A listener sent me a question earlier this year that I think many video production business owners have quietly wondered about.

He wrote:
“With your help, insight, and ongoing guidance, do you think it’s possible to earn over $500K a year in total turnover?”

It’s a short question, but there’s a lot inside it. And I love it because it’s direct and honest.

At some point, every business owner hits a stage where that question starts to form. You’ve been working hard for years. You’re proud of what you’ve built. You’ve got regular work and clients who value you. But a part of you starts to wonder if there’s another level.

You see other people posting big numbers and think, Is that actually possible for me?
You don’t want hype or fluff. You want a straight answer.

So let’s talk about what it really takes to build a half-million-dollar-plus video production business and what you might need to change to get there.

And of course, 500K is just one number.

Maybe your goal is to reach six figures. Maybe you’re aiming to grow from six to seven. The same principles apply.

Possibility vs Guarantee

Let’s start with the most important point.

No one can guarantee your results.

Anything worthwhile you create comes from your own decisions, actions, and standards.

But that’s not really what the question is asking.
You’re not asking for a promise. You’re asking whether it’s possible.

And the answer is yes.

It’s absolutely possible. I know because I’ve done it myself and exceeded that number year after year. I know what it looks like to run a lean, professional, creative business that consistently turns over more than $500K.

I’ve also helped other production company owners do it.

It isn’t luck or timing. It’s a series of choices that add up.

You position your business properly.
You attract the right clients.
You build strong relationships.
You price confidently.
And you create systems that scale.

That’s what leads to results.

When I work with coaching clients, I show them the map because I’ve walked it myself. And I support them as they build their own version of it.

Turnover vs Profit

Before we go further, it’s worth pausing on one important distinction: turnover and profit are not the same thing.

You can have a business that turns over half a million and still feel like you’re barely keeping up.

I worked with a client who was in exactly that situation when we started working together.

On the surface, it all looked good. He was busy with projects, managing crews, paying freelancers, keeping his gear current, handling insurance, and staying across cash flow. From the outside, it looked like success.

But behind the scenes, it was stressful. He was working long hours, constantly juggling deadlines, and after expenses, his income wasn’t much higher than when he was working solo.

At first, it felt like a badge of honour to have a team of four and be constantly booked. But after a while, that shine wore off when he realised how little he was taking home for the stress he was carrying.

That’s where our work began, shifting focus from how much the business earned to how much he actually kept.

Turnover might sound impressive, but profit is what creates freedom.

Profit is what allows you to take time off, hire help, or reinvest in your business. Profit is what gives you space to breathe, to think clearly, and to enjoy the work again.

If you’re aiming for $500K turnover, make sure the deeper goal is a healthy margin. That’s what really matters.

Why This Goal Matters

For most people at this stage of life and career, this isn’t about chasing numbers for bragging rights.

There’s plenty of posturing online, people talking about six-figure and seven-figure businesses, often exaggerating or feeding illusions. That kind of self-promotion doesn’t interest me.

The truth is, hardly anyone else cares what your business turns over. So don’t build for likes or validation. Build because you want stability, freedom, and meaningful work.

Many of us are in our prime earning years. We have families, mortgages, and responsibilities. We want to build assets and create choices.

In today’s economy, $500K isn’t extravagant. With higher living costs and inflation, that figure represents a solid, sustainable business, one that pays you properly and still leaves room for growth.

That’s why I see it as not just possible, but necessary.

If your business can’t eventually get there, it’s worth asking why. Because if you’re taking on the stress and complexity of running a company, you deserve to be rewarded for it.

If you want a job, you can get one. But if you want to run a business, you should be well compensated for the effort and risk you’re carrying.

Hard Work, Simple Path

I’ll never say it’s easy. If it were, everyone would do it.

It takes discipline, focus, and persistence. But the path is relatively simple.

To achieve uncommon results, you have to take actions that most people avoid.

You have to implement consistently.
You have to leave your comfort zone.
You have to challenge your assumptions and push through fear.
You have to make hard decisions and stick with them.

That might mean setting boundaries with clients.
It might mean saying no to low-value work even when it feels risky.
It might mean restructuring your pricing or offers around results rather than hours.

It’s about becoming strategic instead of reactive.

The people who reach this level aren’t necessarily more talented. They just have a clear plan and work it consistently.

They build systems.
They delegate.
They learn marketing and positioning.
They stop trying to do everything alone and start running a proper business.

How to Actually Do It

To build a $500K plus business, you need a solid foundation.

That means going beyond word of mouth and repeat business. Both are valuable, but they’re not predictable enough to scale.

If you rely only on referrals, you’re dependent on outside forces. You can have a few busy months followed by a long quiet stretch.

To grow past that, you need a dependable way of generating work.

You need an offer that converts, something genuinely useful that you know people want. And you need a way to present it, drive leads, and convert them into clients.

That could come through pay-per-click ads, LinkedIn outreach, or networking. The channel doesn’t matter as much as mastering one of them.

Pick one and refine it until you can consistently generate and close leads. Once you reach that point, you can start to scale confidently. You can hire, invest in marketing, and reduce your personal workload.

Start with one channel. Learn it deeply. Study it. Seek out experts. Do whatever it takes to turn that channel into a predictable system.

Once you have that foundation, build your marketing machine.

Unless you’re a natural salesperson who thrives on persuasion and charisma, you’ll need marketing to back you up.

That’s exactly what I did. I built a marketing system so I didn’t have to rely on selling through enthusiasm or pressure.

The better I got at marketing, the less I needed to sell.

Clients came to me pre-sold. They’d read my website and seen that we understood their industry, their challenges, and their goals. They saw proof of results, stories from other clients, and examples of our process.

It built trust before we ever spoke.

That’s the power of marketing.

Step three is learning to sell in a way that feels natural to you.

For me, facing my fears about sales and developing my own method was life-changing. It helped me grow my business, but also my confidence and independence.

And finally, build your production machine, a smooth, profitable process for creating and delivering work.

That’s the formula I use in my business and what I teach my coaching clients. Each stage has smaller steps within it, but those are the big four:

Build one reliable marketing channel
Create a marketing machine
Learn how to sell
Streamline production

That’s how you reach the next level.

Growing Into the Goal

Beyond the tactics and systems, there’s something deeper.

To build a $500K business, you have to grow into that kind of person.

Someone who makes decisions confidently.
Who manages money wisely.
Who thinks long-term.
Who doesn’t let fear control every move.

The growth is internal as much as external.

When you start seeing yourself as someone capable of running a business at that level, your behaviour changes.

You stop taking scraps.
You stop apologising for your pricing.
You start thinking like an owner.

That shift can be uncomfortable at first, but it’s powerful. Once you make it, you can’t go back.

Being Coachable

One of the most important traits in reaching $500K and beyond is being coachable.

That simply means being open.

It means recognising that you don’t have to know everything.

When I first started getting coached, I realised how many of my beliefs weren’t helping me anymore.

At the start, I resisted help. I told myself no one understood my business like I did. But that mindset kept me stuck.

When I finally opened up to feedback and new ideas, everything changed.

Being coachable isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom. It’s knowing that someone who’s been where you want to go can help you see what you can’t see alone.

Belief and Mentorship

There’s something powerful about belief.

When someone sees potential in you before you see it yourself, that belief can carry you forward.

When I was starting out, I had people who believed in me, a coach, my wife, a few close friends. They saw what was possible long before I did.

That belief helped me push through the limits I’d set for myself.

That’s what good coaching does. It holds a bigger vision for you until you can hold it on your own.

I’ve seen this many times with my clients. Sometimes, one honest conversation helps them realise their goal isn’t out of reach. It’s just waiting for them to believe it’s possible and start taking action.

The Next Right Thing

When a goal feels far away, the best mindset I know is simple. Do the next right thing.

You don’t need the entire plan. You just need the next step.

If your goal is $500K, start by identifying the one thing that will move you forward this month.

It might be improving lead generation.
It might be refining your pricing.
It might be building better systems so you have time to think.

Instead of asking, can someone get me there, ask, what would one month of focused, intentional work do for me?

Maybe it’s rewriting your website so it converts better.
Maybe it’s improving your proposals or sales conversations.
Maybe it’s reviewing expenses so you can keep more of what you earn.

Progress comes from stacking small, smart actions. One right step after another.

That’s how you build something strong.

Final Reflection

So, can you make more than $500K in your video production business?

Yes.

It’s absolutely possible. But it’s not automatic.

It’s earned through clarity, focus, and consistent action.

And it starts with a decision to become the kind of business owner who expects more from themselves and from their business.

The demand for video is still growing. The opportunity is there. The people who succeed are the ones who choose to play at a higher level.

Outro

If this has sparked something in you, maybe a sense that you’re ready to take things more seriously, I’d love to help.

You can learn more about my coaching at ryanspanger.com/coaching

That’s where you’ll find details on how I work with production company owners to refine their positioning, improve sales, increase profit, and build businesses that truly support their lives.

Keep taking the next right step, and you’ll get there.

Can You Make More Than $500K in Video Production?