Thinking of hiring a photographer

[gsgary]

I would say your sister would be crazy to work for you going by above message, she would be better off getting a proper job earning treble what you would pay

 

[tirediron]

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.

Why are the costs and administration different if the hiree is a relative as opposed to if they're not?

 

[Designer]

You wont have to pay the state unemployment insurance and all sorts of other fees for employees.

Such as federal withholding taxes, I presume?

I'm taking a moment out of my busy day to recommend that the OP does not accept legal advice from some anonymous poster on the internet.

 

[Rebekah5280]

I would say your sister would be crazy to work for you going by above message, she would be better off getting a proper job earning treble what you would pay

I don't understand why you would say this. My sister wants to do this. She still has a lot to learn so I'm going to help her get some more knowledge and experience. She hates her current job and has the potential to make more money with me then she does with her current job....

 

[Rebekah5280]

You wont have to pay the state unemployment insurance and all sorts of other fees for employees.

Such as federal withholding taxes, I presume?

I'm taking a moment out of my busy day to recommend that the OP does not accept legal advice from some anonymous poster on the internet.

It has to be true. You can't put anything on the internet that isn't true.

 

[FstopRocker]

I have to say Rebekah, I'm with you on this one.

My sister 2nd shoots for me all the time. (Especially at Festival/Concerts and Events) and it works out swimmingly.
Of course, I have a fantastic relationship with my sister, and I can only assume you do too. As far as our situation goes, I can't think of anyone that is easier to work with and more invested in the success of my company.

Though, I haven't made any money at this yet, (ergo, we've been only "building up our portfolios") but when I do actually get into the black, I'll likely pay her a percentage of the draw. Perhaps, as a contractor. (Though that will certainly be up to her,.. with the extra tax implications...)

Just my 2 cents.

 

[KelSS90]

I would recommend hiring an assistant (not your sister) for the non-artistic aspect of the company. Someone to handle the scheduling, email correspondence, putting the images onto disc (into the client gallery, etc - however it is that you do it), managing your website, getting products out to the client. Someone that is very friendly and is a "people person" and perhaps had some experience in office management. Maybe you just need someone 8-12 during the week to knock this stuff out, maybe you need someone full time. Either way, pay them hourly.

My concern would be that your clients have seen and expect YOUR work... Your artistic vision, your style, your brand. I don't think you can really teach someone your style.... You can certainly show them and they can try to duplicate it, but it is so subjective. Maybe they increase contrast a little bit on an image that you wouldn't. Is that a huge deal? Maybe not. But overtime it may change the look of your portfolio. Or you may waste a ton of time re-editing images you already paid them to do.

If you go for more of an office assistant, you have more time opened up for the actual shooting and editing, while they handle the business details.