So you want to go full-time...

[robertjewett]

In terms of photography, I am an absolute novice. I have exactly six months of experience in this arena, and from what I

can gather; I have a long way to go.

 

That being said, my knowledge in business is a bit better. While I am by no means an authority; I do have an MBA from a

top-ranked school, and several years under my belt as a business owner. For the last three years I have been a

consultant.

 

In an effort to give back to you guys, I thought I’d I am approaching this entire topic from a business perspective only; and

from what I can gather this approach might be the most beneficial to this community (as there seems to be no shortage of

those that would opine on the quality of your images).

 

I have one other small advantage. As far as this community goes, I am basically an outsider since I am so new. This can,

of course, lead to other issues (such as not understanding the exact terms, the market, etc.), but I am certain that many of

you will catch any errors I make in this area.

 

Onward and upward.

 

First. If one is going to be successful in any business, he/she must deal with reality as it sits. That is to say, an un-

varnished look at the product, the market, and demand is absolutely vital to success.

 

In photography in general (and on this forum in particular), I see a lot of people who become very emotionally involved in

the business side of photography. Now that emotion is an essential part of the creative side of the craft, but as far as

business goes—emotion will not assist you in the slightest.

 

Some of the first questions you will need to ask yourself are these:

• What is the product I produce?

• What is the demand for the product I produce?

• Who else is producing a similar product?

• Is their product different/better/worse than mine?

• Does their product compete directly with mine?

 

Once you have answered these questions as honestly as you can, check with other people in your area to see if they give

you the same answers. This is not the time to trust friends or family—many of them will have difficulty separating their

positive opinion of you from your work and/or market conditions. You MUST avoid self-serving bias here. Self serving bias

is a condition where we view our own work with a less critical eye than we would view others. If you find yourself looking at

a successful photogs work and you think, “He/she is not that great”, you might be engaging in this type of behavior. If they

are successful, they are either a good photog or they are good at marketing. In either case, you could learn from them.

 

Some places you could seek advice would be at local photography clubs, etc. I would talk people in related professions.

For example, I have found that other types of artists will gladly critique your work and may even have an idea of local market

conditions.

 

Let’s look at demand for a second. We all know about basic supply/demand equations. In short, if there is a glut of a

particular product on the market, price goes down. Now, photographers like to tell themselves that their work is better than

other photographers, and that it is art, etc. The real truth is this: Photography is a commodity as well as a luxury item. It

may not be these things to you, but in terms of the market as a whole, this product behaves like a luxury commodity. The

consumer is not as discerning as we would like, but there it is.

 

Another example of this phenomenon is cell phone carriers. Wireless companies spend billions of dollars every year to

differentiate themselves from each other and to convince their customers they are not selling a commodity. And…you too--

if you wish to be successful--will need to set yourself apart from your competition. Remember, you will probably exhaust

most of your immediate friends and family in the first 6 months.

 

If you wish to engage in a given profession full-time, you must realistically crunch the numbers to see if it is even possible.

Some important considerations are as follows:

 

• Do I need a studio?

o How much will this cost?

• How will I market myself? (Unless you are very, very good, word of mouth will not cut it).

o How much will this cost?

• Equipment

o How much will this cost?

• Insurance

o How much will this cost?

• Professional Associations

o How much will this cost?

• Ongoing Education

o How much will this cost?

• Transportation

o How much will this cost?

• Accountant/Bookkeeper

o How much will this cost?

• Assistants

o How much will this cost?

• Etc.

By now I think you see my point. If you want to hang with the “big boys/girls”, you will need a real budget.

 

So let’s just add up a couple of these numbers. Let’s say you just want to keep it simple, no studio, etc.

 

• How will I market myself? (Unless you are very, very good, word of mouth will not cut it).

o Newspapers, magazines, etc. $200/month

• Equipment

o Initial cash outlay; let’s say $4000 for a couple of decent lenses and a prosumer camera.

o Add another $2000 for some basic lighting/stands/tripods/gear.

o This doesn’t even include software, batteries, chargers, flash cards, gels, bags, and filters, etc. You will need all

of these things if you wish to separate yourself from the competition.

• Insurance

o Let’s say about $60 per month.

• Professional Associations?

o $50.00/month

• Ongoing Education

o None for now.

• Transportation

o Let’s say $200-500 a month.

• Accountant/Bookkeeper

o None, you do it yourself. Figure $250 just for year-end taxes.

• Assistants

o None for now.

• Etc.

o This is the one that will kill you because there are a lot of little things that you won’t be able to anticipate yet.

Let’s just say it’s $50 a month for website hosting, development, business cards, postage, etc.

 

Now you need to think about your salary. The average American in a major city needs to make a minimum of around $45K

per year. Let’s add this up.

 

Right now, you’ll need about $60K a year just to be where you are right now if you are making an annual salary of $45K.

Remember, there are a million little things that will most likely add at least another $10K on top of that (if you meet your

client at Starbucks, who’s buying the coffee?). So, let’s say we really need $70K. This means that you will need $5,833 a

month, rain or shine, summer or winter. If you were to shoot two weddings at $2500 a month and did 4 portrait sessions at

$200 each EVERY month, you just might hit this number. Remember, wedding seasons wax and wane. Some months you

may have none, some months you may have several. It is for this reason that most business plans assume enough funds to

cover the business in its entirety for over one year. These funds provide the float for the lean times.

 

Now, you have no assistants or office staff of any kind. Who is going to answer your phone, meet with clients, make

marketing decisions, etc.? Who is doing the editing, charging the batteries, printing the proofs, and picking up supplies?

Who is going to pay your quarterly taxes to the Fed’s or sales tax to the locals? Realistically, we are looking at about a 60

hour work-week just to break even. When are you going to take the seminars, learn software, research trends, continue to

improve? If you are working 60 hours a week, and your salary is $45K you’ll be making $14.42 per hour. That’s with no

benefits, retirement, vacation or sick days.

 

So. Let’s say you are still “in it to win it.” OK, but, let’s look back at those questions at the beginning. Are you really, truly

worth $2,500 a wedding (don’t forget; for this amount, many photogs add in an album, prints, DVD’s, etc.)? Don’t know?

Post your portfolio here and ask that exact question. Listen to the criticisms, not the praise. Avoid self-serving bias. If the

honest answer is “no”, you may wish to do this part-time until you can build up your skills and acquire a client base to

support your full-time efforts. Please remember, photography tends to trend downward during a recession, so you will need

to plan for that as well.

 

This, of course, assumes you want to/can do weddings/portraits. If you don’t, how are you going to sell your product?

Who is going to buy a landscape or a picture of a bird? These days, many new photogs are trying to get their foot in the

door by doing work for free. But, favors don’t pay. In the long run, this is not a sustainable model. A caterer does not stay

in business by catering parties for free.

 

If you have any other business questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. This is not intended to be a business primer--rather,

it is just a quick outline to get you thinking about some of the decisions you will need to make.

 

 

[robertjewett]

Sorry about the typo's in the third paragraph. Cut and paste errors.

[Charles_Webster]

Well thought out and well written. It's too bad that so many noobies here don't want to read or learn anything, they just want the quick fix.

 

<Chas>

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

Thanks for your memo here. You present many good ideas for us to think about and perhaps take action in our own

businesses. I've operated as an owner of a small business since the early 1970's. A business plan is vital. A constant

review of the plan is necessary as circumstances can rapidly change that can affect the success of the business.

 

I have a couple of other items I would like to suggest for all of us to work on. What about the communication &

leadership skills necessary in order to succeed in a people business? All the equipment in the world won't make a

difference if you can't get customers. What are the personal skills necessary in order to get a potential client

transformed into a paying client?

 

Monte Zucker was my friend, coach and mentor. I believe he was a terrific photographer by many measures for

determining success. I also believe he was a consummate salesman who also used a camera.

 

The communication & leadership skills is a constant work in process. There are many avenues to explore to develop

these.

[robertjewett]

Really good points. I also forgot to add anything about the importance of networking.

[DickArnold]

Robert. I do have some practical experience doing what you talked about. By the time I was finished with what I thought was a

part time business I was working full time seven or eight months out ot the year in a seasonal wedding market.. Click on my

name here and read my bio. At seventy the workload got to be too much and having supervised people all my life I did not want

to expand to having employees so I dissolved the business. I pretty much stepped into a market where there was not much

competition and grew the business. I did not know Monte Zucker but I took a wedding course from him in Silver Spring,

Maryland in the eighties. He was the quintessential wedding marketer and his customers loved him and his work. Business acumen is

essential, marketing is essential and one must have enough basic equipment and skill to leave customers satisfied because as

my business grew referrals played a larger part in getting business. I did my own bookkeeping with Quick Books which I printed out annually and

gave to

my accountant to do my taxes. I kept track of everything and could tell you whether I was ahead or behind on a weekly basis. Everything got

posted. I set up a home studio and hung my wedding work there to do client interviews. In the seven

years I had the business, I sold almost everyone who walked through my door. I learned the hard way to get very specific with

contracts. I used, and fought with several different processors for five hundred print weddings which were all film. I beat my

local competition because I delivered albums of proofs generally within a week after the wedding. I printed, in my own dark

room a complimentary 11x14 to go with the proofs. The town is a resort town and I lived at the Chamber of Commerce.

Everyone there who dealt with the public knew where my brochure was and usually referred me before anyone else. They liked

me. I established a strong contact with a local Inn owner and they referred me to a lot of large weddings. His father and I sat on

on a town board together. I had a busy local JOP refer a lot of small weddings to me. My overhead was low

because my studio and darkroom were in a barn attached to my house in town. I had good equipment and knew what I was

doing with a camera before I started the business. The whole thing was done by accident. I never intended to start this

business but I filled in on a wedding at the last minute and pictures from that sold a second wedding and all of this just grew. I

had just previously retired from a forty one year career in aviation and aviation management. A Bill Clark says I had a lot of

experience leading and managing people and I was the public spokesman for a segment of my former organization for many

years so my approach to the human side of the business was pretty well developed. I can't say enough about developing

rapport and trust with the customers and swallowing ones ego when actually doing the job. It is the customers show and I was

just there to record it and let the bride order me around some. I had the luxury of a retirement income so I did not need to live on

the business but it grew into profitability and added to my tax burden despite the fact that I expensed a lot of equipment. I had a

lot of fun over those seven years as this was entirely different from what I did in my profession. I had a few bad weddings but

mostly the people I dealt with were very decent and enjoyed their own weddings. I also did all the PR for the local hospital, did golf tournaments

and parties and whatever else I could get paid for. It just got to be too much work for an old

retiree.

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

Just received another wedding invitation in today's mail.

 

$600 retainer enclosed.

 

Delivered a 16/20 print to a client on 11/26. She immediately took the print to the President of the Company! Nice.

 

She is going to order several other large prints from me.

 

Love this business.

 

Shouldn't you be doing the same?

[tana_d.]

Great post. So many newbies don't think these things through. They don't realize the real cost of running a

business, and they mix emotions in with business - "Why, I can't charge $XXX because I wouldn't pay that much!"

(Irrelevant).

[robertjewett]

Bill C,

 

I don't understand your post. Am I missing something? : ) (I usually am).

 

In this thread, am merely trying to highlight some business decisions people will need to make if they want to do this full-time. I have owned a few businesses over the years, and I know enough to know I am not yet good enough to do this full-time myself. I have some of the soft (people) skills down, and see some I need to work on too. But...I love doing it, so I'll keep doing weddings on the side until I get where I want to be.

[robertjewett]

Tana,

 

Great point. The other one I see locally is: "but...I WANT to charge $5,000 a wedding! I totally paid $800 for this camera at Costco, I can take as good of picture as...(insert local pro here)..."

[kait_hall]

Thanks so much...I have a career in a related arts industry but am trying to start to make enough money on my photos to

pay for my gear. Those of us emotional souls need sound business advice like this. I know I always find it hard to put a

price on my art and this will help.

[alan_myers]

Hi Robert,

 

Your write up and evaluations are a very useful perspective. One that we don't see often and I hope many of the

"I-got-my-camera-xx-months-ago-and-am-ready-to-go-pro" posters would read and think very, very hard about, before

taking the plunge. They often need a hard, cold slap of reality.

 

Being a professional photographer is very often at least 85% about business considerations, 15% about skill and

ability to make photos.

 

And, many of these folks just don't realize the freedom they give up by "turning pro". As an amateur, they could

photograph whatever they want, however they want, whenever they felt like it. If the shot didn't turn out the way

they thought it would, no biggie.

 

As a pro, they have to photograph what the client wants, how the client wants it, on the client's time table....

and they have to always manage to get the shot. Plus still manage to be creative and skillful throughout the

process! There is a certain challenge to this, which people either enjoy or they don't. If so... great. If not,

well maybe it's time to rethink those career plans!

 

Many people aspire to start their own business and "be their own boss". Reality is, they trade that single boss

at their day job for a whole series of bosses in every customer they serve. This can be a real juggling act,

because each of those successive (and parallel) client/bosses can be different from the last, along with their

demands and expectations.

 

I do think you seriously underestimate initial equipment costs, Robert. Yes, you can probably get your foot in

the door for what you cite, but you will have no better or more capable equipment than moms and dads or anyone

else who walks into any local store and buys a basic kit. The equipment will be less durable entry-level models

of cameras and lower high quality lenses with lots of limitations. Plus there's no provision for backup in case

something goes wrong, which is very important for many types of photo businesses and absolutely essential for one

or two.

 

A lot of new shooters look around at the competition and think "Hey, that's not so bad, there are only xx

photographers listed in the phone book doing the kind of work I want to do". What they fail to consider is that

in many ways now our clients are becoming our primary competition. For little more than the price of hiring a pro

to do a shoot, the client can now go buy a highly automated camera that can do a surprisingly good job getting

the shot with relatively little effort. And, since "digital is free", all they need to do is set it to a high

frame rate and hold the shutter release button firmly down, then pick out the keepers later.

 

I know this is oversimplified, digital is far from "free" and there's a lot more to it than that... But camera

manufacturers are working hard to convince consumers it's just that easy, and many of our clients believe it, run

out and buy those cameras to try to do the work themselves. The pro, today, has to step up in terms of what they

can do and how creatively they can do it, in order to shine over and above the client's own capabilities with a

basic to mid-level kit camera. The pro can get some of that "edge" from education, some from better quality

equipment and the rest from years of hands-on practice.

 

Another thing, when looking at competition today, in many specializations you have to consider the guy on the

other side of the world just as much as you do the photographer with that nice, well established business down

the street. For example, travel photography has changed radically. The Internet has made local pro photographers

extremely accessible to clients on the other side of the world, so why pay so much to hire and send a travel pro

to that location to get the shot you need? Chances are the guy who lives there knows more about the location,

anyway. And he's a whole lot cheaper!

 

At the same time we consider the new "problems" we need to deal with, they often also create new opportunities.

Turn that last example around 180 degrees.... You are that local pro wherever you're located, and now able to

quickly and easily bring your expertise and talents to new clients who are all the way on the other side of the

world, cost effectively both for yourself and for them.

 

Today more than ever it's critical for photographers to develop a personal style and establish a strong presence

in one or two or a few pretty well defined niches. Generalist who try to do it all will not survive, as a rule.

Pick something... or a few "somethings"... and strive to be the very best at it (them). It helps if the

"something(s)" you choose are subjects that really interest, inspire and invigorate you.

 

Also be on the look out for both for new niches you might be able to exploit well, and for ways to leverage your

current work into new markets. You have to be ready to shift gears, sometimes because you are getting burnt out

yourself, or your market changes due to a drop off in clients or an increase in competition.. or both.

 

What your write up brings home well is that one of the most dangerous things a wanabe pro can do is not write up

a plan and fail to price their work profitably. Look at the hordes of dirt cheap wedding photogs on Craiglist as

a prime example. 99 out of 100 won't be in business next year, unless they radically change their business model

and pricing. They are pursuing the cheapest and most difficult customers in the cheapest possible way and

offering their services at a significant loss... Plus are going head to head in the most competitive of

environments with others who are doing the same, driving profitability even further into the basement.... And

they often don't realize any of this.

 

In a year most will be scratching their heads why their bank account is drained and their camera and lenses worn

out or obsolete. Saddest thing is, as fast as they drop by the wayside, discouraged and broke, new wannabes step

up and take their place repeating the exact same series of mistakes.

 

Robert, you are in an unusual position having business training and experience to bring to your photography

business aspirations. That's a good thing. Too bad more people don't start from that end of the equation. They'd

be a lot more successful in the end!

 

Best of luck with your efforts.

[hjoseph7]

Very well written Alan. One thing I realized it's that the little things ( the hairs out of place) can kill you. If you don't have all those little details patted down, they can ruin you, or drive you crazy. Little things include(business cards, albums, portfolios, receipts, invoices, letter heads etc)

 

Going full time is not as easy as it sounds. It takes allot of determination, good business outlook, personality, skills, empathy with what your niche/clients want, discipline and luck. Please feel free to add anymore things to think about before quitting your day-job.

 

It could be easier, if we all inherited a large sum of money from Rich Uncle Bill, but most of us are broke, or in debt by time we start out.

[DickArnold]

Not every wedding is a 2500 dollar wedding. A significant portion of my income came from smaller jobs like a two hour

wedding with ocean as a background which in todays dollars may have grossed 500. Because of the tourist nature of

my venue and the contacts with the chamber and other sources I took what I got so that I did a lot of volume and quite a

few smaller jobs. I did either one or two weddings a weekend in high season. I distinctly remember 9/11 because I was

sorting out two fairly large weddings buried in about a thousand proofs when the news came. This was before I

converted to digital and I had just picked up both batches from a local processor. I numbered and placed the best of

those in albums that I hand delivered to those parties that were local. I took what was offered me until the day I closed

the business. Monte Zucker did mostly upscale weddings but most of us are not in that league. I became dominant in

my local area because I took all kinds of work, delivered on time and became well known. My contacts landed me a lot

of studio work from the hospital doing head shots. Digital was just coming in when I closed down and you still had to

know something to take wedding pictures so the competition was a lot less then than it is now but I fully understood the

weaknesses of my competition and how to exploit them. Some of the things I learned were to deliver as quickly as

possible, to forge tight contracts in personal meetings with the one who paid the bills in order to have a meeting of the

minds on expectations in person along with the written contract. A meeting of the minds is a settled principle of

common law and is a key element in the establishment of any contract. IMO that is particularly important with

weddings. After one early disaster (lost revenue from a large wedding) I made sure this happened at every wedding

either in person or by phone along with if the payer was from away as we said in Maine. I under priced my competition

helped by the fact that my overhead was low. I understood my market living in the middle of it and shooting for the

local newspaper on a regular basis. I did sports on the side. Working for the paper really improved my skills. I really

believe that if you are shooting formals that there is a golden thirty minutes between the ceremony and the reception

where you have to do your best work. I have tried formals before the wedding but uncle John or someone is always late.

Weddings never seem to start on time. I learned how to group people and take pictures rapidly even with medium

format. I started my work life as a drill instructor so that came naturally. But, I stayed in the background and served

my customers. I have seen wedding photographers who make themselves the center of attention. I always believed I

was there to serve and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible except in the posed formals where I tried to keep them

laughing. I hate stiff pictures. As Robert says, this is not art, it is a product delivered on a consistent basis at an

acceptable price to a customer who is there by dint of good marketing. I learned in Dale Carnegie many years ago that

the only thing I am truly expert at is my own experience and so I speak from my own experience instead of trying to act

like an expert. I hope it is helpful.

[adamphoto]

"But...I love doing it, so I'll keep doing weddings on the side until I get where I want to be."

 

Congratulations, Robert - emotion just entered your business model. :-P

[mattbuser]

I would like to say that I am finding all this information in this thread very interesting and am definitely taking heed. All of these things have been rolling around in my head for quite some time and still I don't

really know how to sort them out. So all of this information is very useful to me. Thank you.

 

I know this thread was started by referring to those people that want to go full-time, but what about

those of us that want to start out part time instead of just taking a leap and dropping our security. I am

a little disheartened by some of the comments, "newbies", "wannabe pros" etc. I have read in a lot of

posts that one should talk with photographers as they are an invaluable source of information. I have

not found this to be true. NOT here on this website, but in person. Those of you on this website are

providing us with tons of useful information that will definitely help to make us successfull. But

photographers I know in person, are snobbish and avoid photographic conversations at all costs. To me

it feels as they may view me as competition therefore will not share anything that might cost them. I

get a little sense of that here in this thread.

 

That being said, I am not new to photography, but I am new to the business side of photography and

want to start progressing towards making a living at it. I have a day (actually night) job that pays me

well and provides for my family but is completely unsatisfying. I have no delusions about quiting that job

to "go pro" but I do want to start selling photography. I enjoy taking portraits and feel that there is an

opportunity for me to do that here in my area. I intend to start off slow and part time taking portraits of

friends and family to grow a business. I think that photographically I am ok but again, don't know a lot

about the business side of it, but I know a little and have read a lot. I am intending on taking a small

business marketing class here in the next few months because the marketing part of it concerns me the

most. I can easily see spending gobs of money on fancy brochures and advertisements that never quite

reach the people I need to reach, therefore becoming a waste. So I am hoping to learn how to

specifically reach the people I want to reach. Some of the equipment costs have already been incurred

but I am sure there will be lots more. I am planning on creating a studio here in my home over time as

well.

 

I hope I haven't bored you to tears yet but I just wanted to pipe in from the viewpoint of someone who

isn't there yet but would like to work that direction. I would ask that you all continue to support people

new to the photography world by giving advice and critique. Thank you.

 

Matt

[Spearhead]

I will give a very different opinion of what has been posted. The original poster said <i>In terms of photography, I am an absolute novice</i>. That's fine. Then he said <i>As far as this community goes, I am basically an outsider since I am so new.</i> And that's the problem. He presents becoming a full time photographer in the context of the most limited situations which resemble those of self-employed wedding photographers, and maybe portrait and occasional product photographers. By doing this, much of the professional market is eliminated. And most of this elimination makes becoming a pro sound much more difficult.<p>There are numerous counter-examples to all the "knowledge" provided above. A good friend is a full-time pro employed by a department store. He doesn't face any of the issues above, in fact, being a responsive people person and a great photographer are the only things that mattered for getting the job. An acquaintance is a photographer for a big corporation, doing primarily product and environmental shots. He doesn't even need the people skills. He just has to be able to understand the request and take the shots. And neither of these people has to buy a penny's worth of equipment.<p>Another case is a full-time freelancer, doing celebrity shots for an agency. But he has only one client, he doesn't need any people skills, but he needs a whole lot of other skills, like elbowing, and the ability to stay up until 3AM after a shoot cranking out captions. ("Cranking" could have double meaning here, but doesn't.)<p>For what I do, I need a lot of people skills first, some essential behavioral skills second, like staying out of the way and understanding the flow around me, and a small number of business skills. What has stopped me from going full-time, not that I haven't tried, is that for what I do and where I have a reputation, I would have to be gone from home 40 weekends a year. All the full-timers I shoot with have no family and travel constantly.<p>So there's a lot more to it than what is above. I just gave a few examples, there are plenty more. There are a lot of factors depending on how you want to work and what you can do, not some set of universal guidelines. What you see above is very much an outsider's view, someone who doesn't have a good working knowledge of the full-time photographic industry. There are different types of jobs, requiring different skill sets, with different requirements. Look for specifics for the area you want to go in.

[robertjewett]

I too, could set up “straw-man” arguments all day to nearly every post on this site, but that doesn’t make the conversation useful.

 

From the comments I see on this site, my advice would still apply to the greatest number of readers. How many times a week do we see posts like, “I just bought a new camera and I am going to go full-time?” Three or four? Of those, how many are trying to get into the fields you describe? What percentage starts with portraits or weddings? 80%?

 

I was taking broad business concepts and applying them to topics I see most discussed here. This is not a universal set of rules; rather (as I posted above) it is a few things that a new business person should think about. I am clearly trying to make a point to a certain slice of the demographic pie here, if it doesn’t apply to you, no big deal.

[adamphoto]

Robert, your query as to whether someone is "worth" $2,500 per wedding is at odds with your pure business attitude. What do you care? Let the market decide. Surely if someone is consistently knocking out thirty $2,500 weddings a year then that is ample demonstration that they have a superior business model, regardless of their creative talent and output.

 

Emotion does have a part in the business model - in the trust and empathy you need with clients. Weddings are emotional occasions, and the better job you can do you working with the couple, the better things can be, creatively AND commercially. This is why the bigger studios and franchises have salespeople separate from their photographers, who can almost be seen as technicians rather than artists, pehaps with a house style enforced on them, or a shoot-and-scoot product with little appreciation of the taste of the clients because the photographer has become detached from them.

 

Emotion and personal engagement is what distinguishes the self-employed photographers (and many other lone and small business owners). In many cases bigger competitors will have incredibly efficient and honed business models, no doubt because they have taken advice from someone like you. But don't discount the personal connection with your client - it's not just a soft skill, when you're on your own it's at the core of how you engage and maintain customers. We don't have a corporate facade or slick salesperson to hide behind.

 

Having said that, it is always useful to be reminded to analyse the bottom line and the business model. Contracts, documentation, accounts, stock control (photo paper, inks, folder mounts, album components etc) and cashflow are other areas we all end up being involved with too, so perhaps you should add those to your list of considerations for those who wish to take up the gauntlet.

[robertjewett]

Remember, I was listing questions the new photog should ask themselves. My personal opinion doesn't matter. If the

new wedding photographer bases some of his/her decisions on the assumption that this is the dollar range he/she can ask

for per event (you may not, but we do see this behavior all the time here), by the time the market dictates otherwise--they

will have failed as a small business.

 

Self-reflection is the key here, not my judgment of another's work.

 

Emotional intelligence is clearly an asset, no question about that. However, it is not a part of a business plan per se. You

cannot go into a bank and get a loan with a business plan that simply outlines your people skills.

 

You can, however, include it in your personal plan for how you will deal with clients. I was referring to the former.

 

There are clearly other factors (an example of this would be how to deal with clients) for the new photog to consider.

However, there seem to be more threads on these topics here than the ones dealing strictly with the business side of

things. This thread is meant to complement those, not supplant them.

[DickArnold]

Jeff you are right. There are a number of ways to make a living at photography. As I said, I just speak from my own experience

because that is all I really know. However, one thing that really helped me is a diversity of minimal skills. I could do newspaper

work, where, as you said, elbows count and ability to shoot night football counts. Anything to get the picture. I could do

weddings. I had a studio and did portraits and PR work. I had both MF and 35mm. I had a cheap set of Novatron lights that I

dragged to various venues. That meant I could take on whatever was asked with some confidence that I could deliver an

acceptable product. I had extensive financial training and experience earlier in life and I understand things like P&L and balance

sheet. Robert, my pricing was not based on assumptions. It was based upon what I thought I could get away with charging.

That was not only based upon the job but the customer and the competition. I wanted to keep the hospital so I charged what I

thought a fairly sophisticated public affairs director would tolerate. Robert, I also think it is possible to go into the photo business

without debt if you have decent equipment to start and you start modestly and support yourself with other work. I started with the

paper with a Canon 650, a flash and two cheap consumer lenses. I bought pro gear when I drowned a Canon body trying to

shoot soccer in the rain. My endeavor grew but it took time. I only to took on weddings initially because I wanted to pay for my

MF equipment. I was surprised when it began eventually to turn into a paying business. My grandson has started his own

business, landscaping, and his investment is substantial compared to starting a photography business and he has to work very

hard to make his payments and eat. Photography is different. You can start it part time and grow it slowly risking much less for

initial investment. At least that is the way it worked for me. Now is far as emotional involvement goes, I really think it helps. I

secretly fell in love with many of the brides I photographed. These feelings helped me elicit emotions from them that showed in

photographs. If you are trying to shoot a murderer in a group of nine of photographers it helps to temporarily hate them so your

elbow gets sharper. Emotion and empathy really helps in doing a portrait of a woman on her hundredth birthday. It helps when

doing portraits to make people relax. Empathy helps draw business because people like you and trust you. Zucker was a great

example of that. I have seen cold, dispassionate photographers that make a lot of money but that's not me. However, when it

comes to money and business I am mostly cold and dispassionate except I have done a some jobs on the cheap because I

knew the client couldn't afford more. It ain't all about the business plan in my humble and somewhat narrow opinion.

[kevin_surfane]

<blockquote>As an amateur, they could photograph whatever they want, however they want, whenever they felt like it. If the shot didn't turn out the way they thought it would, no biggie.</blockquote>

<p>Amen to that! I tried being a pro back in the film days.  I couldn't take it.</p>