39 reasons why you should NOT start a photography business.

[e.rose]

39 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T START A PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS - BUSINESS HELP FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS - STARTING OUT RIGHT: BUSINESS WORKSHOPS AND RESOURCES FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

 

[rexbobcat]

Well I'm glad I don't shoot weddings then.

I wish I could come up with 50 reasons not to go to college. It would make me sound like such the enduring trooper. Lol

 

[e.rose]

HAHA! I'm sure my husband could come up with that list for you. XD

 

[TATTRAT]

A lot of that can be applied to my trade. I am glad that photography is still just a spirited hobby, I am not quitting my day job.

 

[KmH]

QFT!

6. Most of the people that contact you will think you're overpriced. You'll never know how many didn't take you seriously because they thought you were underpriced. The ones that think you're underpriced are the ones you want to market to and price for.

9. People expect you to be able to make their children smile... on command... every time. 10. When people realize you can't make their children smile, they'll get mad at you... as if you punched their kid in the face. This is why I threw in the towel.

14. The average photography business lost money in 2011. WORD! The average retail photography business owner earns income below the poverty level.

16. You'll spend about 20% of your time on photography, and the rest banging your head against the wall, trying to figure out how to make money doing this so you can still pay your mortgage. Stated another way - You have to do 5 hours worth of business tasks to generate and maintain the customers that result in 1 hour of doing photography tasks.

17. Most small businesses last less than 5 years. Yep! Historically about 85% of new small businesses fail to make it to their 5th anniversary.

37. People will think that you have little elves that work for you that can apparently "photoshop" anything.... even people who didn't actually show up at the wedding... for free..... Photoshop used as a verb is just another word for 'magic'.

 

[JAC526]

Those three reasons at the end shouldn't be underestimated.

 

[sm4him]

Ha, pretty funny! Personally, I only need two reasons though:

1. No matter WHAT my mommy and my sister and friends say, I'm really NOT good enough to go "pro." (not saying I'm not "good", but *I* would expect a consistently high quality from myself that I am currently not able to produce).

2. I already have ENOUGH problems in my life, thank you very much.

 

[joshua_]

Man..... I was just about to go pro .....

I can't be a pro though, I haven't bought one of those camera that gives me an instant masters degree.


The list seems funny in some ways and sad in others.


Well.... a hobby it is then :0

 

[spacefuzz]

Well whew looks like a dodged a bullet! Since my business deals only with landscape photography it should be smooth sailing.............

Wait, sir, please dont walk away. $1500 is a perfectly respectable price for this image....all I need is your credit card...stop....

 

[pgriz]

Unfortunately this is not limited to photographers.

In my contracting business, I keep coming across the wanna-be contractors who figure I (and other contractors who have been in business for a while) are making a killing, and they want some of the action. Some of them were my former employees that I trained. What they don't realize is that there much more to the job than buying product and installing it. For some reason, they end up lasting a year or two, and then they're working for someone else again, poorer, and usually not much wiser.

One of my acquaintances loves baking. So she set herself up as a professional baker. Uh-oh. There are various laws covering the operation of a food-producing facility. There are permits and certifications. There is commitments for rent, utilities, and professional services. Then there's the challenge of finding enough customers to cover the monthly overhead. All of the sudden, it's not as much fun any more.

I know another person who believes her calling in life is to be a motivational speaker. She's got energy all right, and can talk. But there's this little issue of having to find customers, arrange for venues, handle the logistics, cover the insurance, business taxes, and various permits... and she's struggling, because she's got the 20% (the speaking part) more or less covered, but the rest of the stuff is just a lot of headache and drag.

I have seen successful small businesses, but they tend to be partnerships of like-minded people who divvy up the hard work and each is good at what they do. Someone has to handle production. Someone else is dealing with marketing. Someone is looking after administration, cashflow, and making sure all the regulatory stuff is handled on time. Someone has to do the sales. And if there are employees, well that's another can of worms.

It ain't easy.

 

[12sndsgood]

Even after all those reasons. I still am glad I'm giving this a shot.

 

[cgipson1]

Unfortunately this is not limited to photographers.

In my contracting business, I keep coming across the wanna-be contractors who figure I (and other contractors who have been in business for a while) are making a killing, and they want some of the action. Some of them were my former employees that I trained. What they don't realize is that there much more to the job than buying product and installing it. For some reason, they end up lasting a year or two, and then they're working for someone else again, poorer, and usually not much wiser.

One of my acquaintances loves baking. So she set herself up as a professional baker. Uh-oh. There are various laws covering the operation of a food-producing facility. There are permits and certifications. There is commitments for rent, utilities, and professional services. Then there's the challenge of finding enough customers to cover the monthly overhead. All of the sudden, it's not as much fun any more.

I know another person who believes her calling in life is to be a motivational speaker. She's got energy all right, and can talk. But there's this little issue of having to find customers, arrange for venues, handle the logistics, cover the insurance, business taxes, and various permits... and she's struggling, because she's got the 20% (the speaking part) more or less covered, but the rest of the stuff is just a lot of headache and drag.

I have seen successful small businesses, but they tend to be partnerships of like-minded people who divvy up the hard work and each is good at what they do. Someone has to handle production. Someone else is dealing with marketing. Someone is looking after administration, cashflow, and making sure all the regulatory stuff is handled on time. Someone has to do the sales. And if there are employees, well that's another can of worms.

It ain't easy.

Damn Straight!

 

[unpopular]

according to this I'm already a semi professional!

 

[e.rose]

Those three reasons at the end shouldn't be underestimated.

Even after all those reasons. I still am glad I'm giving this a shot.

You and me both :sillysmi:

I posted this cause I thought it was funny... cause it's true... but still funny.

My (successful) pro photographer friend in Nashville sent this to me and we had a good laugh together over it, picking out points that we LITERALLY just experienced, or that we had a crazy story to go along with. But even after all that, as JAC said... the 3 points in the bottom weigh more than any of the other bullet points for me. Well those 3 points plus 2 of my own which are:

1. Because I love photography and I want to do something I love for a living, not something I don't have my heart in

2. Because, to me, trying and then failing is better than never trying and always wondering. <-------------------- That's the whole reason my husband and I are dropping what we have here and moving to Nashville... on a whim... with nothing lined up.

We *have* to try. Yeah, sure, job security is fine and all that, but what weighs on us more is that question of "What if?"... and we're still young enough that we can afford to take a risk on "What if".

If one of us makes it... it was well worth the move. If both of us make it... it will have been one of the best decisions we've ever made in our life together... and if neither of us make it... then at least we won't grow up old and bitter because we're still wondering if we could have done something with ourselves there. :sillysmi:

BUT... even still...

Those 39 reasons are totally, completely, without question, simultaneously hilarious and frustratingly true. :lmao:

 

[Designer]

e. (can I call you "e."?) That is just precious! Thank you for posting!

One thing I learned when I was working for one not-very-good designer is that his gift of gab and self-promotion carried him past all the really lousy design projects he did. There was always another new client willing to pay him for bad design. Truthfully, it made me sick.

J.