Is this a good idea...

[ucddyan]

Hello everyone. First off I've been looking at this message board for a little over 6 months and love the information i've gathered and I've finally signed up to ask my question. Hi.

Most of my questions have been answered several hundered times on these forums already so I won't bore you with those... My real question is a feasability one.

The business plan is as such: Two of my friends and I would like to start a photography business where we sell our pictures to companies and individuals for home/office decoration, we include framing and putting the pictures up, in home/office consultation, etc. We are also willing to travel, and to and take the exact picture our client is looking for if they're interested in that (for a price of course). I'm a horrible photographer, but my friends are amazing and I'm sure I could handle the business side of things.

I'm just wondering if this idea is a feasable one or if you think we would go down in flames. The problem we obviously have is that there are tons of stock photography type companies out there that offer the same thing, but we would be willing to go above and beyond for the client and offer a more personal experience. As with anything it's a risk, but one of us has already lost $20,000 on a buisness venture and learned from it and we all plan on taking business and marketing courses before we get started and we're saving up now so we don't have to deal with too big of a loan when/if the time comes. We've got our heads in the game but we're just not sure if this venture is one we should take.

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[~Stella~]

I couldn't tell you if it would work, but obviously some companies are much more likely to go for it than others and you'd need to tailor your products to them. For example, law firms really like local work, such as photos of a historical courthouse, legislative building, or other legal landmark and I can tell you they'd likely be interested in such a product, plus they typically have the cash to spare, whcih is an important point. I think with niche marketing like that, you might have an angle. Good luck!

 

[JIP]

I don't want to be too negative here but I hope you do not quit your day jobs for this venture. I am no business expert but this really seems like something one person might make a few bucks on a weekend with but 3? unless you are in a really big city I can't see a real high demand for something like this. Besides, stock photos of most any city are about a dime a dozen. You do see this in offices but I think they might purchase this kind of thing if it is a photograph and not a poster form the individual photographer. Again I am sorry for being negative here but I hope you go into this with your eyes open and do not invest too much off the bat till you get going and see if it works.