Going Pro... Just how to start?

I'm seriously considering going pro (i.e. quitting my job and devoting myself to weddings, and on-location portraiture, etc.) But how does one start up their own business? What are the first steps?

-dave-

Buildup a large bank account for backup

Get a business license

Get in the yellow pages

Become friends with many wedding planners

That's good advice. Also, check with hotels and places that do weddings.

There is one very classy sports club near my home, and we shot a nice wedding there. I talked to the event coordinator at the club, and she said that they did not have any staff photographer. Most of her clients bring their own.

So, I gave her my card and told her that I lived about five minutes away. Now she has a staff photographer.

---Bob Gross---

It looks like you have a great start. Judging by the photos in your galleries, you have a good sense for color, composition, and subject matter. However, I didn't see much in term of human subject or something that uniquely yours in those images. So, this is my humble thoughts...

To be a Pro, you must have:
- The ability to envision a subject in different lights.
- The skills to turn what you see into photos.
- The equipments to support your skill.
- Be able to reproduce the same level of quality EVERYTIME to ALL clients.
- The desire to learn from your mistakes and out do yourself on a continuous basis.

To be a REAL Pro, specially in wedding or portrait business, you must have...
- The interpersonnal skill (what a mouthful!) to work with with a WIDE varieties of people and and difficult situations.
- The aura of confidence to put your client at ease, earn their trust, and get them to show their charactesr as well as personnalities during the shoot.
- The ability to teach. You need to do crowd control during group shots. You need to direct certain events (cake cutting, tossing the bouquet...) during a wedding. The most difficult task, however, is to instruct people how to pose for you. I have many clients who simply cannot pose or have a total lack of a photogenic face. I have many parents who wear a funeral face throughout a wedding. How do you get around these problems? Assist a Pro for a while to learn this art. I have clients who told me of other photographers screamed at them for not being able to strike the right pose. I've seen photographers pushed, shoved, and yanked their subjects into position. In my book, these are not professional manners.

Once you got this down pat, your reputation will be your best marketing tool. There is no better advertisement than great word-of-mouth.

Regards,
Alan

Alan, those are some great tips. I agree with you accross the board, especially with posing. I've shot weddings before and do alright, but I'm uncomfortable (lack confidence) in posing my subjects. Perhaps tailing a pro for awhile might help me there.

I do shoot a lot of human portraiture, it's just not displayed as my site is designed (mostly) as an outlet for my "fine art" stuff. I feel confident in my ability to light and manage backgrounds, and have good people skills and I'm a "teacher" by nature. I think I just need to observe some pros in action.

Perhaps it's like any job, I'm nervous at first, lacking confidence, and after awhile, things fall into place and habits develop into a solid foundation of knowledge and skill.

I've recently been taking on a few "free" assignments (i.e. sign this model release, I'll give you some prints) to help me with my posing skills. Do you think this is a waste of time, or is it good to practice with no monetary reward?

-dave-

Wouldn't photographers usually make you sign a "non compete" agteement if you want to be an assistant photographer ? You basically would be taking his knowledge and then using it to compete "against" him/her....

Dave,
It's never a mistake to practice with a live model, paid or not. It also seems fair that it's a trade of your skill for the photo to build your porfolio. Some people even pay to attend a seminar to shoot pro-model. In the Video Production class that I TA, I encourage students to trade skill for the porfolio and many had gone on to paid jobs. It's the first one that acts as your stepping stone that counts.

Good Luck,
Alan

You've gotten some great pointers so far. Some of the stuff you have to learn only comes with experience.

As far as getting new business...for weddings the key is to network with other wedding vendors. The ones that I have gotten the MOST referrals from are the florists. What I find is that most of the brides tend to set up things like dresses and flowers first. When they are in the consultation with the florist, they haven't usually signed on a photographer yet. Go meet with some florists that specialize in weddings and set up an agreement to cross-link your websites and exchange a stack of business cards.

Also, most cities have a website that future brides use to find all of their vendors and they usually have forums much like this one where they get together and compare notes about this vendor or that. Some of these sell lead lists, that are created when the bride registers with the service. That lead list will have codes on it to show which services they already have contracted and which ones they still need. One good one that covers about 60 or so cities is http://www.theknot.com.

The best piece of advice you've gotten so far is to have a good bankroll. You'll need it....it just doesn't happen overnight. You have to have a business plan. If you don't know how to put one together, get some help with it. It's essential. One of the things that photographers in general are the absolute WORST at and what just happens to be the most important part of any business is collecting and keeping track of money, keeping the books, paying the taxes, keeping up with business licenses, filing receipts for tax time, etc. I know I'd much rather be out working than sitting at the computer doing that sort of stuff...and I suck at it. Get an accountant.

To me, being a pro doesn't mean you quit your job and setup shop. It takes more planning than that. I can't offer much advice but the one thing I would do before quitting my job (which I am doing now) is setup a client base that is strong. You should have clients and money coming in long before you leave your job. When you start losing money by going to work quit. This is the plan I am working on. I am building a client base, working weekends and nights and more and more earning money.

There was a lot of advice given here, just make some money before leaving your job.

Good luck!!

NiL,

This is a very wise plan. That's why he was advised to have a good bankroll to hold him over for a while (quite a while).

There are pros and cons to both plans. If you keep your "day" job, you will end up turning business down until you go full-time. Those customers will go to another photographer and won't be back.

On the other hand, if you quit your "day" job prematurely, you will go broke and be back at another "day" job starting over.

However, if you have enough money on hand to pay, say 80% of your bills for a year, you should be able to make it (assuming you already have all the equipment you need), if you get busy and work 9 days a week and start building some client base. The biggest misconception people have is that the business is going to just show up at your door and you can go on vacation whenever you want and sleep until 11:00 every day and be rolling in money. Wrong. You will work harder building your business than you ever worked for somebody else. And time off will be a rare thing for a while.

If you study the government reports, one of the biggest causes of business failure (and this includes sole proprietorship) is undercapitalization. Often, it takes the business several years to even begin to break even, so you need a big bank roll up front to get you through those macaroni and cheese years.

---Bob Gross---

For me...peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I also found that I could order chinese take-out and get 3 meals out of it....a pretty good deal. Most Chinese take-out meals are about $6.00, so that came out to $2.00 a meal.

People think it's B.S. when you try to tell them how hard it is to start a business and make it successful. It's not B.S. You will have times when you actually have to decide if you want to buy a coke in the morning or wait until the afternoon to spend that $1.00. You HAVE to make sure that you have money in reserve to buy things like gas, batteries, film, etc. or you can't work. It gets tight sometimes in the beginning, but you just have to keep hanging in and digging for it. You'll get there. The only thing that can keep you from it is giving up.

One VERY important thing is to make sure that you have all the equipment you need and dependable transportation BEFORE you jump in over your head. And, you need a backup for every piece. If your only camera breaks and you don't have the cash to get it fixed, you are out of business.

Dave don't quit your job, unless your already doing photography part time. I bought a franchise and it took me 2 years to turn it into a full time job. We didn't get in the yellow pages the first year so newspaper ads were where we advertised. If I would have quit my job, which was as a self employed painter, we would have been bankrupt.

The second year, I did both painting and bathtub resurfacing part time which made me a full week each and every week. I was turning down big jobs that second year to do the bathtubs. By the third year, I couldn't do any painting jobs.

If you can get to a point where you can look at your schedule for the last 6 months and the next 30 days and it is pretty consistent at providing you the income you need, then it is time to quit.

Weddings are done when? On Saturdays so that shouldn't interfere with your current job should it? Meanwhile you still have the income your used to and the wedding money can go for equipment and back up capitol.

I too am trying to get to a point where photograhy is my only income but, for now it is part time. I have dedicated one day a week to generating business and I am already about 40% over what I was last year in photography income. I fully expect to easily double what I made last year.
Don't just jump in feet first, stick a toe in there and test the water first.


edit:
Oh and one very important thing, hire an accountant to advise you on tax matters. He may seem a little expensive but, he will pay for himself in tax advantages and business advice in no time.

If you need funding, draw up a business plan and hit a bank. do alot of research on a business plan, the banks will want to know everything. make sure you borrow extra cash for you to live off of, you'll probably take a loss the first year or two, maybe three and then start to gain.

A business plan is a great way to get your business started and stick to the plan as much as possible, by not over spending your limits.

GOOD LUCK!