Business Plan

conkeroo

Does anyone have any experience in this area? I know and have examples of layout/format of a business plan but its the market research that has me stumped. Pricing varies so much from one photographer to another so my question is: how would you go about researching pricing with regards to competition or rates that would be paid to a photographer (for any given job) so that the figures in your plan are realistic and appropriate? Or should I just make them up as to what I would expect to get paid for a project? Anyone have any idea or relevant experience?
Cheers all in advance.

Covey

I can help if you want. Do it as part of my job regularily.

T.

conkeroo

What line of work are you in? If youve any tips, thatd be great.

Covey

I'm an accountant for my sins

conkeroo

That explains it so! I know i'll definitely have to talk to an accountant at some point but at the moment im just looking for any pointers anyone might have. By the way, this isnt on the clock, is it..... lol

Covey

Not on the clock of course.

conkeroo

Ive just got this reply from someone on another site

"A good starting point is to calculate your annual fixed costs. eg. car lease, insurances, premises, telephones etc. This will give you a base figure for your fixed costs that must be recovered before you can actually earn anything for yourself.

Add to this a typical average salary (in the UK I use 24K as my usual base figure).

Put these figures into a spread sheet and then divide by 200. I use 200 as it is roughly based on 48 working weeks per annum X 4 paid days per week (this leaves time for non-paid work ie. bookwork, promotions etc) and it is an easy figure to remember. This will give you a minimum day rate.

At this point you now have your base monthly fixed costs which you can now detail and layout on a forecast which properly reflects when these costs are due. You also have a minimum required income per month which you need to work towards achieving.

Now you can do your business forecast based on how many paid days per month you expect to work and from this calculate a best guess of variable costs associated with orders and variable income from these orders.

Once the business forecast is done you can now do a cash flow forecast which identifies how much you expect to go out in any month and how much to come in and should show the point at which you move to positive cash flow.

You now go back and review it to ensure you have covered all expected costs and incomes for the period of the forecast."

How does that sound. Would that be along the right lines?

Covey

Sounds good advice.

The bit missing though is the mix of work you intend to do. For instance if your doing newspaper work, that bit of the business will probably pay less than portaiture for instance. The business plan per se isn't rocket science but making sure your sales figues are achievable (through Market Research/ Experience etc) is the difficult bit and generally where business plans come a cropper in actual terms.

conkeroo

I know what you mean. Cheers for that. Appreciate it.

TelePaul

conkeroo wrote: »

How does that sound. Would that be along the right lines?

It's fine as an approach. It's quite like the break-even analysis of old; How much business will I have to do to a) cover expenses, and b) generate an income of €X.

I think your biggest problem will be anticipating trade volumes. This is obviously a start-up venture so forecasting sales is going to be difficult. Also, it's probably the area that will be most-heavily scrutinised by would-be investors - overvalue your initiative at your peril.

snellers

is the business plan just to set your own goals....etc or to submit seeking financial support? (as well as setting goals of course!)

conkeroo

Just to set my own goals, wont be looking for finance.

snellers

Best of luck to you.....just remember unless you have a brilliant, new, innovative idea or already have some work lined up then breaking even the first year would be a real achievement....

conkeroo

Your absolutely right. All I can do is give it my best though. Cheers.

leinsterman

I do business and investment plans for a living though more for large projects and key business decisions... amongst others things ... and I also work in the imaging business (making cameras rather than using them ... sadly) ...

I'd be happy to give you advice ... pm me with any questions you have and I'll try to help ... I may be a bit unresponsive until Monday ...

Important things to think about -

• Objective of the business
• Personal objectives
• Business Goals - Tactical (short term) and Strategic (long term)
• Financial analysis - a cost benefit analysis which include capital items (e.g. gear), operational costs (heat, light, travel, promotion costs, your own time etc), revenue
• Sensitivity analysis - Best, Desired and worst case scenarios for your financial analysis
• Target Customers & Markets
• Portfolio / Proposition - what are your products ? ... how are they packaged ? ... what makes em special ? (e.g. are you going to be cheaper or do you want to go for high end) ... who will buy them ? ... why ? ... do you have samples of the products with which you to engage your customer's interest ?
• Competitive analysis - Who are your competitors ? What do they do ? What makes you special (often called unique selling points) ? ... How do you intend to differentiate your offering ? ... what experience do you have ? etc. .... in your case it may be useful pose as a customer and get a few quotes to give you a ball park or ask around any friends who have used photographic services in the segments you wish to serve
• SWOT on you and your competitors in the target markets (What are your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats when comparing yourself to your competitors ?)
• Marketing plan (where are your customers ? ... how do you intend to communicate with them ? ... what is your initial go to market strategy ? (e.g. many of our wedding shooters got started doing gratis work as second shooter for other photogrpahers) ... what associations / trade shows / events will enable you to promote yourself ?
• Risk analysis - what can go wrong (macro and micro economic factors )? ... why ? ... how will it affect you ? what contingency plans will you put in place to mitigate the risks in the event that they happen ?

That should do you for a start ...

I'd also try to talk to a few people who have gone through the process you are about to take on ...


EDIT - you'll need to do a forecast of course to enable you to predict your revenue streams ... this is the tricky part ... don't bet on significant revenue in the early days of the business ... you need to establish yourself ... that means building a reputation and a portfolio ... be professional ... In my experience it is surprising the amount of successful amateurs there are in the photography business ... professionalism will be quite unique in our banana republic ...

leinsterman

... one other point ... write it all down ... and read it bask to yourself a few times ... bounce it off some trusted friends asking them to play devil's advocate ... you'd be surprised how many people don't do simple tasks like this ... if you have a plan you have a better chance of succeeding ... so I'd also recommend you set goals and review you progress against them on a regular basis ..

conkeroo

Thats a lot of food for thought, i really appreciate the info and the offer of advice. That same keyword you mentioned, professionalism, im goin to have to do this properly so I appreciate that. If you dont mind me asking, ive seen your work; would it not be something you'd like to do or is it merely a hobby? Does something about the photography business put you off? Just lookin for some insight as to why you wouldnt do it yourself.

leinsterman

conkeroo wrote: »

If you dont mind me asking, ive seen your work; would it not be something you'd like to do or is it merely a hobby? Does something about the photography business put you off? Just lookin for some insight as to why you wouldnt do it yourself.

Simple really ... I love making images ... I'd hate for it to become a job and have all the additional pressures that can bring (putting food on the table for one)... I also love technology so I'm lucky enough to be able to marry my interest in photography with technology for my day job here - FotoNation

If I ever make money from photography then it would have to be based on my having full creative control of the project ... i.e. through my self expression having an appeal to someone else who is willing to pay money for it ... I don't consider myself as having sufficient talent for that kind of photography yet but I continue to strive as best I can to be reach a standard that makes me more and more happy with my own work ... it is this journey that has more appeal to me than reaching the destination in some ways ...

The possible exception is travel photography and writing ... I would glady work for National Geographic if I thought I had enough talent for it... but that queue is a long one!

leinsterman

I should add I did consider it ... and was put off by a few of my pro friends who made the point that there is a big difference between a job and a hobby ...

Long term I'd like to get into it as a lifestyle business ... if I become financially less dependant ...

leinsterman

For clarity ... when I refer to "sucessful amateur" I mean people who should not really be selling their services for the standard of work they are capable of producing and their attitude to their customers... I've seen and heard some horror stories in my time ...

conkeroo

Fully agree with you. Ive seen people making quite a decent living and yet their standard is well below par. I wouldnt even attempt it if I didnt think I could deliver but that saying "photography is 20% photography, 80% business" is not to be taken lightly. That's the reason I want to do it properly. And hopefully not fail miserably

Covey

conkeroo wrote: »

Fully agree with you. Ive seen people making quite a decent living and yet their standard is well below par. I wouldnt even attempt it if I didnt think I could deliver but that saying "photography is 20% photography, 80% business" is not to be taken lightly. That's the reason I want to do it properly. And hopefully not fail miserably

I would disagree with the above, though it's often stated.

Taking that approach, you're bringing yourself down to the average level, which as stated can be poor to middling and competing on that level also which can be tough.

Changing it around to 80/20 (or at least 60/40) in favour of photography, would give you a product that is maybe unique, better, takes advantages of market niches, and even down the line , commands a premium over the norm.

More and more people are looking for a different perspective than the norm for all types of products and services.

If I were starting up thats how I'd be approaching it.

T.

conkeroo

Covey wrote: »

... would give you a product that is maybe unique, better, takes advantages of market niches, and even down the line , commands a premium over the norm...

Which, in my eyes, is a business aspect. This is in regards to marketing, your USP, where you position yourself in the market.

Theres no point having a unique product if you cant bring it forward to people. The business aspect addresses all of your points.

Covey

conkeroo wrote: »

Which, in my eyes, is a business aspect. This is in regards to marketing, your USP, where you position yourself in the market.

Theres no point having a unique product if you cant bring it forward to people. The business aspect addresses all of your points.

I wouldn't agree with that. You have a good product and the Business Plan/Marketing is so much easier.

You have a poor/average product is a much tougher (though not impossible) prospect.

Of course you need elements of both, but if your product represents 20% of your overall business, it's little wonder some people struggle to make a living.

Paulw

I agree with Covey. If your photos aren't unique or fit a niche, then you're going to struggle. You would then just be "another photographer", and even the greatest marketing won't change that.

In this day, there are so many people doing photography, and so many people out there charging less and less for their work. The only way you can make more money is to have unique photos to show/sell.

It's say the 80/20 ratio is more towards time/effort than quality. 20% of your time is for photography, but you need to make sure that your photography is 80% unique and 100% quality.

conkeroo

My point was meant with the assumption that you have a good product. Those who only have an average product and spend 80% on the business aspect are always going to be, and offer, an average product. The need for work being done business wise is paramount to being successful, but like I said, that's assuming you can offer something of quality. (Which in my mind has to be a given in the first place).

Hugh_C

leinsterman wrote: »

If I ever make money from photography then it would have to be based on my having full creative control of the project ... i.e. through my self expression having an appeal to someone else who is willing to pay money for it ...

The real world predicates against this. I've worked in creative industries my entire career, and if somebody pays for a service, they'll want input. Period.

leinsterman

Hugh_C wrote: »

The real world predicates against this. I've worked in creative industries my entire career, and if somebody pays for a service, they'll want input. Period.

I think you are missing my point ... which was pretty simple really ... I don't think I'll ever make a living from photography ... and I am perfectly comfortable with that fact ...

Paulw

leinsterman wrote: »

I don't think I'll ever make a living from photography.

Especially not with the salary you're used to.

I know what you mean. For a good number of people, photography would be a supplement to another job.

Hugh_C

leinsterman wrote: »

I think you are missing my point ... which was pretty simple really ... I don't think I'll ever make a living from photography ... and I am perfectly comfortable with that fact ...

I guess I did, I was referring to commissioned work. I think making a living out of non-commissioned work is probably next to impossible.