Looking to officially start my own business

sugarlilyphoto · May 23, 2011

Hello everyone! I'm new to the idea of starting my own photography business and I've got a name and everything picked out (Sugar Lily Photography) but I'm kind of stuck as to what I should charge for pricing (ie: sitting fees, prints, DVDs, digital copies, etc.). I dabble in a bit of everything from equine/horse show photos to kids to modeling. Here are two examples of my work. I chose an equine photo and modeling photo. Please let me know what you think!

o hey tyler · May 23, 2011

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Trever1t · May 23, 2011

oh boy!

Good luck on your adventure. There's certainly others who are less capable making $ as photographers. It's really going to depend on your business skills and determination because your photos above have zero merit, no offence. Seems like everyone with a camera wants to be pro without taking the time or energy to learn the art.

gsgary · May 23, 2011

Going by your examples you will have to pay them, the most important part of a horse portrait is the ears like this

mwcfarms · May 23, 2011

Coming up with a name does not enable you to start a business. There is a lot more to it than that. Having good marketing skills, a sound business plan, and of course then technical skill. Just a heads up but this thread could get you roasted.

Do you think your actually ready to start a business? If so, why? Or are you actually in the planning/research stages. Because these are two entirely different things. From the photos you have posted I am going to suggest that you don't jump the guns and practice on building a solid portfolio. Then research business requirements in your state, area, create your business plan, fees etc for your market area and go from there.

Kofman13 · May 23, 2011

Its great to see ambition and business plans from starting photographers. But if those are your best pictures, ( not trying to put you down). I would say at this point best of luck to you but if i were on your level, i would honestly do things for free/donations. It wouldnt be fair to people to charge them the going photographers rate, even if they accept it. Just do free shoots until you get better. you will get good experience and its great for networking. I had a plethora of clients after doing many free shoots. and when i knew i was good enough i started charging the going rate.

Bitter Jeweler · May 23, 2011

Starting a business is easy. Being successful is another thing entirely.

Your question comes up here on a semi daily basis, so brace yourself!

What to charge is a very basic business construct. You basically take you monthly payouts, called overhead, and divide it out by the number of (monthly) hours worked. This gives you your break even figure.
Then you add for skill level, supply/demand, and profit.

You will have to take quite a few things into account...taxes, sales tax, gear insurance, liability insurance, transportation, gear purchasing, marketing, profit margin...etc.
It's difficult for anyone to tell you what to charge. Start by creating a business plan. There are books and software for this, that are quite helpful. Working on creating a business plan with a guide, will really open yours eyes, as you start doing the leg work and figuring out how to do projections.

Just starting out, your competition is fierce. Start searching craiglist and facebook, and see how many people are starting their own business in your area while learning the art of photography.
The camera is just a tool.

Sadly, you are going to be just another drop in the bucket of MWC's looking to start a business, simply because they bought a tool.

Kofman13 · May 23, 2011

Bitter Jeweler said:
Starting a business is easy. Being successful is another thing entirely.

Your question comes up here on a semi daily basis, so brace yourself!

What to charge is a very basic business construct. You basically take you monthly payouts, called overhead, and divide it out by the number of (monthly) hours worked. This gives you your break even figure.
Then you add for skill level, supply/demand, and profit.

You will have to take quite a few things into account...taxes, sales tax, gear insurance, liability insurance, transportation, gear purchasing, marketing, profit margin...etc.
It's difficult for anyone to tell you what to charge. Start by creating a business plan. There are books and software for this, that are quite helpful. Working on creating a business plan with a guide, will really open yours eyes, as you start doing the leg work and figuring out how to do projections.

Just starting out, your competition is fierce. Start searching craiglist and facebook, and see how many people are starting their own business in your area while learning the art of photography.
The camera is just a tool.

Sadly, you are going to be just another drop in the bucket of MWC's looking to start a business, simply because they bought a tool.

+1
and on top of that you'll see that tons of photographers who are much better than you are still doing free shoots on craigslist. itll be really hard. try getting better first. and then work locally

KmH · May 23, 2011

sugarlilyphoto said:
Looking to officially start my own business

Dee and Bitter pretty much hit the nail on the head. Dee is fairly new to photography as a business, but she seems to have a good grounding on how to go about it.

In addition to being a photographer, Bitter designs and makes custom jewelry for a living, which has a lot of the same kinds of pricing issues photographers have.

You'll need to decide what type of business it will be: sole propietorship, LLC, LLP, or sub-chapter S corporation, and get the business registered with the appropriate local, state and federal governmental agencies. Your attorney and accountant can help you with all that.

I recommend you start here: Virginia Department of Taxation

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99336,00.html

Your pricing has to cover your non-reimbursed business expemses and provide an income. Many new photography businesses are supported by other incomes making break even or even profitable pricing pricing a moot point. However, be careful with the IRS. They have rules that can come back a few years down the road and bite you if you are not profitable in your early years: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=169490,00.html

As far as the 2 photos, from the perspective of an advanced photographer they have some common technical and artistic issues pertaining to composition and lighting.

Your average customer will not be aware of the issues or will have so much emotional attachment to the subject to gush over the photos anyway.

The horse is shot, or cropped, way to close, as gsgary illustrated. Again a customer, having an emotional attachment to the horse, may not consider that an issue.

The photo of the girl would have been stronger if shot as a vertical, and she has very dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes) that really should have been lit with either reflected or strobed (flash) lighting. A persons eyes are 'the window to their soul' and an important element in a portrait.

Overread · May 23, 2011

In addition to the business advice given above you might also want to check out Zack Arias critique videos:
â¢ Critique • Photography By Zack Arias â¢ ATL â¢ 404-939-2263 â¢ [email protected]
They are typically covering subjects such as portrait, modelling and wedding type photographers; however many of his tips on composition (both technical and artistic) are valid on matter what field you're in, whilst he also gives commentaries on websites and also slips into business structure for photographers (more dealing with the product you offer and the website you construct than your financial business plan).