Comments on: 10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Profit before You Start a Photography Business

By: Administrator

Administrator — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:26:37 +0000

Hi Tony
You’ve made some good points. Don’t be afraid to go swimming just because there are people in the water already. It was very hard when I first started and I nearly gave up a few times. Coffee is the secret! Seriously though… I make plenty of mistakes, there’s room for many different personalities and creative skills in photography. I KNOW there are photographers out there who are extremely successful despite themselves (because I’ve met them). Determined and talented photographers can easily take their place or at least compete without breaking a sweat! Here’s the real secret though…highly successful photographers create their own market! Ponder on that and it will make sense within minutes!

Roy

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:09:49 +0000

Roy, you always share useful info with your readers, you do a great job encouraging and instructing and I for one appreciate the effort. Maybe this last comment from Jon brings a bit of reality, (an alarmist and incorrect generalization you made) but maybe the 90% failure rate could be ‘transferred’ to refer to ‘wannabe’ photographers (and maybe Internet marketeers!!) who try to start up in business?!
The problem with many of us just starting out and trying to find a local market, is that the pros like yourself are kinda way ahead and you’ve made it already. We have to do the hard slog of trhose early months and years. Definitely the knowledge and experience of the masters has to be valuable, and the PERSEVERANCE and determination to succeed a key. I’m there at the moment, and need to complete a mailing to past clients to keep them aware I’m here and ready for their next purchase / project!
Best wishes.
Tony S.
Castle Photo Graphics

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:07:04 +0000

“Each year without fail over ninety percent (90%) of small business fail in the USA and in western civilization across the globe.”

Grammatical issues aside, this is simply false. There is a very common urban legend which is close enough to this for me to assume that it is the source of your misinformation. The usual “statistic” (the 3rd type of lie, according to Mark Twain) is that 80% of all small businesses fail in the first 5 years.

Again, that is also false. It comes from a misinterpretation of an actual study OF BUSINESSES THAT FAILED. Does that make sense? They were ONLY looking at businesses that failed. No successful businesses were part of the study. OF THOSE BUSINESSES WHICH HAD FAILED, approximately 80% did so within the first five years.

This has ZERO correlation with what percentage of small businesses actually fail. According to the Small Business Administration the actual number is less than 30%, with less than 20% defaulting on their SBA loans, and less than 5% ever being covered by the SBA backing policies. This is a FAR cry from the 90% figure you cite.

I would share the actual references for this data with you, but I don’t want to deprive you of the opportunity to actually research your information before sharing it with the world as fact.

Good luck in your endeavors.

- Jon

By: V.

V. — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:29:31 +0000

Thanks for the advise. You hit the nail on the head and did not beat around the bush to do it. It’s the truth, if some people cannot take it, well they sould consider … … Thanks again.

By: Becky Taylor

Becky Taylor — Mon, 21 May 2007 05:39:15 +0000

I have to laugh because the first comment that came to my mind when I read this was “Amen, Roy”. I then scrolled down and found that Victor had the same response. I think that I is so important to stay focused and in touch with how photography makes you feel. Passion and persistance are definately key to success. If you believe in your pictures people will pay money for them. Thanks for the tips!

By: wyndel glenn

wyndel glenn — Wed, 16 May 2007 13:43:15 +0000

thanks very much. i think i might try starting part-time

By: V.Rathakrishnan

V.Rathakrishnan — Fri, 11 May 2007 01:20:32 +0000

I am more interested in photogrphy. The techniques, cameras and handling methods seems to be ocean. But highly thrilling when a good photo is taken by us. Anyway I am serching for ways for attending job works on taking photographs, editing printing etc.
Thanking you,

By: Reuben

Reuben — Thu, 10 May 2007 04:14:07 +0000

Very good information Roy. I retired from fast food management about 3 yr ago and use my love for photography to suppliment my income. A couple of things that I always try to apply to the business side of my photography are…Always give more use value than money received, i.e. free gifts, extra photos, etc. and be aware of the market trends. Find your ‘niche’ and work it.

By: Victor Reynolds

Victor Reynolds — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:19:01 +0000

Amen and Amen Roy!

That’s why I believe (like I said in an earlier reply) in starting part-time while still having a full-time job. You can test the waters (and your resolve) gradually. As the article said people throw themselves into the business without thought of profit.

Starting part-time will also allow you to see if you’re down for profit-making, or just happy with an occaisional sale. If the former, great. If the latter, at least no major commitment was made.

All the best!