Studio in own home?

So I have been doing a ton of thinking and planning as I eventually really want to start a small photography business. I am wondering if there are any risks to having an indoor studio in your own home? We will be building a home in the future and I keep dreaming about building the perfect little room for indoor portraits (for babies, kids, and small families). One of the risks I keep thinking about is having "strangers" in my home...as a woman, it just makes me feel a little vulnerable thinking about it. Any of you have a studio at home and have any advice about this or other risks??? Thanks!

I have a small studio in my home. It does make me nervous inviting people to my house. Most of the time it's women booking shoots so there's not a major need for stressing over it. Most of my clients book in the evenings and on weekend when my husband is home (because photography is not 9-5, people may think that but I cater to my clients, not myself). That works to my advantage because my husband is usually here.

You say the word "little". I would not go small. I work out of a bed room and run into major issues with a small room. The room is roughly 9ftx15ft with 9 ft ceilings. I really need a 20x30foot room with 12 ft ceilings to really function. You need keep in mind having a separate bathroom and a room for changing. I have a 2 story town house and my whole upstairs (2 beds 1 bath) is my studio. 1 shooting room, 1 bath room, 1 dressing room/prop room. It functions for now but I really need more space as far as a shooting room.

I hope this helps! Oh ya, and I tell people it's appointment only and most of the time will meet people prior to a session if I know my husband is not going to be home. My clients know this up front usually.

According to records kept by the Studio Management Services unit of the Professional Photographers of America, home-based studios tend to be the most profitable of portrait studios.

However, these are what shotsbysheryl has talked about: Genuine studio spaces that are on the same property as the photographer's living spaces. It could be, for instance, a downtown building in which the studio is the lower floor and the photographer lives on the upper floor. Or it could be a home in a residential area (where zoning allows) that has dedicated studio spaces. I have a good photographer friend who recently bought an old 3-story Victorian in our town--she's using the entire lower floor as her studio and business spaces. The family lives in the upper floors.

What I'm saying is that you need sufficient dedicated business space to make it work well. Although many photographers have certainly started out using a living room, bedroom, garage, or basement as studio space, I don't know of many who have made a successful business with that as a permanent arrangement. There are too many issues involved with sharing living and business spaces, and some of these issues can leave you on the bad end of a lawsuit.

If you're building a house, build real space for running a business: A separate entrance, sufficiently sized shooting room, space for equipment storage, sufficiently sized dressing/restroom, waiting space, office, packaging space, et cetera. Your local laws may require you to give consideration to handicapped accessibility requirements in a new building. There are going to be some insurance requirements as well.

Also check the zoning requirements. Some cities prohibit businesses run in the home when customers are involved.

Thanks a ton everyone for the great advice...my brain is spinning thinking about all the would be needed. I will write all of this down and take everything into consideration.

One question - if you have it out of your home, do you have a sign outside with your business name on it? Wouldn't that look tacky in a residential area?

kendi4 wrote in post #11508289
One question - if you have it out of your home, do you have a sign outside with your business name on it? Wouldn't that look tacky in a residential area?

Your local zoning laws will tell you what signage you're allowed--specifically to avoid making the neighborhood look tacky. My neigborhood (which is not covenanted) allows signage up to two square feet.

My friend had studio on street floor downtown and he lived in the backroom for almost 2 years. The main room was his studio room and when he wasn't working it was his living room. It was pretty cheap way to live.

Get insurance so you limit your liability.

YamahaRob wrote in post #11507955
Also check the zoning requirements. Some cities prohibit businesses run in the home when customers are involved.

Bingo!

Do your homework first! There can be all kinds of restrictions in residential areas to limit traffic, signage, etc., etc.

Some years ago I bought a house in Colorado that was a bargain because the owner didn't check things out in advance. He'd built a free standing "garage" with the intention of running an upholstery business out of it. Not your normal "garage"... It was probably 30'x40', had 12' ceilings, separate heat, office, storage room, bathroom, separate electrical service and phone lines, alarm system and even a built-in central vacuum, as well as two oversize "industrial" roll up doors. He spent a ton of money on it.

Then the city closed down his plan to operate a business there before he even got started, since it violated several zoning laws or restrictions. (I guess no one mentioined that when he was getting the building permits.)

Without any means to generate income there, he ended up with no choice but to sell the home and move.

Check your CCR's

most subdivisions have them and they can be and usually are much more restrictive than the usual zoning ords.

Also consider out door shooting! Just because your "studio" is inside doesn't mean you can't leverage those great out door days for outside family portraits. Do some creative gardening, with built-in props and such (the back wall of the garage made to look like a barn wall with hay bales nearby, for example). Outdoor shooting is way easier when your gear is just inside the house and not all packed up in the trunk of your car. Your backyard can be a whole series of stages for all different types of background themes.

golfecho wrote in post #11522610
Also consider out door shooting! Just because your "studio" is inside doesn't mean you can't leverage those great out door days for outside family portraits. Do some creative gardening, with built-in props and such (the back wall of the garage made to look like a barn wall with hay bales nearby, for example). Outdoor shooting is way easier when your gear is just inside the house and not all packed up in the trunk of your car. Your backyard can be a whole series of stages for all different types of background themes.

Hmm. You're in Georgia, I see.

The rest of us, though, can cultivate other sources of indoor venues. I have relationships with a couple of Victorian mansion bed-and-breakfast houses for "grand style" portraits.

RDKirk wrote in post #11522865
Hmm. You're in Georgia, I see.

The rest of us, though, can cultivate other sources of indoor venues. I have relationships with a couple of Victorian mansion bed-and-breakfast houses for "grand style" portraits.

Great idea to have a catalogue of venues to go to. It doesn't matter where you are, I was just suggesting that a backyard can sometimes be a very handy place to have "canned" settings already established, with known sun angles and an assortmant of outdoor backgrounds. A friend of mine had a garden trellace (sp??) and other assorted items around his yard, and he was able to use them often.

I am planning on opening my business in the new year. I will be doing it out of my home also. But i live in a apartment building. But here is the great think. There is a common room on the first floor and i was giving permission to use it at any time. with a small deposit of 25 bucks. and i get it back later. But i also talked to the owner and told him what i was going to be using it for and he was very understanding and amazing about it. So i can use the room any time. Only thing i have to do is set up and remove every time. But so far i have everything portable so i can do this and or bring the studio to someones house to do the photo shot also. i do plan to move once my business is off the ground and get a nice location for my business in my house. so as of right now i am in an apartment building and i dont feel comfortable with ppl coming into my living space but i am once again ok with the common room as its on the first floor and a lot more open space.