Startup 'Business' roadmap/guidance/help

Hello All,
I am wondering about the usefulness and such of joining outfits such as the Professional Photographers of America and such? I've always been pretty much an image maker who shoots for himself - if that makes sense. I have some talent, some craft, some equipment (actually wide ranging in format, quality, and usefulness), and a love for using em. I kind of want and need for these things and qualities to bring in money, now.
I have zip for business experience and could use some 'tab a goes in slot b' type advice, input, knowledge, or just a road map of where to go to get this info. For an example of the complexities I'm facing, when I do make that 'great' image, I don't know how to 'value' it cost wise for selling it or producing it. For me, I usually had a striking emotional high pulling that image into the camera, fiddling it to and through the printing process, and then holding that print in my hand. But when I add up the cost of the image I get tripped up by that 8x10 (or what have ya) having only cost me less than 4 bucks.
I come from a life experience where reward came from hours worked and sweat inputed - when I've got my 'mojo' going there's no 'work' felt sheparding things through the process of image making. The fiscal value of the print I'm holding is '4.00', because I didn't 'work' to make it. I definitely know this is quite a fallacy, but I have no compass or map to chart a different course to it's 'real' value or price. I am quite lost.
I've heard that the wisest person is the one who says 'I don't know' when they don't know something. In this case I'm a flippin' genius based upon how much I 'don't know'. LOL
I am not looking to fire up a big ole studio or go out on the road freelancing this that or the other thing. I will be doing the little weddings and chasing some business image making (head shots, realty, etc), maybe events, also I am having fun doing restorations for people. I want to formalize things, insure stuff and equipment, and get the pricing, billing, taxes stuff 'right'. I just haven't a clue where to get some help other than shelling out bucks to lawyers or accountants that I might not have any need to do.
Thanks All, POTN has always been wonderful to visit and get info and such, but the scale of importance of this particular question set is a few steps up from giving input on 'bokeh' LOL!
Richard
In snowy West Michigan - Brrrr

One of the first things that I found about your post is that if you calculated the real cost of getting that 8x10 it would be alot more than 4.00. You have your capital cost of your gear, depreciation, computer and software and your time involved in getting it.

When I decided to go full time from shooting part time for years one of the first things that I did was sit down and develop a business plan. I spent the money on a lawyer and an accountant to seek guidance for the jurisdiction that I live in. It was money very well spent. There are things like liability insurance that so many shooters tend to ignore and hope that nothing happens. Say you are shooting a wedding and someone trips over an extension cord that you have placed. They sustain an injury and in the process your lights start a fire. Can you afford to cover this out of your pocket. I know this is the extreme but in this sue happy environment that we live in I just wasn't ready to take any risk on myself in this area.

There are alot of very experienced people on this site but if you are serious about starting this as a business then seek out the professional advice that will guide you in the best and most expedient manner.

One of the other early decisions that I made was that based on what I had in my business plan as a target audience, I hired a small marketing firm to do door knocking for me. The cost of this was not as much as I thought it would be. It was money very well spent. I got the coverage quickly that I could have never done myself in that time frame. By my own admission I am not a good door knocker, going in to a business and making a cold sales call. I thought it better done by a professional. I joined a number of business associations in the city that allowed me to network.

There is some good information in the stickies at the top of this forum. I would take the time to read some of the threads here that cover business startups. Of course there is the internet and there is alot of information that is very good. A few examples of this are:

DanHeller.com or his blog
Now if you have ever heard of an odd name for a photography business consultancy it would be this one. Check out Burns Auto Parts which is actually a company that is a photographic consultant. They have a monthly newsletter that I find quite interesting and informative. Your search engine is another great resource that many overlook.

The key for me was to sit down and do the business plan. It is really your roadmap to success. If you do it properly and follow it, you stand a much better chance of succeeding. You have to calculate what you need to make to eat, pay all of your bills and still be able to set aside money for those rainy days.

Treat it like a business and charge accordingly. It may only cost you 3.50 to get that 8x10 from the lab but there is so much more to it. If you are really at the point where you need to be told to tab A goes into tab B then maybe you should see if your local college offers any courses that would help you in this respect. Your local Chamber of Commerce may have resources available as well. It is really easy to pop into a forum board and ask questions and normally you will get decent advice. At the end of the day you are taking advice from someone that you do not know. I would always take that advice with caution.

I wish you luck and if I can answer any real specifics I will do so.

Sheldon offers some superb advice up there. The best shooter in the world will earn zip unless they also know how to start and run a business. The starving artist in their garrett is the classic metaphor. You can learn a lot about the basic concepts in marketing online, same with budgeting and cash flow. It is then really about applying the resources you have in the way which will enable you to hit or beat your bottom line in a sustainable way.

Hi Sheldon and condyk,
I'm printing off Sheldon's post and going to put the advice to , hopefully, good use. The chamber of Commerce idea sounds great, but no where as good as the business plan suggestion. I have a serious liquidity problem right now, my 'employer' isn't my employer anymore - I was on medical leave and my return process was mishandled and I was forced to resign. I'm safe on the food, shelter, and transportation fronts and am actively seeking a much better and appropriate position. I have some good non-photo job skills to help find a 'day job'. I'm also advised that my ex-employers handling of the situation guarantees getting unemployment insurance payments that will actually exceed my previous 'take home' check amounts! The hitch is it might take 4 to 8 weeks before that starts paying out. I've a fairly sturdy safety net between family, friends, and such. just a tiny bank account at the moment!
All in all I would vastly prefer having a J_O_B !!!! The structure of a place to go daily, set hours to work, and a core group of people to see regularly, is kind of important in my world. The photo business is intended to be supplementary for the foreseeable future. I 'know' I have the gifts for my images and/or imagemaking to support me now, but I prefer to kick that stage out at least a few years.

As Sheldon Says in his signature
My life is like one big RAW file....way too much post processing needed.
That would definitely apply in my world as well!!!! I'm also handicapped by a 'slow' cpu and not enough 'ram' LOL. It's taking toooooo long to shepard stuff through post!

Thanks
Richard