How do you know when to fold the business???

[kris_m.]

<p>My DH and I have a photography business, specializing in weddings and life portraits. We also have full time jobs on top of it. <br>

The business pays for travel and luxury items that we want. It seems after 5 years I am getting burned out already! I dread giving up my weekends for weddings and of course everynight I'm working on post production of photos. <br>

I still enjoy taking photos specially on vacation, just got back from a safari in Africa but I hate the fact that I can't even work on my own photos because I'm bogged down with wedding work. <br>

I hate the fact that I feel I can't do the "fun" things that I want to do on weekends or even relax...but then again I go on these amazing trips and the money is good. When we started this I didn't want it to be all about the money, but it seems it is going in that direction. <br>

I just don't know if I should take a break, maybe move into a different avenue i.e. pet portraits or fold the business altogether. I'm afraid to shut down on the advertising and everything then realize I just needed a break. <br>

Anyone else feel like this???</p>

[simon_crofts]

<p>Why not raise your prices?</p>

<p>Too much work = filter clients out by charging more and doing less of them. You may also find that you end up doing more high end weddings with budgets that help make the event more photogenic, which makes it more rewarding which means better pictures, which means you can charge even more, which means you can do even higher end weddings which are even more spectacular, etc.</p>

<p> </p>

[dzeanah]

<p>I think it's fair to say that based on what you've posted above, your business is no longer meetings its goals. This might mean it's time to fold, or it might mean it's time to change things up a bit:</p>

 

<ul>

<li>What about limiting your future bookings to 50% of what they are now, possibly mixed with an increase in prices?</li>

<li>How about finding someone to edit your images for you. If most of your post-processing is Lightroom work, can you find someone (possibly someone not local) to do the work for $10-15 per hour? Even better -- if you could find someone to do your post-processing work for a couple of hundred dollars per wedding, would you still turn a profit?</li>

</ul>

<p>Either of these would free up some time and keep the business going. It sounds like your business is successful enough that it's too big to be a part time gig any more. Sounds like it's time to either admit it's too big and scale it back, or do what it takes to let your business continue to grow (yay - employees and payroll taxes!)</p>

<p>It's your call, but it sounds like something has to change.</p>

[Palouse]

<p>That sounds like the very list of reasons I have used to resist trying to make money with my photography. Friends have repeatedly urged me to at least have a stand at the local farmers market each Saturday, or go on the summer fair circuit, or have a web presence. I'm flattered to learn what they think of my work, but I value what little free time I have. My day job is not an 8-5 affair; my wife and I are both university professors and probably put in almost 2 hours of work for every hour of pay.<br>

Maybe what you need is what we haven't done, yet-- take a sabbatical from the wedding business. Put out the word that you are taking 6 months, or a year, off. That will give you time to slow down, reassess your life and love, and to see how deep a hold the business has on you.<br>

Cheers.</p>

[DickArnold]

I found myself in a similar situation a few years ago. See my PN bio. I ran my photo business for several years after I retired. To my surprise it grew to the point that along with outside consulting in another field I was working extremely hard, I distinctly remember on the day of 9/11 2001 I had about a thousand pictures on my desk from two weekend weddings that I was trying to compile into proof albums (film). I had no time for people visiting me from out of state. It was not fun and the pressure for fast delivery (that's how I had the edge on the competition) was more than I wanted. But, once you get behind, at least in my mind, all is lost. So at a point where, at my rather advanced age, I viscerally felt I had had enough, I cashed out the business. Now, I did not have your financial issue so there was no pressure there. I actually was at a point where I had enough non-wedding business that along with the weddings I could have expanded. However, the thought of taking on help etc. was more than I was willng to bear. At my age I don't regret it but it was a nice run, I met a lot of nice people and some of it was very enjoyable but processing photos was a real pain. I can only speak for myself. In retrospect the business really impaired the rest of my life particularly in the warm wedding months. There are some good suggestions here. I would try raising prices. I did before I stopped get quite selective about the weddings I took on. Having been there I understand the pressure you are under. Good Luck.

[kris_m.]

<p>The ideas sound wonderful. Actually the economy hit us hard and the amount of weddings we have for next year was already cut more than in half. So I will definitely get more of a break. I guess if I stop the advertising and just take a break that way, things might be ok. <br>

Thanks! I will definitely take all of this into consideration!</p>

[mike_hitchen]

<p>I don't think you are alone in this: it happens in many small companies. You have set up the business and if you are lucky word of mouth becomes a major revenue stream; but that means you need to keep working to stay 'in the loop', scared of the potential loss of business and the work it will take to get the 'word of mouth' working again. A smallbusiness can have great spin-offs (like you mention about travelling) but it can also become a trap - I know someone who started doing photography professionally and had the same sort of stresses you describe. He eventually folded the business because of the pressures and it had left such a bad feeling within him that he never picked up his camera again (literally!).</p>

<p>Increasing prices seems a good strategy. Sit down and calculate how much nett profit you are making with each job and if you are comfortable with your income at the moment. Estimate how much time you want to create for yourself and how that profit then needs to be spread across other jobs. For instance, if you are charging $2,000 per job and clearing $200 then if you charge $2,200 you only need to work 50% of the time to make the same nett profit (OK, that calculation is oversimplified but the principle holds). It may be easier than you think but so much depends on your local market.</p>

<p>A big problem with a small business is feeling you have to keep going like a hamster in a wheel. But don't let this happen:<br>

<a href="

<p>I hope it works out.</p>

[left_ayyones]

<p>Reminds me of something I heard once - "some small businesses fail from too few customers, and some fail from having too many". As mentioned by the above posters, you have a lot of options:</p>

<p>1) Shrink your business</p>

<ul>

<li>stop advertising</li>

<li>raise your prices</li>

<li>limit the amount of work you agree to do ("just say no")</li>

<li>take an extended vacation / sabbatical to recharge ("closed for the summer" etc.)</li>

<li>sell the entire business to someone else</li>

<li>shut the doors forever (a bit drastic eh?)</li>

</ul>

<p>2) Grow your business</p>

<ul>

<li>hire someone to do post-processing</li>

<li>hire a second shooter or lighting assistant etc to help at gigs</li>

<li>hire a part time office manager and accountant to help with the organizational aspects</li>

<li>combination thereof</li>

</ul>

<p>it sounds like to me that you are reaching the limits of what you can do yourself. if you are a serious business person and want to keep the money flowing, then it's time to grow. if you are a hobbyist / lifestyle business person, then it's time to stop growing and maybe shrink it a bit.</p>

<p>although I'm not sure what a "DH" is... designated hitter? doctor hibbert?</p>

<p>also, i laughed when I read this - at least at my uni, the professors probably worked about 1 hour for every 2 that they were paid for. 'office hours' were a running joke - meaning that they were the hours when you know the professor <em>won't </em>be in the office heh. but obviously not the same everywhere...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Nick Sanyal: My day job is not an 8-5 affair; my wife and I are both university professors and probably put in almost 2 hours of work for every hour of pay.</p>

</blockquote>

[Palouse]

<blockquote>

<p>also, i laughed when I read this - at least at my uni, the professors probably worked about 1 hour for every 2 that they were paid for. 'office hours' were a running joke - meaning that they were the hours when you know the professor <em>won't </em>be in the office heh. but obviously not the same everywhere...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Happens here too--some of my colleagues, well, I think they still <strong>work </strong>here, we don't see much of them!!!</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>although I'm not sure what a "DH" is... designated hitter? doctor hibbert?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Dear Husband</p>

[djphoto]

<p>Eliminate your lowest-priced wedding package. Add a more expensive one at the top. Continue to do this until you find the right balance of work and money.</p>

<p>Edit the take from each wedding, then send the keepers out for post-processing to one of the services that handle this.</p>

[mark liddell]

Raise your prices

Take on only the clients you want to work with (for fun = less burnout)

Analyse your products offered and knock out the ones that take up a lot of time

Look at outsourcing some elements

[pulpmojo]

<p>I would just turn down a few customers if I were you, tell them you're already booked for that day or that you only take X number of weddings per month. That will allow you to take a break and still leave you with the option of taking on more weddings as soon as you catch your breath. You could try changing your packages or cancelling ads as others have suggested but I think simply turning people down would be the simplest way to go.</p>

[victoria_harding_wakeen]

<p>Hi Kristen: I'd like to add that you might also want to recommend another wedding/event photographer whose work and work ethic you admire, and then pass along their card to the potential client ... this way you maintain your good customer relations as well as gain much appreciation from colleagues who may not yet be as lucrative as you've been.</p>

[paulswartz]

<p>I wish I had this problem! It's a good one to have... never could understand why people complain that they have too much business. They should be thankful. After spending 20 years doing mundane jobs, I would jump for joy to be able to make a living as a photographer. Taking pictures and editing them for the enjoyment of others, beats selling widgets! Sounds like this person needs to choose a career. Which do you love more the photography or the 9-5 job? How much could you make if you made photography a full-time endeavor? If you are burned out then just take a break from it for a month or two, and then decide what you want to do.</p>

[ianivey]

<p>Victoria's suggestion is excellent -- you can do a great service to both the client you're turning away, and to a photographer you know to be skilled who is trying to grow his or her business by referring clients, rather than just turning them away. </p>

[fotografz]

<p>Here is a piece of advice learned the hard way.</p>

<p>There is a tendency to get into a routine and do things the same way over and over. Step back and examine what may be swallowing up your time and see if that can be altered. Often we do things that takes up lots of time, but incrementally adds little to the actual end product.</p>

<p>Try it, you may be surprised. </p>

[dhbebb]

<p>A lot of professionals in many fields have to choose between being time-poor and cash-rich or vice-versa. To be blunt, if you and your husband both have full-time jobs, you must be at least comfortably off without any photographic work - ask yourself just how much money you need, particularly as apparently at present none of your work gives you any pleasure. As others have remarked, a half-way solution is to raise the price of your photography signficantly - or don't you think your customers would go along? It sounds as if you are pricing your photography cheaply. Here in the UK, a mid-market wedding photographer would charge at least £1000. If you and husband were doing one a week each, this would be a turnover of £100,000 a year, profit maybe 60 to 70 percent of this - do you really need more?</p>