Brief Investment Memorandum

Children's studio "Fan-Chulan" is an "island" in the shopping center, which forms a kind of room for creativity and development of children from 3 to 14 years old.

The concept of the project is ingenious and simple: there is a shopping center and an owner who is interested in its attendance, there are parents who want to do shopping without worrying about their children, and there is "Fan-Chulan" - an art studio for children with trained staff, offering with interest and useful to spend time with children while parents are busy shopping.

In the studio, children are engaged in modeling and drawing under the supervision of trained consultant teachers. In addition to providing services for organizing children's leisure, the children's studio also retails goods for children's creativity of its own production.

All materials and tools used, creative kits provided to children as part of their stay in the art studio and offered for purchase are absolutely environmentally friendly and safe for children.

The demand for opening such children's studios is due to the increase in the birth rate in the country over the past 5 years.

Target audience of studios: parents with children from 3 to 14 years old who visit shopping centers.

Average check - 350 rubles.

The average permeability of one point per month is 500 people.

Monthly revenue from 150 to 420 thousand rubles. per month (depending on the passability of the point and the standard of living of the population in the region).

Net profit per month - from 80 to 150,000 thousand rubles. from the first month of operation.

Payback in 6-7 months from the start of the project.

2. Business: services for children

Description of the business, product or service

The network of art studios "Fan Chulan" is an island of creativity at shopping centers, where each child can find an exciting activity, while their mothers and fathers are shopping or relaxing in the shopping center.

Advantages of "Fan Chulan":

• For the shopping center - an additional service for visitors with children.
• For parents - a convenient way to keep the child engaged in developmental activities while shopping.
• For children - exciting and innovative types of creativity, the opportunity to express themselves.
• For the owner of the studio - a ready-made and complete concept of a children's studio, in a convenient and advantageous location in a shopping center.

Service characteristics

Fan closet combines a unique format of a developing studio and a retail store selling high-quality goods for children's creativity with an interesting concept and stable demand.

In the Fan Chulan art studios, children remain under the supervision of sensitive teachers who always find an individual approach to each child.

In the studio, children can:

• paint a gypsum 3D toy,
• create your own souvenir,
• mold your own toy from a light mass for modeling,
• create any piece of furniture or design postcard

All samples in the studios are very colorful and bright, thanks to modern materials (light mass for modeling and plaster figurines for coloring). The samples are thought out in detail and made by craftsmen so that children can easily repeat the product or create their own special toy.

"Fan-Chulan" uses modern and safe materials, provides all the necessary tools and kits for children's creativity.

Children take great pleasure in picking up their own crafts that they can give to their beloved mothers, fathers, grandparents.

Our company slogan: Fang Chulan helps to admire the creativity of children.

Additional paid services of the art studio:

3. Marketing analysis of the market

Description of the market

Target audience of studios: parents with children from 3 to 14 years old visiting shopping malls.

Target audience characteristics:

• Gender, occupation and lifestyle do not directly affect the definition of clients,
• Average and above average income
• Secondary and higher education
• Marital status: both married and divorced, the main thing is the presence of children aged 3 to 14 years.

The steady growth in the birth rate in the country over the past 5 years is one of the important indicators: for the period from 2010 to 2014. another "army of small clients" of studios has grown up.

Also in our time, the stage of urbanization continues, which occurred at the beginning of the 2000s - this is the construction and opening of shopping centers in large cities, which support interest with promotions, seasonal, holiday sales and other marketing projects. A family trip to such centers is already a tradition of a “day off” for many citizens.

In addition, recently there has been a trend of active development of the market for goods for children's creativity. This segment has great potential for development. The demand for goods for children's creativity does not depend on seasonal fluctuations: the demand for them is stable throughout the year.

Demographic rise + demand for goods for children's creativity + growth in the number of shopping centers = demanded and relevant business in the service sector for children.

4. Promotion of the children's studio

Sales and Marketing

The target audience

Despite the fact that the main clients of the art studio are children, the target audience is parents.

Fan Chulan Art Studio gives parents the opportunity to engage their child in creative activities while visiting shopping centers. Parents do not need to adjust to the schedule, do not need to take the child to separate places, do not need to wait for the child during classes. You can combine personal affairs with the development of the child.

Information dissemination channels

Holding thematic events and master classes on the territory of the art studio. To maintain constant interest in the studios, it is necessary to hold a series of themed events where customers can get acquainted with the release of a new collection, take part in a master class on creating new toys, participate in contests and receive gifts from the company.

Create products for sale

"Sets for creativity Fan-Chulan".

From raw materials (mass for modeling and gypsum), the company "Fan-Chulan" makes branded sets for creativity. Each set includes everything you need to create a character (material for work, instructions, tools, bright packaging). In each studio, the client can purchase a set for creativity at an affordable price.

Working on a customer relationship system

Development of a system of discounts and bonuses for regular customers, congratulations on holidays, gift certificates and more.

Dissemination of information about the studios in the media, social networks, development of promotions and seasonal offers, etc. The PR component consists in participation in social projects, art exhibitions, interaction with the media on a partnership basis.

Merchandising

Display of goods in order to best demonstrate the product to the client.

People who can draw usually dream of being in-demand artists, fashion designers, or highly paid decorators. However, there are romantics who dream of creating cartoons. Daria Skripka, the lead animator of the Melnitsa studio, told us about how to become an animator and the intricacies of the profession.

How to get into the profession

If there is a desire, talent, ability, then it is not difficult. People come to us who initially do not know how to make animation. They study at courses and after these courses they already work. I myself came in the same way five years ago. At first, I didn’t understand anything when I started making scenes from projects, but slowly I got the hang of it. I had only a classical art education and sketches. My employers liked the way I draw, and they decided that I could be taught animation.

It doesn't matter either the crust or what you finished there. Here we have an amazing animator in the team, she has a law degree, but she draws great, she feels the rhythm, the character of the characters. At the interview, the candidate is usually offered to take a test - they ask some character and say what he should do. Need to draw it. Just one picture.

Very creative personalities often come, but for them, of course, work in production is flour. Here you need to understand that you work in a team. This is the hardest part. One film is made by 200 people: artists, animators, composers. Making a film is an assembly line. Too creative looking for the embodiment of their ideas, but here you need to do one big thing. Of course, the presence of artistic taste is also important for us. It's great when the animator has his own vision of the scene, and you don't tell him every time: "Well, please, make it cool here." In general, to work as an animator in a commercial studio, you need to be the golden mean: on the one hand, you must have taste, ambition and talent, and on the other hand, the ability to work in a team and in production, fit into the standards.

I'm the lead animator now. I supervise the creation of scenes. If the animator fails to draw, then I help him, if he does not know what to do, then I suggest. In general, becoming a host is not so difficult if you are a sociable person and you are doing well with animation. There would be a desire.

How animation is created

The process of creating frame-by-frame animation has not changed much since Disney's Snow White - we still use tracing paper and a skylight table. Of course, we also have Cintiq graphic monitors in our production. The principle of operation on them is the same as with tracing paper, you just don’t need to remove and mount each tracing paper, that is, transfer it to a computer, but simply press a button and everything will be played. You can't even get some animators to sit down at the Cintiq. Not everyone can draw emotionally on the monitor. Some get used to it, and some draw so well on tracing paper that it’s just a pity to put them at the computer.

Work on the table-clearance

Even when creating 3D animation, sketches are made by hand. It happens like this: in front of me is a monitor with a blank character on it. I need to animate it. As a rule, even very experienced animators face great difficulty in order to put the character in some kind of natural pose. And he makes sketches. Literally goes and draws from nature or asks a neighbor to pose. Then this pose is transferred to a 3D blank.

Working on a graphics monitor

In general, one full-length film in the traditional frame-by-frame animation technique is drawn for about a year. We also need to take into account the concept development process, which can take two or three years. The director and his team first come up with all the characters, work out the plot. Only then it comes to drawing backgrounds and creating animations. In addition, there are still many alterations. This inevitably happens in any studio, even in such cool as Pixar. They had been doing one movie for five years, and a month before the deadline, they decided to change the main character and they had to redo everything. Constant changes are the norm. Only in finished form can you see and understand what was right and what was not. There can be no exact recipes in animation, you cannot know in advance what will turn out in the end, no matter what experience you have. This is what Disney said. Even very experienced people, without seeing the whole scene in advance, cannot say that there will be no problems with it.

Dreams of an animator

Of course, I dream of making something authorial and short, but creating a film of any length is a titanic work. But the word "author's" implies that it should not look like anything. I'm still working on this. Perhaps sometime. Of course, this does not bring money, unlike working at the studio. In general, a good animator will always find a use for himself. You can also work in advertising, and on computer games. The field of activity is wide. Good Russian animators can get jobs in large Western studios like Disney. There would be a desire. In general, everything is possible if you want and do it.

If you want to make a cartoon at home, you can use some programs. There is a Flash program where most of the animation is done for you by the computer, but, of course, the quality leaves much to be desired. This is an unconscious animation. You just do one phase, the second and something happens there. You may not even understand what your timing, spacing, what you have between these phases. And that's just animation. It is one thing to draw a picture, and another thing to make a movement. There are more advanced programs. Toon Boom, for example. It is, of course, more complicated, but at home you can master it and do something.

Photo: Alexey Danilov

Soviet animation and its traditions contain deep roots. The Russian market, as they say, has not yet settled down. Many professional animators have to look for income from commercials in commercials to "adult" cartoons and mobile animation.

Igor Ganzha has been the owner of the Antimult Msk studio since 2008. He bought the studio from the former co-owners and joined the project, the annual turnover of which amounted to $ 1.5 million. He was going to cover new areas for the sale of his goods, one of which is the creation of cartoons at the request of TV channels. Antimult Msk actively works with all media. The studio also worked with the Advertising Industry magazine, the Mail.ru Internet portal and others.

At the moment, participants in the Russian animation market are looking for earnings. Few are lucky. For example, the cartoon "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" grossed $9 million at the box office, which is a good estimate for Russia.

You may be wondering where the money is being made from? The answer is simple, advertising. After all, it is she who brings the main money in the animated environment. Even many animation studios in Russia have portfolios that contain various videos.

If you think about it, then advertising makes a profit in a cartoon environment. For example, Alexander Timofeev, general director of the Tunguru animation studio, said: “Advertising is the most profitable point, an appendage of strength to start-up studios.” Animation studio "Tunguru" was involved in advertising, and the release of music videos.

Everything would be fine if it were not for animation competitors on the market - video spots. After all, animation is a handicraft that costs more than ordinary commercials. This process has its own difficulties. An inexpensive commercial will cost 5 thousand dollars, since each second costs at least 400 dollars, based on this, such work is much more expensive. There are cheap cartoons too, 15 seconds out for $750. At the same time, the final result will be discreet, no details, improvements, and background.

If the advertising business goes upstream, and constant orders come in, keeping the operators busy, then in this way the studio can earn good money. Minor studios can release up to 3 videos per month, which allows you to make a turnover of up to 50 thousand euros. But the client does not like to order a simple animated advertisement, because he considers it not serious. Therefore, no matter how sad it sounds, such a stereotype covers the whole world. To do this, you have to endure a strong rivalry.

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Perhaps the studio is able to survive at the expense of some large clients for whom animation in advertising is not an empty phrase. However, this is a risk. A small number of orders will not give confidence in the future, and in one moment all this can collapse. Only those who have achieved recognition on TV can get out of this situation.

To a certain extent, cartoons were and are part of television, but at the moment the benchmark is towards the adult generation. The Tunguru and Antimult companies have proven themselves remarkably well in this area. All this thanks to the well-known to this day actress Nelli Uvarova, who played the role of Ekaterina Pushkareva in the TV series "Don't Be Born Beautiful." After it was shown, the series became famous, and the animation studio "Tunguru" set about creating a parody of the series. Supporting a TV series was originally an idea, but the series soon dropped in ratings and became less famous as it took on a life of its own. And then it was decided to release new episodes of this series, which made it more likely to be optimistic about the future.

In addition to all this, the studios intend to produce animated series for a group of people aged 16 and over. Not fully understanding the true possibilities of such animation, TV channels of various kinds of projects show significant caution. And in many ways, the price plays a major role, since a decent cartoon has a price of 200 - 300 thousand dollars, which is considered much more expensive than ordinary TV shows. The animated environment has very little air time, only 5-10 minutes. The 2x2 channel is actively engaged in buying all the cartoon content from Russian animators, having earned itself considerable popularity among children and adults. But still, the channel is not ready to buy out the rights to content or invest large amounts of money to support animation studios, since the issue of price is aggravated.

There is another source of income as well. For example, let's take the Percemolka animation studio, which was born in 2007 and offered its work to Channel Five. On the one hand, this is considered cost-effective, since the channel was able to buy content at cost. You might think that everything is bad... Nevertheless, there are people who believe that not everything is lost for Russian animation. The way out here is not recognition on TV. Such demand for products is born only among potential customers. It is believed that animation will be able to take a major leap forward in the near future through the development of the Internet, Mobile TV, and so on. Bypassing TV, you can acquire your consumer, which means continuous orders for studios and opportunities for stable growth and development in the future.

There are available channels that work on the mobile network, this can also be attributed to the sales market. However, animation currently has a small percentage on any TV channel, and the conclusion suggests itself that animation is still only a small part of mobile channels and information.

Now Russian animation continues its way in improving its qualities. New ideas and options for stable income are being developed, this allows you to look forward optimistically without looking back. But this has to be said in the future tense.

But still, I would like to hope that everything will work out, and Russian animation will take pride of place on television and computer screens. In the meantime, we will observe how she moves towards this goal.

The birth of a child forced Moscow-based graphic designer Natalya Terenina to take a different look at her professional fulfillment: she decided to leave her job and find a more creative and inspiring occupation. At first, the girl wanted to open a cafe on the island of the shopping center, but her fantasy went further, and Natalya created her own art studio and the Gryadki-Pryatki cafe. The entrepreneur told Thirst about how she went from employee to entrepreneur and what helped her earn positive customer reviews.

creative perfectionism

From childhood, Natalia Terenina was a creative person: she was fond of applied arts and needlework, embroidered with beads, ribbons and satin stitch. After school, she entered the Humanitarian and Applied Institute at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute with a degree in graphic design. After graduating from high school, the girl got a job in her specialty, then became an art director and at the same time went to developing creative courses: compositing, 3D modeling, Japanese porcelain modeling, Luneville crochet embroidery.

Natalya Terenina: “I felt that I needed to somehow implement my creative ideas: at work I experienced stress, fatigue, responsibility, fear of letting me down, an eternal deadline. Although I worked in my specialty, I understood that this was not mine and I would not last long in this mode. I was thrown from side to side: no matter what courses I went to, because I quickly cooled down. I understood that in the new chosen direction I would not become the best, and I am a perfectionist.

The businesswoman notes that she cannot boast of a fascinating story of the origin of the idea of ​​the art studio "Beds-Hide and Seek". It all started with a banal motivation: to prove to loved ones that, being a wife and a young mother, she can do something worthwhile. After the birth of the child, Natalya thought: to return to her old job or to move in a different way? The desire to work for herself without prejudice to her husband and child won. The upbringing of her daughter helped the girl to understand that the topic of organizing children's parties was close to her: she liked to come up with design details - from invitations to napkins.

Limitless creativity

The young mother did not sit idle during the decree - she wanted to be useful. Natalia freelance - designed websites, developed logos, booklets, leaflets, corporate identity of the company. After some time, I realized that it was time to act, and decided to develop a project for my cafe on an island in a shopping center. The cafe was supposed to prepare and sell freshly squeezed juices, baked goods from healthy products, handmade sweets from natural juices; there were tables in case mothers wanted to enjoy drinks not on the run, but to keep the children busy with some kind of creative task.

Natalia Terenina: “The idea of ​​the project was born, but I couldn't formulate it. I knew that I wanted to do something with my own hands, to create “beauty”, but I did not imagine that my future activity would be connected with children. Together with my friends, we came up with the name for the project: we had a brainstorm and settled on the laconic name "Beds", which reflected the concept of the future brand, namely, a healthy "dacha" lifestyle. But circumstances and conditions have changed, it became possible to equip the whole family space, and not a separate rack.

A larger project, where “spectacles” were added to the “bread”, was called “Hide and Seek Beds”. The second part of the brand reflected the other side of the activity: the organization of children's parties, show programs, games, contests, animation, decor, creative and culinary master classes. The path from idea to project implementation took more than half a year: at the end of 2015, Natalya started developing a corporate identity, and her friend developed a design project for the studio. By April, the girls had completed the repairs and officially opened the art studio and the Gryadki-Hide-and-Seek cafe.

Action instead of reason

Since Natalya Terenina had no experience in starting a business, she consulted with friends and relatives who helped her resolve all formal issues. The entrepreneur did not choose the premises - she adjusted her project to the existing one, and relatives gave the funds for the start.

Natalya Terenina: “At first, I was terribly afraid that I would not justify my hopes, let myself and others down, and would not be able to return the funds received. But the support of relatives and my stubbornness helped. I didn’t have a way back, I didn’t think about competitors, but I just did everything 100%. I was frightened by the lack of knowledge of accounting and doing business in general, but my acquaintances advised me, and I quickly learned, quickly delving into the essence of the matter.

The owner of the garden-pryatki studio advises not to be afraid to make mistakes - they only make you stronger. It is important to believe in yourself, but not be naive: it is not a fact that customers will pour in to you immediately after opening, you need to earn each client with honest work, performing services above expectations, and a diligent attitude to business. Give more now and you will receive more in the future.

Natalya Terenina: “Learn constantly - any knowledge can be useful in business. Make a clear business plan, develop a strategy, look for like-minded people - at least three people. You will have to become a man-orchestra in order to understand all business processes: to be able to reduce all the numbers so as not to go into the red, to recognize people - the full responsibility for the business is still on you. Working with children requires a serious approach and responsibility, readiness for emergency situations, stress resistance. If other people’s children annoy you, you don’t like that the client starts writing three months before the organization of the holiday, you don’t know how to pull yourself together and solve problems in force majeure, then this business is not for you.

Above expectations

Today, Gryadki-Hide-and-Seek is an art studio and cafe where the whole family can come, a unique space for creative experiments, where courses, seminars and master classes are held. You can celebrate a child's birthday in the space: the studio staff will develop an idea, write a script, prepare a menu and decor, entertainment for children and parents. Two years of stable work helped to earn a good reputation and fame. In Moscow, there is a lot of competition in this area among holiday agencies that mainly work on the road, restaurants and children's entertainment centers, and family spaces.

Natalya Teterina: “We always do more than what is prescribed in a dry contract. We work individually with each parent, and even if the theme of the holidays is the same, because certain characters are in trend with children, the holidays still turn out to be different thanks to the careful, attentive, patient attitude towards each family. Tired, sweaty children are an indicator that there was a bomb-incendiary animation.

Components of a successful birthday at the Gryadki-Hide and Seek studio:

• interesting program, games and fun;
• attentive and talented animators;
• creative master classes;
• the culmination of fun is the removal of a birthday cake prepared by our own confectioner;
• the atmosphere of magic, thoughtful details and decor.

Recipe for success

The studio's clients are preschoolers aged 1-6, schoolchildren aged 7-11, teenagers aged 12-15 and their parents. The first clients did not come immediately: someone was passing by and accidentally stumbled upon a sign, someone read a leaflet, someone saw an advertisement on the Internet. Word of mouth worked best: the Gryadki-Hide and Seek team participated in thematic exhibitions and fairs, organized holidays for mothers with a large number of active followers on Instagram, and collaborated with the media and bloggers.

Natalya Terenina: “How difficult is it to fight for a client? It’s easy, if you do your job 101%, treat your customers with love and attention, then you won’t have to fight for it. On the contrary, he will wait for you, so that it is you who will render him a service.

The key to a successful business, according to the entrepreneur, is not only a special attitude towards customers, but also a team of like-minded people. Natalya did not manage to find professionals in her business right away - there were also disappointments. But experience and time helped to find responsible, attentive employees who love their work, children, sincerely want to give the child a holiday, and not just work out the event. Natalya advises not to evaluate a person only by a resume, you need to immediately “throw” him on a holiday and see him in action.

At the beginning of a long journey

The idea of ​​packing a business into a franchise did not come to the owner of the Gryadki-Pryatki brand right away - people themselves began to learn how to open such a space. The team has just recently launched a franchise, now negotiations and approvals are underway with potential partners. Under the brand name "Beds-Hide and Seek", an entrepreneur can organize an art cafe, a children's center, a family studio. The company's specialists will consult, analyze the market, select contractors and premises, draw up documents and bring to the first transaction.

Natalya Terenina: “We will try to make things easier, to remove all the fears that I originally had. Of course, the success of the business will depend on the diligence of the franchisee himself, and we will help you take the first steps, protect you from the mistakes that you yourself made. Gryadki-Pryatki is a business that is suitable for the fair sex and couples who dream of organizing interesting holidays and events for children in their own family studio, developing unique projects and earning good money.”

The plans for the development of the company include the sale of franchises and the opening of their own studios in Moscow, the entry into the market of souvenirs with branded characters: negotiations are underway with the Pinup brand on the release of badges, T-shirts, mugs and lamps are produced together with Gift for Baby, there is a desire to create short cartoons with brand bunnies.

"Hide-and-seek beds" in facts and figures

Year of brand creation

Opening a family space

Starting investments

From 800 thousand to 1.2 million rubles.

Room area

From 100 sq. m.

Minimum staff

2-3 people for the first time: customer service manager, decorator, confectioner (it is not necessary to keep on staff). The first two functions can be performed by yourself at first. Contractors for animation and show programs, photographer.

Monthly expenses

From 180 thousand rubles.

Monthly income

From 400 to 600 thousand rubles.

Net profit per month

From 220 thousand rubles.

Payback period

14 months.

Average number of clients per month

On weekdays - 5-15 children in various creative and preparatory courses; from Friday to Sunday 3-5 birthdays for 3-4 hours for 7-15 children and 7-15 adults.

Average check

Holiday complexes - from 18 to 42 thousand rubles, the average check for a birthday is 20 thousand rubles, 800 rubles / 1 child - a master class.

Seasonality, peak attendance

Festive events, birthdays, creative workshops, training sessions are held all 12 months of the year.

A new column dedicated to the workflow in the creative industries. In the “Team” section, we talk about how many people are needed to create a particular product (film, TV show, website, and so on), what are their responsibilities and whether they can be replaced by someone.

In this article, headings - the composition of the animation studio team. We find out which creative and technical specialists cannot be used to create animation, and the founders of Toondra studios and Max Sviridov's Plasticine Studio talk about their experience.

Hover over image for more information

Screenwriter

is responsible for the script of the cartoon, as in any other picture.

Director

the main person of the project, whose function is no less important than on the film project.

“In my opinion, it all depends on what kind of studio we are talking about. There are big studios and very small ones. For some it's business, others just going to have fun.

If we talk about the minimum, then there are cases when even one person is able to perform the entire range of work at a good level. But this happens infrequently. The most common division into roles in the process is: screenwriter, director, animators, illustrators, sound engineer, announcers.

It is also important what animation technique we are talking about: it’s one thing when it comes to, for example, a flash - it’s easier to do everything yourself, and in the case of 3D animation, there is almost always a division of labor: everyone is assigned their own role in the process. Although I know people who can do everything completely cool in 3D without anyone's help. But this rarely happens, because the volume of work is very large, and it is easier to focus on any one part of it. Plus, the speed of work, of course, depends on the number of people.

It often happens that the animator does everything himself, but when he has an increase in the flow of orders, he organizes his team, and that's where it all starts. The more work, the bigger the team. It often happens that people are gathered for a specific project, and then they disperse. For example, under some kind of animated series or feature film.

I myself don't like the big, long projects that studios tend to try to get. Of course, they bring a stable income, but at the same time an endless routine and fuss.”

Cartoonist

as a rule, not one, but several, depending on the project. The division of animators according to specifics depends on the type of cartoon (drawn, plasticine, puppet, 3D, etc.).

Illustrator

creates storyboards, titles, etc.

“For the full-fledged work of the animation studio, at least 16 people are needed.

Responsibilities are distributed as follows: director, screenwriter, production designer, composer, voice artists, animators (drawers, phasers, mierovshchik), animated half-phase layout designer, movement songwriter, director of photography, sound engineer, administrator, lighting designer .

People working in an animation studio often combine several functions: for example, a production designer can also be a phaser, and a cinematographer can be a lighting designer. But whatever one may say, the minimum number of people for a properly functioning animation studio is 16.”