Every long journey begins with a small step; becoming an entrepreneur to build an empire of your own in photography industry also requires many baby steps along with courageous decisions too.
Due to market uncertainties and entity specific reasons there can be no full proof road map for starting a photography business. However, here we have discussed some crucial steps that will help you to start a photography business.
It is correctly said that failing to plan is planning to fail. Entrepreneurs must have a written plan of their photography business idea. Separate planning needs to be done for each aspect of business, for ex.operating plan, financial plan, administrative plan, etc.
Like any other business stream, planning is the key to success for photography business too. Planning helps in deciding the course of action, assessing the requirement of resources and also assists in evaluating deviations, if any after the execution.
We all know that money is the lifeblood of every business. In order the meet the financial requirements of business one must have the budgeted cost properly figured out.
Having a clear idea about lump sum start up cost will help you to determine the ways of raising money for your operations. Also, for deciding the pricing of products and services, one must know about the costs incurred to make them available.
Once you know how much money you need, the next step is to decide how you can procure it. Today there are countless ways of raising funds. It can be done through seed funding, venture capitalists, bank loans, personal finances, by issuing shares and securities or any other financial instrument in the money market and so on.
The challenge is to decide the best possible way of funding among all the available options. By the term best way of funding, we mean raising funds from a source where you need to pay the least amount of interest or premium on borrowing.
Before stepping in as an entrepreneur, one must get some professional experience in the photography business. Attending various workshops, doing internship under photography studio houses, etc will provide you an insight about the functioning and operating style of this stream.
Having adequate professional experience will prepare you to face upcoming challenges without losing a sight of your goals.
If you want to enter the photography world as a professional, you must have the necessary tools and apparatus by your side. Be it a durable camera gear or proper lighting equipment, being a professional photographer, you must have all the required resources so that you can deliver the desired output to your customers.
However, during the initial times instead of making a heavy capital investment there are several other ways to procure the expensive resources. You can get them on rent or lease basis rather than purchasing; also, there are various online and offline markets, where you can get effectively working second hand equipments.
During the initial stage one should keep a comprehensive approach towards all kinds of clients and work being offered, even if sometimes it means less money but more experience. This will allow you to explore various segments of photography business and help you to find your niche.
Internet and globalization have removed the physical barriers between buyers and sellers belonging to different countries. In such a situation one must remain visible and accessible to their prospective customers who are looking for services.
Having a website of your own is one such tool to get more attention of customers and helps you to come across as a professional. It not only provides an enduring place for your photographs but also enables you to showcase your portfolio and products/ services in a nice manner.
There is numerous website templates on free trial basis. Taking advantage of such facilities will allow you to create your own website in a cost-effective method.
Carrying a photography business along with a whole lot of repetitive backend administrative tasks is an overwhelming process. However, with the help of automated programs and applications, photographers can now focus more on their actual work rather than spending it on time killing rote tasks. Nowadays there are various online photography management systems which aids in reducing human intervention and man-made errors.
In the present times, photography businesses are using SEO, CRM tools and photo studio management platforms in order to operate in a smooth and efficient manner.
From scheduling a meeting with a client to sending an automated email for interacting with customers, these business process automation platforms can do it all in a better and economic manner.
In today s dog eat dog competition, clients expect nothing but the best results for their money. Entity s pricing policy should be competitive. In order to survive and penetrate the market, you cannot charge a hefty sum for the products and services which your peers are providing at rather economical rates.
You can price each one of your products and services individually or you can also bundle them based upon the industry practices. Either way the pricing policy of your business should be flexible enough so that clients can find your products and services affordable and economical.
In conclusion, if you want to be an entrepreneur having your own photography business consider the above-mentioned key steps and start where you are, do what you can and use what you have.
A beginner's guide to photography
How to Digitize your Photography business and grow your Brand Image