- You need key messages. A full script helps for a brand film; for social clips, bullet points and a confident speaker work better.
- Can you film on location in West Yorkshire?
- Yes. We're based in Huddersfield and film across Kirklees and West Yorkshire, including Leeds, Bradford, Halifax and Wakefield.
Raja Wahab is co-founder of Fixby Studios, a Huddersfield studio building websites, SEO, social media and business software for small, owner-managed businesses across West Yorkshire.
Next step
Let's get your business seen.
A free video plan: what to film, where to post it, what it costs.
Fixby Studios builds websites, runs SEO and manages social media for small businesses across Huddersfield and West Yorkshire. Talk to us about video and content
Prefer to talk it through? Contact Fixby Studios, email info@fixbystudios.co.uk or call 07737 067552.
