Last week we talked about the qualities that make a successful photographer. If, after a time of self-examination, you think you have those qualities, your next step will be building a plan for getting started in the business.
Let me warn you in advance, many of the steps you’ll need to take to learn to run any business will not be fun. There’s accounting, marketing, taxes, licensing, insurance and sometimes permitting. When imagining themselves running a business, most people tend to focus on the fun parts and overlook the huge amount of work it takes to get there.
Education – Not Optional
Start with educating yourself about every facet of running a small business from marketing and advertising to taxes, commercial real estate, and contract law. This step, which is not at all the fun part, is not optional. It’s necessary for survival.
The hardest part of running a business is marketing and finding new customers. You thought photography was the hard part? No, no, that’s easy, fun part.
Some books that may help are Running a 21st-Century Small Business by Randy Kirk and The Real Business of Photography by Richard Weisgrau.
Keep Your Day Job As Long As Possible
To build up enough cash to get started, most people will need to keep their day job, at least for a while. That means working weekends and that means wedding photography for most people. The hard way is starting out as a second shooter or gear mule for an established photographer. I never did that and, with enough preparation, you can skip that step.
If you know how to run a business and manage cash flow, you have more flexibility than starting out working for an established photographer or a second shooter on weddings.
Taylor Jackson has an interesting take on getting started in the wedding photography business, which is also how I originally approached the business.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7taQ8FXdM4
Still, even after you’ve established yourself, you’ll sometimes have slots available to be a second shooter. I don’t have any problem shooting backup for someone, even today. It’s fun when you can leave the stress and customer management to someone else and just go shoot.
Building Your Portfolio
That will frequently mean shooting for free or very minimal cost. Shooting a wedding for friends who don’t have the money to hire a pro, charities, shooting for animal rescue and animal rehab facilities to help with their advertising and fund raising will be well-received both by the charities and potential clients.
The key to making a living will be reducing, as much as possible, the pro bono work. Ironically, I still do charity work, but I can afford it now. Starting out, you may not have that luxury.
Building Your Business
One way to get yourself established and make some money is bidding photography jobs on freelance jobs boards like iFreelance, Guru and oDesk. The competition is fierce and the margins are thin, but a do a good job on the low-cost jobs to get your foot in the door.
Once you have a pool of regular customers you can start raising your rates, gradually, and getting those jobs to pay better.
Don’t overlook Craigslist as both a place to advertise and find work. You’ll need to work hard to set yourself apart from the pack, but you can find work there.
The Danger Zone
One of the ironies of any small business, but particularly true in photography, is that your most likely time to fail will not be when you first start out. It’s true. When you’re just starting, you’re focused on providing quality shots, value to the customer and you’re pinching every penny.
The most dangerous time for a new photographer is when you achieve a measure of success, get ahead on some of the bills and are looking at a couple months of solid booking. That’s when you’ll stumble. That’s when you’ll be tempted to go into debt buying some new equipment, tempted to sign a lease for a bigger studio, spend money on a wildly expensive advertising campaign or hire a full time receptionist.
Get a little change in the pocket of someone with a new business and they’ll be thinking of all the things they could buy. That’s the time to be on your guard and put some of that money away for slack times, because there will always be slack times.