ADVICE and INFO please

couscous007

I am looking to open a small photography studio, which is a bit mad given the economic climate we are all in, I have a job (which is ok) but for the last 16 yrs of taking photos, even doing my degree in Photography I have decided to take a risk/gamble and go for it!!! I want to pursue a career in a subject I love, that I've invested a fortune in (from self financing my degree, equipment etc...) Also I currently have to drive 60 miles to and from work every day - and after 4 yrs its finally taken its toll - please help!? I feel the time is right for me to follow my dreams, pursue my goals and share my passion. I'm look for advice and info on the following:

• Business/Contents and Equipment insurance.
• Public Liability insurance
• Who are the best (tried and tested) suppliers of printing here in Ireland - inc - canvas, printing onto wood, metal.
• Pricing - wot the hell do you charge?!
• AND ANYTHING ELSE that anyone feels would be relevant.

Kindest Regards

Mark

stcstc

mark, i can give you advise about printing etc and what i know some of my customers charge

But i would say that you really need to keep your overheads down, as it will take a good while to get to a position of having a consistent ammount of work

also i would suggest being very very careful. there are studios failing a lot at the moment

AnCatDubh

On steve's point of keeping costs down, I agree 100% (my opinion - that of someone not actually doing it ). It is a basic economic of business.

A basic question to consider, why own a studio when you can rent a fully equipped one? You can get them fully equipped for between €20 - €25 per hour for normal portrait type of stuff, the main point being you don't have to own one - at least to get started. Also it means that you won't pay commercial rates on that element of your premises. You won't need to insure that element either. You can also choose a studio with up to date gear and vary your choice as each studio updates itself. It would also mean that you could vary your location depending on your client.

I was pleasantly surprised in recent times to find the rental cost of studios to be so reasonable.

You have probably thought of much of the following;

How good is your concentration, organisation, and attention to detail? Are you a methodical person? Apart from the creative side of things which i'm guessing is what you really love and what is driving you in this particular direction, you now have mind numbingly boring stuff to do (apologies accountants) - bookwork, taxes, vat, companies stuff, the insurance you mentioned, etc... other than the creative stuff that you like doing. Perhaps try to involve someone else (wife, partner, friend).

If you are hoping for a little certainty in your approach then do the marketing thing of finding where you are going to get income from, who will buy your services, and how you will encourage them to buy. Be dispassionate in this. If there's no market there then don't allow your overriding desire to do it convince you its a good idea.

Decide what will differentiate you from the crowd. As mentioned earlier by Steve, if there are many studios closing then why would someone pick you over the gifted amateur, who'll gladly do the job for 50% less. There are reasons why, you've just got to be sure of them and use them to promote yourself.

You can of course launch head on into it without any planning and handle pretty much everything as it crops up, and it is quite possible that you will survive and maybe even thrive but just make sure you go into it with both eyes open.

Have you thought of testing the waters with doing it part time? Would that work for you? Its a big step giving up that job.

Overall, I think your idea is great if that's what you love and you are really certain about it.

Best of luck with it.

Hugh_C

Two things to add - stcstc is a fine printer and bends over backwards to advise and accommodate. And experiment.

The second, and something which never really occurred to me, is that post production takes a massive amount of time. Taking the pictures is the quick, fun and easy part but the organisation, uploading, approval, sorting, finishing burning to CD, P&P takes a lot of time. Be sure that you budget for this time because I think a lot of people don't initially and wonder why they end up broke.

ACT do you have a list of reasonable studios anywhere in the stickies?

H

Borderfox

Better not to have a studio when you start up, there is a lead time to getting your name out there

FoxT

If it flies, floats, f*cks, or photographs - rent it!