Management Software

[C-Shuler]

If you were to design your own studio management software, what are some key things you would want it to do? Here are some of the obvious things in my mind:

1) Basic client information (address, phone, email, newsletter option, etc.)

2) Client's children and their ages

3) Client sessions and their orders

4) Referrals (how a customer found the studio and who they eventually refer)

5) Costs of goods sold and product pricing

6) Income and expense reports as well as various other reports to track what types of sessions / products sell best, etc.

While things are a little slow, I have decided to finish creating my own management software. I know there are some great programs already out there, and I had been using one for a while. However, I'm just not 100% happy with it.

[rojethee]

Sounds cool. Keep me updated. You could always make some money selling it if its any good.

[jhcanon]

Sounds like a good idea as the only programs of this type on the market tend to be very expensive. The only problem is that if you want to eventually sell it you will have to provide a user guide support and will probably get pestered with questions. If you do it would be good to make it flexible for international phone numbers, zip codes and currencies.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[C-Shuler]

I certainly understand about the user guide and support, I've done this before. Before deciding to be a full time photographer, I was a full time programmer. If there was an interest in a web-based program (which is my specialty) from my fellow photographers, I would be more than happy to offer this at a very low cost. As for international use, the biggest problem I've had in the past was not phone numbers or currency, but language and date formats :)

[Karl Johnston]

Sounds like you need simply accounting :); that's what I use and it does about 3/4 of what you described there.

[C-Shuler]

I had used some software that was geared toward photographers, however, I felt even though it was specialized for photographers, it was lacking in a few areas. The basic data collection is really the same for all the programs, it is the reporting that makes a program strong. If you can't run good reports to tell you where you stand, your data is just sitting there, useless.

[Karl Johnston]

I think fotoquote might have something like this but I failed to research it
www.fotoquote.com

[stagi]

what weren't you happy with the solutions you tried?

[C-Shuler]

Well, the data entry part was not as user friendly as it could have been. And there were so many options when managing sessions and orders that if you didn't select all the right ones, they wouldn't show up in reports. Something as simple as reporting average sales per session would be wrong. Guess I dont need all the bells and whistles of that program and just looking to create something that could keep me in touch with the heart of my business.

[OdiN1701]

Making a program like this would interest me. A web-based application I would also be interested in tinkering with.

[GW2]

ACT? You can customize it to do almost anything. You could start from scratch and create your own Access database with some VB functionality, but why? Lots of hours and your aren't going to sell it. Software business is a nightmare of bug fixes and upgrades.

ACT is cheap and customizable in a matter of hours from the standpoint of zero knowledge.

[Baadil]

... As for international use, the biggest problem I've had in the past was not phone numbers or currency, but language and date formats :)

Best way to handle dates is to use International date format everywhere: yyyy/mm/dd. I have found this to work everywhere and no one gets confused.

[sb4photos.com]

So what is the main software on mac if possible are you guys using for client info and invoices and calender sync??

[tom_fewster]

I've been working on a Mac solution for this, mainly due to the existing solutions being so expensive.

The main things I decided it required were:

- Client Details

Name Address
Address
Linked Contacts
Mailing list
View of all photo shoots involving client

- Enquiry details

Name
Preferred contact method (phone/email/post)
Follow Up date
How they found us
Referrer

- Booked photo shoots

Dates & times (& Schedule)
Location
Shot List
Tasks
History of key points (quote sent, contact sent, payment received etc.)

- Quotes

Quotes for various different (customisable) packages
Ability to print a personalised quote/invoice
Payments received

- Address book sync

Since mine is for a Mac it syncs with an address book group (easy sync with other devices)

- Calendar Sync

Shoot dates
Task deadlines
Enquiry Follow up dates etc.
Since mine is for a Mac it syncs with an iCal calendar group (easy sync with other devices)


I think my main concern was I didn’t want to replicate existing software but integrate with it. It doesn't seem worth me writing an new address book when there are good ones already out there, same with the calendar, I don’t want to implement all the calendar functionality when there is a pretty good one already available. Users aren’t going to want to maintain their data in two locations, so if possible give them the option to stay in sync.

I found as I started to write the code, my requirements grew exponentially, and it is getting more and more complex.

Those have been my ideas whilst writing the software anyway.

I'm hoping to release a beta version in about a month.

[Karl Johnston]

Link us when you do ^

[C-Shuler]

Tom Fewster, sounds like you've got a good set up. I agree with not wanting multiple places to enter data. That is what I did at my previous job, integrated the capabilities of several programs into one so that there was one data entry and reporting source. And yes, the coding is always more than you estimate initially. However, I have fun doing this when I don't have anything else to do. It is just as much fun for me to program as to do portraits.

[sb4photos.com]

Would be more than happy to try a beta version when availabe
pm me :)

[Karl Johnston]

If you can't run good reports to tell you where you stand, your data is just sitting there, useless.
I'm interested in this and agree, what kind of ideas do you have ?

With myself, I like to study trends. I'm re-writing everything from the ground up, washing the coffee cups out so to speak.

I do this on a quarterly basis, but it's all by hand and it's all hardcopy..no software. I figure I can write faster than the software, and make edits quickly without learning too much.

Simply accounting Pro is what I've been using, too, but there's a bit of a learning curve involved.

If you could develop a solutions software like that, but geared for photographers and artists I bet you could make a killing.

Something that is made for visual people, or artists, not necessarily accountants or bookkeepers. That would be cool.

SA isn't bad, i've only started learning how to use it properly but I'd like to learn more from YTD trends, and not just income, to see what is selling and what isn't and why. What works and what doesn't..and can be evaluated or kept track of systematically.

Another thing about SA is you can keep track of your vendors and your clients' information ...how to contact them if something needs to be rediscussed. This is something that all photo businesses need to do.

I think people on here generally use Quickbooks. I've never tried it, though.

[Karl Johnston]

The main things I decided it required were:

- Client Details
Name Address
Address
Linked Contacts
Mailing list
View of all photo shoots involving client- Enquiry details
Name
Preferred contact method (phone/email/post)
Follow Up date
How they found us
Referrer- Booked photo shoots
Dates & times (& Schedule)
Location
Shot List
Tasks
History of key points (quote sent, contact sent, payment received etc.)- Quotes
Quotes for various different (customisable) packages
Ability to print a personalised quote/invoice
Payments received- Address book sync
Since mine is for a Mac it syncs with an address book group (easy sync with other devices)- Calendar Sync
Shoot dates
Task deadlines
Enquiry Follow up dates etc.
Since mine is for a Mac it syncs with an iCal calendar group (easy sync with other devices) This is what I'm talking about...i wonder if you can program this to run along your general accounting software, or within it...i'd think it'd have to be open source, though, which I don't know if Sage is.

Even a standalone program would be nice. Just read that it's MAC only, so I'll have to skip the beta being on win7

[C-Shuler]

I had left my programming job a few years ago, and am a bit rusty, but have been making good headway with the basic data entry pages. What I am creating is web-based and can be used on either Mac or Windows. The only possible issues would be with different browsers, but the page format and code is kept as simple as possible to minimize any issues. I hope to have a test site available within 2 weeks for those that may be interested in something like this and they can give their input.

[Azi]

Sounds a bit nerdy, but a simple sqlite database would do it for me :)

[dsd17]

I had left my programming job a few years ago, and am a bit rusty, but have been making good headway with the basic data entry pages. What I am creating is web-based and can be used on either Mac or Windows. The only possible issues would be with different browsers, but the page format and code is kept as simple as possible to minimize any issues. I hope to have a test site available within 2 weeks for those that may be interested in something like this and they can give their input.

Any updates on this?