Thinking of hiring a photographer

Rebekah5280 · Mar 29, 2014

I run and own a very successful photography business. I am booked out a couple months in advance and I have had to stop taking new client's, and this year, I have turned down at least 15 weddings and also other events simply because I have no time.
So I am looking into training my sister to edit pictures (in my style) and then, hopefully, teach her to shoot.

My question is... How would you figure out how much to pay someone?

To make it easy, lets say that a typical session brings in approx $200.

Considering that it is my business, my reputation, my client list, my license, my equipment, my studio etc... how would I go about deciding how much to pay her??? Would I pay her an hourly wage? A % of the income she generates?

I'm only in the beginning stages of deciding to bring in someone else to help me out. I'd like to be able to work less, but still make money. lol So hiring someone else to shoot with me is the answer I think.

Any advice on hiring an employee would be great!!! Things to consider that I should know, etc... Thanks in advance!!!

robbins.photo · Mar 29, 2014

Rebekah5280 said:
I run and own a very successful photography business. I am booked out a couple months in advance and I have had to stop taking new client's, and this year, I have turned down at least 15 weddings and also other events simply because I have no time.
So I am looking into training my sister to edit pictures (in my style) and then, hopefully, teach her to shoot.

My question is... How would you figure out how much to pay someone?

To make it easy, lets say that a typical session brings in approx $200.

Considering that it is my business, my reputation, my client list, my license, my equipment, my studio etc... how would I go about deciding how much to pay her??? Would I pay her an hourly wage? A % of the income she generates?

I'm only in the beginning stages of deciding to bring in someone else to help me out. I'd like to be able to work less, but still make money. lol So hiring someone else to shoot with me is the answer I think.

Any advice on hiring an employee would be great!!! Things to consider that I should know, etc... Thanks in advance!!!

Well probably not the advice your looking for, but I would have serious reservations about hiring your sister. Mixing family and business generally doesn't have a very happy ending.

AlanKlein · Mar 29, 2014

I agree with Robbins about the family bit. Are you twisting her arm to help you just to keep costs down? Is she really interested? What will you do if she doesn't work out? How will explain that to your parents and her?

As an aside, how do you run a business without help? You do all the work shooting by yourself with no assistants? Can one of them be hired? Alternatively, can you find someone who doesn't want to work full time but knows how to post process and could work from their home. Show them what you need. Give them a couple of photo samples to edit and hire them if they work out or not if they don't. I'd pay them on a per photo basis afterwards to avoid issues with how many hours they are working especially if they are doing this in their home. You'll also save on computer equipment.

Derrel · Mar 29, 2014

I don't like the sound of this, "Teach her to shoot," concept. I think you might be making a huge mistake using somebody who you ,"teach how to shoot". It really sounds like that might be a huge risk to your reputation, hiring an untrained person and then giving them a crash course to get them up to some barely adequate level...

...unless she's already fairly competent, and you just need to help her refine some techniques...no, wait, I'm just not going to follow this through....unless she's already **capable**, I think hiring a family member to shoot photos is risky. Is there nobody in your town who is already capable and competent to hire?

KmH · Mar 30, 2014

Do you have any other employees?
Only you can access if your sister is a good candidate as an employee.
There are many, many small businesses out there staffed by family members.

Adding an employee will add to your paperwork load.
You will be subject to the provisions in the FLSA - Fair Labor Standards Act - http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm

You will incur costs beyond what you pay the employee. Costs like state unemployment insurance and workman's compensation.
Unemployment-insurance tax information for businesses
Insurance for Business

If you hire an unskilled employee and have to provide training then the starting pay should reflect the employee's inexperience.
As the employee gains skill then you can increase the employee's compensation.
Many busy retail photographers contract out their editing work to avoid the added paperwork and costs.

Robin Usagani · Mar 30, 2014

Charge more and do less volume.

Light Guru · Mar 30, 2014

Robin Usagani said:
Charge more and do less volume.

^^^that^^^

KmH · Mar 30, 2014

It's been said that you know your pricing is just right when 1/3 of your customers complain that your prices are to high.

vintagesnaps · Mar 30, 2014

You might need to think about your pricing. You could look at ASMP's Find a Photographer/Assistant but I don't know if they list the range of rates to hire them as assistants.

pixmedic · Mar 30, 2014

Marry a photographer.

MSnowy · Mar 30, 2014

I would charge more and consider subcontracting some of your work to someone already setup in the business.

manicmike · Mar 30, 2014

Robin Usagani said:
Charge more and do less volume.

This.

Rebekah5280 · Mar 30, 2014

All great suggestions/things to consider!!

The photography business was something we were going to start together 3 years ago, but she decide at the time that it was too risky, I went for it.

My sister currently helps assist me from time to time with events, but more as a lighting assistant than a 2nd shooter. The process of training her will not be an overnight thing. She is going to take a few classes at the college and will be shadowing me aggressively over the next year.

My city is small-ish with a LOT of competition. I would consider hiring someone who is already trained, but I have a lot of trust issues with the people in this community, taking skills I've taught specific to my style and then having them branch off and start their own business (specifically studio lighting/editing/marketing). I don't think that I am being paranoid because I know of a few photographers who worked for a studio to get trained in photography and lighting and then left the studio and started their own business here locally. :/

So all these mentioned things are why I have come to the conclusion of hiring my sister. She is finally at a point where she can invest time into learning and helping me grow my business.

The suggestion of hiring an editor and paying per picture is something I hadn't considered! That is a great suggestion.

gsgary · Mar 30, 2014

Robin Usagani said:
Charge more and do less volume.

Just what i was going to say, if she is good enough to charge more

hotdrop · Mar 30, 2014

One of the benefits of "Hiring" family is that you dont have to actually "Hire" them. That can save you a ton on employment costs. You wont have to pay the state unemployment insurance and all sorts of other fees for employees. Especially on the low end of the pay scale. Others have already talked about some of the drawbacks, and if your relationship is not very good it can become strained during business dealings but on the economics side it could be a very good deal for you. There is a reason a lot of small businesses hire family as the first employees and that's because the economics of that make sense and they don't want to deal with the additional overhead,cost and paperwork associated with actual employees.