“Production Costs” Have Nearly Reached Zero

Building an EC site costs 500,000 yen. A promotional video costs 300,000 yen. Outsourcing video editing costs 100,000 yen—.

Just a few years ago, this was the “normal estimate” for small businesses. However, this premise is now beginning to crumble.

“Nivroo,” which launches a dropshipping store in 60 seconds. “OpenMontage,” which automatically generates videos using AI. “Palmier-Pro,” an AI video editor for macOS. What these tools have in common is the goal of “bringing production costs as close to zero as possible.”

The question is simple. What happens when costs disappear? And what should small businesses compete with?

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Building an EC Site: 500,000 Yen → Almost 0 Yen, 60 Seconds

What Nivroo does is straightforward. Product selection, store design, payment setup, product page creation—AI fully automates all the necessary processes for dropshipping in just 60 seconds.

What was required to start dropshipping before? A monthly fee of several thousand to tens of thousands of yen for platform contracts like Shopify. Customizing designs cost between 50,000 to 200,000 yen. Product research and registration took anywhere from days to weeks. The total initial cost ranged from 100,000 to 500,000 yen, with a preparation period of 1 to 2 months being the norm.

Now, it takes just 60 seconds. The initial cost is at the level of a few thousand yen.

This change should not be dismissed as mere “convenience.” It signifies that the barriers to entry have vanished. In other words, having an “EC site” itself holds no value anymore. There is no competitive advantage in something that anyone can create in 60 seconds.

For local small businesses, this is both a threat and an opportunity. The threat is that competitors can appear instantly from anywhere in the country. The opportunity is that they too can have a “place to sell” in an instant.

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Video Production: 300,000 Yen → Below 5,000 Yen

OpenMontage is an AI platform that automatically generates promotional videos from text and simple instructions.

Previously, if you commissioned a production company to create a 30-second promotional video, it would cost between 200,000 to 500,000 yen for planning, shooting, and editing. Even hiring a freelancer would cost 100,000 to 150,000 yen, with delivery taking 2 to 4 weeks.

With OpenMontage, you can create videos for a few thousand yen, or even for free, in just a few minutes to half an hour. The quality is reaching a level that is “usable enough.” For short videos for social media, it’s already sufficient.

What this means is that “the ability to create videos” no longer differentiates businesses. Even a local company with five employees can post videos on social media every day. A company that could only produce one video a month can now produce ten videos a week.

Small businesses that used to outsource video production should pause and consider. Is it really necessary to continue outsourcing that 300,000 yen? Wouldn’t it be much more rational to mass-produce videos of 80 points with AI and allocate the saved budget to product development or customer service?

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The End of Specialized Editing Skills

Palmier-Pro is an AI video editor for macOS. It automatically handles most of the tasks previously known as “editing skills,” such as trimming footage, inserting subtitles, adding effects, and adjusting audio.

The hourly wage for video editors ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 yen. Editing a 10-minute video took 3 to 5 hours. This meant a cost of 10,000 to 25,000 yen per video. With an AI editor, this can be done for a few hundred to a few thousand yen, and in a fraction of the time.

What is coming to an end here? The excuse of “we can’t produce videos because we don’t have anyone who can edit.”

This is a common story in small businesses. “We don’t have anyone who can edit videos…” This problem no longer exists. The tools have solved it. The issue has completely shifted from “can we edit?” to “what do we want to convey?”

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The Real Question: What Becomes the Competitive Variable When “Production Costs” Disappear?

As the costs of building EC sites, producing videos, and editing videos approach zero, the rules of competition fundamentally change.

“The ability to create” is no longer a weapon. Everyone can do it.

So, what becomes the weapon? There are three factors.

1. The Ability to Discern “What to Sell”

EC sites can be built in 60 seconds. But AI cannot understand “what will make customers happy.” The local small businesses possess an on-the-ground intuition—”this is what is needed in this region” or “we can source this material that no one else can”—that cannot be replaced by tools.

2. The Trust in “Who Says It”

Videos can now be made by anyone. Therefore, information is overflowing. In this sea of information, the ones chosen are those who have the trust of the audience, as in, “if this person says it, I can believe it.” The history of long-established local companies, the stories that show the faces of craftsmen, and their connections to the community—these cannot be created overnight. There are times when a one-minute video from a local president speaking in their own words resonates much more than videos mass-produced by large companies using AI.

3. The Experience After “Selling”

When production costs disappear, products and content will overflow. The differentiation will occur “after the purchase.” After-sales support, community engagement, and mechanisms that encourage repeat purchases. This is the realm of human work, where nimble small businesses can outperform large corporations.

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What Small Businesses Should Do Today

Abstract discussions are unnecessary. What specifically should be done?

First, try it out.

Create one store with Nivroo. It takes 60 seconds. Make one video of your product with OpenMontage. It won’t take more than 30 minutes. Edit an existing video with Palmier-Pro. If there’s a free trial, the risk is zero.

You will understand once you try it. “Ah, I really don’t need to outsource this anymore.” Or, “This part still isn’t sufficient with AI.” That judgment cannot be made without hands-on experience.

Next, what should be done is the reallocation of saved costs and time. If you were spending 300,000 yen a month on video production, when that drops to 5,000 yen, what will you use the remaining 295,000 yen for? Product development, strengthening customer service, or exploring new sales channels? This “decision-making on reallocation” is the job of the business owner.

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Can You Realize What Is “Ending on Its Own”?

The danger of these kinds of tools is that companies that adopt them do not raise their voices. Competitors silently reduce costs to one-tenth. By the time you realize it, they are producing the same quality content at ten times the speed. You can no longer compete on price or volume.

The competition has been decided without you even knowing.

I want to ask the business owners of small companies who think, “This doesn’t concern us yet.” Is that really true? Is there any guarantee that your competitors are not launching stores with Nivroo and starting to mass-produce videos with OpenMontage at this very moment?

The tools are all available. It’s just a matter of whether to use them or not. That’s all.

In a world where production costs have reached zero, the weapons for small businesses to win are “discernment,” “trust,” and “experience.” Only companies that can focus on these three will survive the next five years.