Photography and videography is a popular business idea nowadays because everyone seems to love to have their pictures taken by a professional. If you have some creative photography chops, you may want to open up your own business and earn a living from your talents and skills.
Make a business plan
Every good businessman knows that the success of a business lies in the planning stage. The business plan must include things like cash flow, expenses, ownership, and competition.
The photography and videography industry, in particular, is a very competitive and tough business to be in. You have to be very good at your job to make a decent living.
Assess your financial needs and capacity
You will need cameras, lights, sound equipment, microphones, business licenses, insurance, a website, and many others.
All of these will require you to shell out a lot of money, whether from your own pockets or from your investors. Speaking of investors, do you plan to have those or are you going into this solo?
Secure funds
Before opening your business, you need to secure the funds to start operating it. Whether you asked your friends or family to invest or you apply for a bank loan, you need a sound plan that includes the payment schemes, the schedules, and the interest rates.
Get professional experience
Because you are a beginner, you may want to hire someone with more professional experience. He can teach you many things about running a business like yours, as well as develop your skills in photography and videography.
You also need to start your own portfolio and working alongside a professional photographer will help you create the right one to attract customers.
Buy camera gear
Basically, you will need two cameras, two quality lenses, two flashes, and Photoshop and Lightroom programs. Why two of everything? Because you need backup equipment.
Even new stuff breaks. You don’t want to scourge for an extra one when the shoot will happen in an hour and you found out your brand new camera is not working.
Create a price list
How are you going to charge for your services? How much do you think your one hour cost? If you think you should be paid $50 per hour, then that will factor into your pricing. But for every hour you spend shooting, you’ll also spend three hours editing.
This means that for an hour of photo session, you should be paid $200. This is a general pricing structure, of course, and it’s up to you how much you think you should be paid.