How Many Videos Does a Small Business Actually Need?
A twelve-month plan with counts by purpose, costed in credits and pounds.
Most small businesses need around twenty to twenty-five videos a year, not one: a flagship explainer, four product or service films, twelve short answer videos, four onboarding films and two campaign pieces. That is about 1,800 credits, or eighteen finished minutes, which costs GBP 116 a year in AutoScribble credit packs.
The short answer
A small business usually needs a programme rather than a single film. A realistic first year is one flagship explainer, four product or service videos, twelve short answer videos, four onboarding or training films and two campaign pieces — around twenty-three videos.
At AutoScribble lengths that is roughly 1,800 credits, or eighteen finished minutes, which is GBP 116 a year bought as credit packs. The plan below breaks it down by purpose so you can cut it to fit.
Why counting by purpose beats counting by month
"One video a month" is the most common plan and the least useful one, because it says nothing about what the videos are for. Teams following it run out of ideas by March.
Our judgement: counting by purpose fixes that. Each video answers a question someone actually asks — what do you do, how does this feature work, why is this priced like that, how do I get started. The list writes itself from your inbox and your sales calls, and it never runs dry.
It also changes the purchase. One film is a one-off cost; twenty-three is a budget line, and budget lines get planned properly.
How to build your own twelve-month list
An hour with a notepad gets you a year of content.
- Write the flagship first: the one film that explains what your business does, for the homepage. This is the one worth the most care.
- List every product, service or plan you sell. Each gets one explainer.
- Open your support inbox and your sales notes, and pull out the ten questions that come up most. Each becomes a short answer video.
- List the things a new customer has to learn in week one. Those are your onboarding films.
- Add any fixed dates: a launch, a seasonal push, a conference.
- Now assign a length to each. Answer videos are 30 seconds, explainers 60, the flagship 120.
- Total the credits — 50, 100 and 200 for 30, 60 and 120 seconds — and price it against packs and plans before you commit.
The twelve-month video plan
A realistic first year for a small business. Credit and price figures from live AutoScribble pricing records, checked 13 September 2026.
- Cheapest way to buy 1,800 credits: a 1,500-credit pack at GBP 89 plus three 100-credit packs at GBP 9 each, so GBP 116 for the year.
- Compared with a plan: Starter is GBP 19 a month, GBP 228 a year, and delivers 3,600 credits — twice what this plan needs. At this volume, packs cost less; plans win when your monthly rhythm is steady and higher.
- Our judgement: start with packs and move to a plan when you find yourself buying one most months.
| Purpose | How many | Length each | Credits | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flagship explainer — what the business does | 1 | 120 seconds | 200 | Sits on the homepage for years. The one film worth spending real time on. |
| Product or service explainers | 4 | 60 seconds | 400 | One per thing you sell, for its own page and for sales emails. |
| Answer videos — the questions you keep getting | 12 | 30 seconds | 600 | One a month, straight from your inbox. The cheapest content you will ever make. |
| Onboarding and how-to films | 4 | 60 seconds | 400 | Cuts the same explanation out of every new customer conversation. |
| Campaign or seasonal pieces | 2 | 60 seconds | 200 | Launches, seasonal pushes, events. |
| TOTAL | 23 videos | 18 finished minutes | 1,800 | Roughly GBP 116 a year in credit packs |
Scaling the plan up or down
The shape holds at different sizes; only the counts change.
Just starting: the flagship plus three answer videos. Four videos, 350 credits, GBP 31 in packs — and your 100 welcome credits cover the first finished minute of it.
Growing, content-led: double the answer videos to two a month and add a second flagship for a new market. Around 3,000 credits a year.
A team publishing weekly: fifty-plus videos, 5,000 credits or more, at which point a monthly plan or a large pack is the sensible purchase. Pro is GBP 49 a month for 1,000 credits, which is the lowest cost per credit of the smaller options.
What goes wrong
Making one video and stopping. A single film gets a fortnight of attention and then sits there. The programme is what compounds.
Starting with the flagship and burning out. The homepage film is the hardest one to agree on internally. Our judgement is to make two answer videos first: they are quick, low-stakes, and they teach you what your scripts should sound like.
Buying a big plan in month one. Buy credits as you need them until your rhythm is real, then switch. Overbuying a plan in January is the most common way this budget gets wasted.
Making twenty-three videos realistic
The plan only works if each film is cheap in effort as well as money. On AutoScribble you type or paste the idea — or a script you already have — choose orientation, narration voice, length and an optional logo, and get a narrated whiteboard explainer back to watch, download and share by private link.
Answer videos in particular take minutes: paste the reply you already wrote to a customer, pick 30 seconds, and it becomes a film you can send to the next person who asks.
Next step
Write your own list by purpose, total the credits, then check it against the pricing page. If the total is under about 2,500 credits a year, packs will be cheaper than a plan.
See what your video would cost
Free to write and rewrite. Credits are only used when you generate.
Common questions
- How many videos does a small business need?
- Around twenty to twenty-five a year for most small businesses: one flagship explainer, four product or service films, twelve short answer videos, four onboarding films and two campaign pieces. That is about eighteen finished minutes, which costs GBP 116 a year in AutoScribble credit packs at prices checked on 13 September 2026.
- How often should a business post video content?
- Our judgement is that a short answer video once a month is a sustainable rhythm for a small team, with the bigger explainers made when something changes — a new product, a new plan, a launch. Weekly publishing is a different commitment and needs a content plan and a budget to match.
- What videos should a small business make first?
- Make two short answer videos before the flagship. They are quick, low-stakes and they teach you what your scripts should sound like. Then make the film that explains what your business does, because that one sits on the homepage for years and deserves the practice you just had.
- How much does a year of video content cost?
- For a twenty-three video plan totalling 1,800 credits, GBP 116 a year bought as credit packs — a 1,500-credit pack at GBP 89 plus three 100-credit packs at GBP 9. A monthly Starter plan is GBP 19 a month, GBP 228 a year, and suits a steadier, higher rhythm. Prices from live records, checked 13 September 2026.
- Is a monthly plan or credit packs better for a content plan?
- At under roughly 2,500 credits a year, packs cost less. Above that, or whenever you find yourself buying a pack most months, a plan is better value: Pro is GBP 49 a month for 1,000 credits, which is a lower cost per credit than any pack under 5,000.