PenguinPhotoCo wrote:
You want to start and run a business - and size does not matter - you need to learn BUSINESS.
WHAT the business does is maybe 20% of of the business. It could be photography, hamburgers, wedding dresses, etc.
Step one when starting from scratch is to determine the current market for what you want to sell - Is there anyone wanting to buy it? How many want to buy it? What price are they willing to pay?
Go into a ghetto and open a Rolls Royce dealership and the business will fail. No customers for that product in that area at that price.
You can do this by looking at who else is selling what you want to sell - what are they selling, their price, how big/busy they are (10 employees, main street location or one guy working from home with a day job to pay the bills?
If you determine there is a market for what you wish to sell now you have to determine your costs. Your camera, education, lights, computer, software all cost money. Sure you got them before you went into business but the business needs them - so there is a 'cost' to their use. If I wanted to use your camera and computer to go make money you'd not just give them to me - you'd want paid for my using them. To consider otherwise is lying to yourself and a good first step to failure.
You have marketing costs - how do people know you exist and have stuff for sale? Website, biz cards, etc.
What is your time worth? It can take 100 hours to get setup and going - name, logo, finding the best web provider, etc. If you asked someone else to do it they'd want paid, per hour, to do it. Why should you work for free? You shouldn't of course. Yes, one day you may make money so for now your efforts are 'sweat equity' - but just as if you asked a friend to spend 100 hours 'and i'll pay you later when the business is a success' you need to be sure the business WILL be a success - hence the research in the beginning.
Now you need among many things, a REASON for the business to exist. Just because YOU want to make money means nothing. Unless it's a growing market (and nothing in photography is these days) the only way for you to get customers is to STEAL THEM from other businesses - so you have to have a really good reason for customers to choose you over them - where they're used to going, businesses that have WOM and a reputation.
What to Charge? Well, you have your costs from above. Your time up front to get the biz going, the time to keep it going (10 hours a week?) plus the actual cost of the product (picture taking, edit, print, packaging, delivery).
If you work out you need $50k a year and can sell 100 of them then you need to get $500 each. If you think you can 1000 then you only need $50 each. Of if you find everyone else is asking $25 a picture you know you'll need to sell 2000 pictures a year, or 80 a week.
Can you sell 8i0 a week? How will you do that? If you needed to sell 80 prints next week how would you do it? what will that cost in time and money?
Now you have some idea of what it's going to take to be successful.
Sound like work? Yep, it IS work. But it can of course be done - it won't be as easy as 'i want 10 quid for my pictures' and have people que up to hand it over.
But doing this 'business plan' will save you from wasting your time, money and increases your chance of success.
As to selling prints..I've gotten from $9 to $120 for an a3 print - it all depends on who the customer is, what type of photography it is, time of the year, if they're buying one copy or 100.
