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Now here’s the tricky part: look at the results objectively. Don’t think about how you “should” be- think about who you really are.
If you’re more gentle than assertive, more laidback than driven, running a photo business could be a little tougher for you. Good to know ahead of time, right?
*If you’re not from the United States, the legal advice and business forms won’t help you, but the advice and questionnaires are still really good.
The Breakdown
Running a photography business should be amazing; shooting all day long, being creative, doing exactly what you love to do.
In practice though, most photo businesses are a lot less photo and a lot more business.
Photographers usually run into issues in a couple of basic categories:
Money: dolla dolla billz y’all.
People: dealing with other personalities.
Business: red tape, bureaucracy and other miscellanae.
Lifestyle: how happy you’ll be.
That’s why we’ve broken our pros and cons into categories, so you can figure out whether what you love about photography balances out what you hate about business.
1. Money Pros & Cons
Pros:
All your profits go to you
You can write off business expenses (new photo gear! plane tickets to Bali!)
You could become rich and famous
Successful photographers make a pretty good living
Cons:
Most people have to raise more capital than they expected
Expenses eat up a lot of money
It may be years before the business shows a profit
Variable income level and lack of financial security
2. People Pros & Cons
Pros:
No boss to report to!
No suits, cubes or corporate protocol
You can choose the people you shoot for and get rid of difficult clients
You can work by yourself
Cons:
Negotiating fees can be frustrating/ stressful
Clients can be nitpicky/ obtuse/ generally trying
Tracking down unpaid invoices
Cold-calling potential prospects, continually finding new clients
Some people hate working alone
3. Business Pros & Cons
Pros:
Work wherever you want
Set your own hours, take vacations whenever you want
You can’t get laid off or fired
Once you’re established, you can hire assistants/accountants/managers
Advancement opportunities are theoretically limitless
Cons:
No 401(k) or medical benefits
Legal liability, tax and insurance issues
Accounting may not come naturally to right-brain creative types
Long hours and 7-day work weeks are usually the norm
4. Lifestyle Pros & Cons
Pros:
Creative, artistically fulfilling work
You can choose what you want to shoot
You can travel a lot
Even if starting a business is risky, it’s still really exciting
“If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Cons:
Staying motivated and organized is challenging
Being emotionally tied to success can make hard times harder
Wanna Give It a Shot?
Even if you know the pros and cons, you may still want to dip your toes in the water before you dive in.
Here are a few ways to try the photo biz life without actually starting a photo biz:
Find a photographer whose work you like; this can be a teacher, a friend, or even some random person whose photo credit you saw in a local photo mag. Call them up and get a job assisting them. That way you can see what the day-to-day business is like, and whether it suits you or not.
Volunteer as a photographer for a busy non-profit. Take on as much work as you can handle, to test how you do with large volumes of work, deadlines, and hectic shooting environments.
Send yourself on assignment: shoot whatever you normally do, but keep track of your time (before, during and after the shoot). Track how much money you spent on the shoot, and write yourself an invoice. It’ll help you get an idea of how much time and money it takes to complete a job, and how much you should charge to make your time worthwhile.
Find a mentor who knows what it’s like to run a small business. The Service Corps of Retired Professionals can match you with someone who’s been in the trenches. Or take some business classes- you might find you really like it.
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