Few Questions on Starting a "Business"

TylerF · Dec 30, 2009

So i have seen tons of threads on here about pricing and stuff like that. But it seems like those people are looking to make it a main source of income. Which means they have to factor in other expenses and such.

I am more looking to just make it like a serious hobby i guess. Maybe in the future make it something more. I have a lot of time to figure that out.

I'm not sure what to charge for anything. When i look at other studios in the area, there is no pricing info. and since i have a part time job to cover my usual expenses, it's almost all profit for me. I dont want to charge ridiculous prices.

Also, I want to stray away from the "first name, last name Photography" thing when coming up with a name for myself or my "business"

i also want to offer design services(shirt designs for bands, site layouts and other things) so far i have come up with:

Insomniac Photography and Design

T-Supreme Photo and Design

Simply Devine Photo and Design

any of them have potential?

thanks in advance

KmH · Dec 30, 2009

TylerF said:
So i have seen tons of threads on here about pricing and stuff like that. But it seems like those people are looking to make it a main source of income. Which means they have to factor in other expenses and such.

I am more looking to just make it like a serious hobby i guess. Maybe in the future make it something more. I have a lot of time to figure that out.

I'm not sure what to charge for anything. When i look at other studios in the area, there is no pricing info. and since i have a part time job to cover my usual expenses, it's almost all profit for me. I dont want to charge ridiculous prices.

Also, I want to stray away from the "first name, last name Photography" thing when coming up with a name for myself or my "business"

i also want to offer design services(shirt designs for bands, site layouts and other things) so far i have come up with:

Insomniac Photography and Design

T-Supreme Photo and Design

Simply Devine Photo and Design

any of them have potential?

thanks in advance

Were it only that simple.

If you accept payment for your photography or design service, you are now in business. It doesn't matter if you do it part time or full time.

The city where you live probably requires you have a business license and your state will expect you to collect and send to them sales taxes, if your state has sales taxes. By not using your name for your business, you're going to need to do the DBA (Doing-Business-As) paperwork and pay the fee's necessary to for the county/city clerk to search and make sure someone else isn't already using whichever bnusiness name you finally choose. That's the main reason so many people just use their name.

You will be competing with other businesses and if they know you are trying to fly under the radar, no license/not collecting sales taxes, didn't do the DBA requirements, like they are, you may find them dropping-a-dime on you and reporting you to the city/state/and feds.

Any business, part time or full time has to factor in expenses. If you don't, it's very easy to think you're making money, when you really aren't. In that type of situation people usually don't figure that out, until the hole they have dug is very deep.

TylerF · Dec 31, 2009

thanks for the reply. i did not know that stuff haha.

my mom is the town clerk, could she just find out that stuff for me? or must i go to a county clerk?

the only reason i stated that i dont plan on making it my main source of income was so people didn't say i had to factor in my living expenses when pricing my services. because my other job gets those covered.

Misfitlimp · Dec 31, 2009

None of those names do it for me to tell you the truth. Id scratch em all and try again but thats just me. id stay away from the devines and elegants and the T supreme sounds like a burger of some sort and the insomniac one makes me think why cant he sleep? is he on drugs? but thats just me

TylerF · Dec 31, 2009

thanks for your input. t-supreme was kind of funny to me so i put it up there. insomniac is what people know me as when i do myspace layouts for bands and shirt designs. but i think it sounds too unprofessional. simply devine was a spur of the moment thing haha

Misfitlimp · Dec 31, 2009

what type of photography might you be doing at this shop? Portraits and what not im guessing?

TylerF · Dec 31, 2009

portraits, band promos, live band shots, and maybe some other things i see. but thats nothing to do with the business. i might try to sell prints and stuff of other things i shoot.

Misfitlimp · Dec 31, 2009

so its gonna be a gallery aswell as your place of buisness and a place to shoot?

TylerF · Dec 31, 2009

not really, i dont have a designated space to keep a studio up. i will have to do it out of my home until i decide its something i can make a living off of or at least enough to rent a space. i will most likely meet clients in person at a starbucks or something with my portfolio as well as e-mail and stuff. bands dont really care but parents of seniors do. i want to push out door photos as much as i can. i think they look better and my "studio" is a bit crude.

i want to be able to tell the client, most likely a senior, that we can go where ever they want to shoot and that they can bring different outfits without it costing more per outfit. i kinda want to help people who can't afford the prices of some studios while giving them nice photos. maybe in the future upping the prices a bit. but then im scared ppl will not want to come to me after i bump prices. idk haha

i was looking to maybe sell prints at local art shows and online. nothing super serious

Misfitlimp · Dec 31, 2009

If i where doing a lot of things that had to do with bands and what not I would try and play to that when it came down to a name for a business like "roadie photography" which is a pretty bad example but then again some people might say that you wouldn't wanna pigeon hole yourself into something like that. All I know is that people remember a name and will literally chose someone based on a name.

Misfitlimp · Dec 31, 2009

It seems to me that me and you are pretty much on the same boat. Im kinda debating on weather to take a hobby to the next level. Im trying to do the same thing for people out here that dont have a lot of money. When you mean senior you mean high school senior im guessing?

TylerF · Dec 31, 2009

yes high school seniors. i dont want to corner myself into being a band photographer only. tho i love shooting bands, i like doing other portraits and such. to me, the first name last name thing is done by every kid with a dslr and myspace nowadays.

im looking for something professional but not so much that bands stray away from it u know? its a catch 22 kinda.

any ideas as to pricing though?

TylerF · Dec 31, 2009

just came up with more haha

Dead Eye Photography
Dead Eye Photo and Design

Relic Photo and Design

Spot-on photography

Keep it Classy photo and design (watching anchor man lol)

Misfitlimp · Dec 31, 2009

I seen the dead eye one before on here somewhere. Relic sounds pretty out of the ordinary, dont really care to much for the other two though. Yeah thats the tricky part about the name you dont wanna be stuck. Theres a studio the town over called "just shoot me photography" which i thought was kinda catchy so just find something that works and worse come to worse just change it. As far as pricing go on zenfolio or some other sites where people sell prints online and see what other people are charging and start there.

athomasimage · Dec 31, 2009

OK, here's my 2-cents worth. After listening to your comments about your business idea let me assign some home work(If you haven't done your "Homework", your business is doomed to fail).

Make a list of the types of photography you want to offer, i.e. - band photography, weddings, portrait (family, high school seniors, head shots and the like), commercial and so on. Next, for each of those categories, profile who will make the decision to purchase. There is a difference between selling your services to a pierced, tattooed band manager and the mother of a college bound high school senior. Know all of this in advance and be prepared to present yourself in that light.

After you've thought this through a bit, you may begin to see, how you market to each SBU (Strategic Business Unit) is different and your marketing materials should reflect that difference. If you think I'm starting to sound awfully "business like", well you're starting a business, weather part time or full time, so start to think like a business owner right out of the box.

Regarding pricing. I'm not telling you how to price your product and services, but think about what happens if you get enough business that you want to go full-time. That could mean buying more equipment, renting a studio, and actually taking a salary.

What cost/price structure would support that? All you need to do is start the business under a low-cost price structure, develope a reputation in the marketplace, then realize you need a major price increase to support all that you forgot about in the beginning. A significant price increase then will likely drive away all your customers. Then how do you carry the overhead? Guess what happens? - you go out of business!

Now try to restart things under a new name. When people see it's you under a new name and they know you went out of business, they may shy away from giving you their business.

Regarding the name thing, think of something that is meaningfully in the market place and makes sense to the customer. Afterwords, then it becomes "branding".

Trust me there's even more to planning a business than what I've covered. If this all seems too much for you than consider teaming up with another studio and work for them. Let the studio owner deal with all the business "stuff" and you can concentrate on just shooting.

One last thing, consider sharpening your writing skills! They taught those skills in grade school for a reason.

Good Luck!