space for lease- need help deciding

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

07/29/2008 10:02:32 AM · #1

Pros:

-Only $650/month for 800 square feet
-Large studio in front room, connecting smaller back area for computers and equipment
-Small kitchen and back deck (to be shared with landlord for lower rent).
-Our landlords and immediate neighbors
-Landlord has already mentioned having some possible jobs for us through his business.
-Building designed by a famous photographer who moved here in 1908. (just interesting)
-Very large bay windows for natural lighting when needed and a great view.
-Not run-down, great condition, good parking, nice location, across from the courthouse
-Office space directly downstairs for an additional $600 should we decide we need it before it gets taken. Personally, I just don't see the need. I can do all my PP at home.

Cons:

-Not wheelchair accessible... 2nd floor
-The wallpaper... definitely not 18% gray. It's more of a brown and green and textured. Picture the edge of a cardboard box lid. There is a continuous S curve. That's exactly the texture, but the wallpaper S-curve is deeper. How set in stone is a gray color, except to set white balance? This wallpaper seems completely unreflective.
-High ceilings, great for looks, bad for reflecting, but easy to resolve in the studio, i think.
-Haven't started really marketing yet. My graphic design experience dates back to when Freehand was the software of choice. Need brochures, business cards, logo ASAP and for fairly cheap. Web site layout would be nice, too. I would have no problem keeping it updated with Dreamweaver, but designing a nice layout is harder for me than it used to for some reason. We are opening up 1st of September and are hoping for some bookings by then.

Business:

-On-Sight Photography (co-owned by my sister and I)
-Weddings (experience... 3 between the 2 of us and 1 together... all successful with references available)
-Portraits (experience... she is more than I am, but the desire to learn is there for me... got some equipment, need more) I would really like to see what others charge for studio time.
-Photo Classes (experience... none) We are still throwing this one around. Nothing fancy... basic stuff, at least for now. Maybe field trips. We've got plenty of material and ideas. Anybody out there with suggestions on this?
-Doesn't really have the open gallery room I was hoping for, but beggars can't be choosers, eh?

Other notes:

-We live in a college town. Any thoughts on how I can utilize this to my advantage?

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

07/29/2008 10:10:10 AM · #2

Sounds like you need a business plan. You need to know exactally HOW you will pay the bills every single month before you sign a lease. Nothing would suck worse than to be stuck in a 3 year lease when you realize you don't have the necessary client volume or to not have the funding necessary to do the marketing it will take to get the volume you need. Finding the space should be way down the do-list, honestly. Your website and marketing materials (and business plan, and accounting, etc) should be in place first before you commit yourself to spending money you haven't proven you can earn.

Another note, not being wheel chair accessible has already hurt me once. A teacher of handicapped children wanted to refer all of her students to me, until we realized some of the larger chairs couldn't fit through my studio door.... and there is nothing I can do about it. :( (I offered to come to them instead, but haven't heard back)

Prof_Fate

07/29/2008 10:32:59 AM · #3

I've not had any issues with accessability (basement studio) but I've recenlty moved to my garage and am advertising the handicapped access feature to see if it makes a difference. You can always go to them.

You have the rent/lease and unlike a residential lease, if you don't stay you're still obligated to pay it, like a gym membership type of deal. Look for things that can raise the rent - do you pay for garbage, snow, grass, maintenace, common area utilities, etc? If the owner remodels can you be assessed a portion of the costs? If he moves you or you leave early what does the lease say about it? What improvements can you do, will he do, etc?

Does the town have a mercantile tax. Most here do, but not all. It's 1% of your sales. Not much, but it's a cost regardless. You'll also have to have a biz license, tax stuff, etc - you're highly visible and need to do it completely above board. Insurance too- especially in a shared building or one with steps - if someone falls you need to be covered!

What about utilities - elec, gas, phone, internet? You pay a lot more in a commercial space for all that. $300 is one thing, $600 is another every month. You need a ballpark figure at least to work with in your business plan.

With only 3 weddings I suspect you've not got much referral biz and other momentum behind you at this time, so you'll have a couple of years of growth - perhaps 100% or more, and during that time you'll be buying gear, props, computers and lots of advertising doohickeys (shirts, pens, folders, ads themselves, etc). Factor that in. The more you advertise the faster you'll get business, but if you're not ready for it (with plans, systems, pricing, samples, etc, etc) then you can very quickly implode!

Shoot time in a studio for me is $39 for a 30 minute session. Kinda low, but the other 'model' is to be rather on the high side, like $150 and that scares off more clients, especially if you don't have a rep yet. Projection proofing TRIPLED my average sale, so I (and many others) strongly suggest you do it - so you need space for it (9x12 rooms works) and the gear (computer, proselect software, projector, screen, stereo for some good sound to stir the emotions).
You need to know your costs and charge 2.5 to 3.3 times them. So if a framed 8x10 costs you $35 and 10 minutes to put it together you need to charge $100 or so for it.

The unknowns you need to estimate are:
Number of sessions and average sale per session. On babies I shoot for $250/session and seem to be doing it. (plus sitting fee if any). Seniors are more volatile on what they spend. Last one spent $719 which is pretty typical unless they have divorced parents then add 50%. See, divorce is expensive LOL

My plan is 15 weddings a year, 5 sports leagues and 40 seniors with some misc thrown in. I've done the 15 weddings for a couple of years now, got 2 leagues this year (it's taken 3 years to get any) and have done 4 to 7 seniors a year till this year - now that part of my business is taking off - some from referral but mostly from trying something off the wall for advertising. I don't think I'll do 40, but I did schedule 2 more yesterday and shot 2 last week and have 3 more on the books for august.

Point being, you need a plan and have to make some assumptions. Do you need a paycheck? With a partnership who decides what needs bought and how to pay for it? I spent $1400 last week on a couch as a prop and some stuff for my new studio space and there was no discussing it with a partner (for better or worse). Do you have enough in cash reserves to pay the bills and get a paycheck (if needed) in jan/feb/march? Can you handle the slow months? My total sales for april was $300. You can have s l o w times - they can be productive in many ways, but if you've got bills to pay you need cash.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

07/29/2008 10:49:34 AM · #4

You have a lot more homework to do before you go jumping into a lease.

Take your questions/concerns, pros and cons and call the local SBA. If they are anything like the SBA here, they will help you deveolp a viable business plan and understand how your business will make money, how much business you need to do to make money and pretty much answer any questions you might have on your list and likely several others you haven't even thought of before.

Whatever you do, don't obligate yourself to a big chunk of overhead before you understand how it will affect your business in concrete, financial terms.

07/29/2008 11:09:17 AM · #5

Originally posted by idnic:

Thanks for the response! How we will pay bills isn't a problem, between the two of us, we can afford this. In fact, we were considering we could go as high as twice that. We both have decent paying day jobs. Um, yeah I agree a plan is necessary, that is why we are not pursuing signing the lease until Sept. We really just lucked into this place and are desperate to hold onto it. I guess the only business plan we have so far is to spend August booking gigs for Sept. Obviously, if we have a hard time doing that, we won't be signing a lease. Good news is landlord, a videographer, is just as desperate to have us there as we are to be there. It is a 1 year lease, too,... a little easier to sign than a 3 year.

prof_fate, as always, I put great value on your advice.

I will look into anything that may make our rent go up. Utilities are paid for and we are splitting wireless with the landlords, about $50/month. My accountant has given us a good price for a license, I have experience running my husband's biz of 4 years, so I'm familiar with tax stuff. Insurance is something we forgot to talk about last night. A definite must.

As far as momentum, we are diving in head first. I may pay someone here to help me out with logo, biz card, brochure if anyone is interested in making some money. After that, just some good old fashioned foot power to get it out. Then it's wait and see.

Paycheck, no, we don't need one. In fact, we've pretty much decided to not expect one until sometime next year. I don't expect a problem with my sis and I deciding what to buy, etc. We are both on the same page.

Message edited by author 2008-07-29 11:11:29.

07/29/2008 09:32:49 PM · #6

Congrats! That's actually a pretty good price ($0.81 sq ft). Did you look around at other spaces or is this your first one?

Things to think about.

High ceilings in a studio are good. The higher the better. It's much easier to make a big studio small than it is to make a small studio big. Do you have heating and air conditioning? One knock against having a big space is that it costs more to heat and cool (though I'd much rather shoot in a big studio than a small one).

Yes, processing at home works, but it's nice having a system available at the studio so you can immediately go through proofs with clients. Don't let your clients wait too long.

I wouldn't bother with having a gallery too because you really don't have room to spare. Storage will take up a lot.

Being on the 2nd floor might hurt you if you don't have an elevator to bring up heavy equipment with (well, might not hurt, but it'll probably tire you out). And wheels are good - stands, shelves, tables, etc.

How much power do you have? Where are the outlets? Do you have enough individual circuits for the shooting area?

Wallpaper shouldn't be a huge issue as long as you can control your light. If you're bouncing light and noticing color casts and shifts then obviously it's an issue, but if all you're doing is portraits then it probably won't matter. When I first started out, I shot in a room with 8' red ceilings, red walls, and blue carpet.

As far as how much to charge, that really depends on how much your time is worth to you and what your market is, which is going to be drastically different from person to person.

Good luck =)

07/30/2008 01:08:31 AM · #7

Originally posted by virtuamike:

Thanks for some things to think about...

We did shop around mostly called and inquiring, but this is the second one we were interested enough to look at.

Great point on size. As far as proofing at the studio, we are including that in our budget and the floor plan allows for plenty of presentation room, as well as a small kitchen for drinks and a deck for smokers.

2nd floor being an issue for heavy equipment isn't really an issue. As long as there's a cold beer at the top. :)

As far as a gallery... I'm starting to think maybe sponsoring a local photographer once a week, maybe Thursday nights for example. Something free. Maybe a small percentage of sales, but really a chance to advertise ourselves with friends and family of a different member of the community each week. Some nice easels presenting the artists photos, plus some sweet tea, a sit on our back deck overlooking downtown, and, of course, a good look at our portfolio, and a handsome handful of business cards and brochures. We live in a college town with a great photography program. We should have no problem finding talent.

As far what we've learned today business-wise: we've found a new organization on campus run through a grant that helps small businesses create a business plan, prepare us for taxes, etc. Also, we've found a non-profit group in Berea who works with an Appalachian group (can't remember the name) who is willing to talk to us as well. We are meeting with both this week.

We are working on (or thinking of working on) applying for a grant which, in our case, would include photographs, fingerprints, etc, of local children (then submitted to the John Walsh foundation) in addition to a free studio sitting and package for K-Chip receivers. (K-Chip is a Kentucky based health insurance free to eligible citizens).

Just brainstorming.

07/30/2008 01:30:52 AM · #8

Originally posted by cynthiann:

Originally posted by virtuamike:
Congrats! That's actually a pretty good price ($0.81 sq ft). Did you look around at other spaces or is this your first one?

Things to think about.

High ceilings in a studio are good. The higher the better. It's much easier to make a big studio small than it is to make a small studio big. Do you have heating and air conditioning? One knock against having a big space is that it costs more to heat and cool (though I'd much rather shoot in a big studio than a small one).

Yes, processing at home works, but it's nice having a system available at the studio so you can immediately go through proofs with clients. Don't let your clients wait too long.

I wouldn't bother with having a gallery too because you really don't have room to spare. Storage will take up a lot.

Being on the 2nd floor might hurt you if you don't have an elevator to bring up heavy equipment with (well, might not hurt, but it'll probably tire you out). And wheels are good - stands, shelves, tables, etc.

How much power do you have? Where are the outlets? Do you have enough individual circuits for the shooting area?

Wallpaper shouldn't be a huge issue as long as you can control your light. If you're bouncing light and noticing color casts and shifts then obviously it's an issue, but if all you're doing is portraits then it probably won't matter. When I first started out, I shot in a room with 8' red ceilings, red walls, and blue carpet.

As far as how much to charge, that really depends on how much your time is worth to you and what your market is, which is going to be drastically different from person to person.

Good luck =)

Thanks for some things to think about...

We did shop around mostly called and inquiring, but this is the second one we were interested enough to look at.

Great point on size. As far as proofing at the studio, we are including that in our budget and the floor plan allows for plenty of presentation room, as well as a small kitchen for drinks and a deck for smokers.

2nd floor being an issue for heavy equipment isn't really an issue. As long as there's a cold beer at the top. :)

As far as a gallery... I'm starting to think maybe sponsoring a local photographer once a week, maybe Thursday nights for example. Something free. Maybe a small percentage of sales, but really a chance to advertise ourselves with friends and family of a different member of the community each week. Some nice easels presenting the artists photos, plus some sweet tea, a sit on our back deck overlooking downtown, and, of course, a good look at our portfolio, and a handsome handful of business cards and brochures. We live in a college town with a great photography program. We should have no problem finding talent.

As far what we've learned today business-wise: we've found a new organization on campus run through a grant that helps small businesses create a business plan, prepare us for taxes, etc. Also, we've found a non-profit group in Berea who works with an Appalachian group (can't remember the name) who is willing to talk to us as well. We are meeting with both this week.

We are working on (or thinking of working on) applying for a grant which, in our case, would include photographs, fingerprints, etc, of local children (then submitted to the John Walsh foundation) in addition to a free studio sitting and package for K-Chip receivers. (K-Chip is a Kentucky based health insurance free to eligible citizens).

Just brainstorming.

How's the layout? Do you have a picture or a diagram?

Originally my business partner and I were looking at a 900 sq ft studio before we settled on our current 1700 sq ft one. The 900 sq ft space was a clean layout, but seeing how fast stuff started accumulating I'm glad we decided on the bigger one. 800 sq ft should be ok but you really need to be careful.

Are you letting people into the shooting area too when you're opening the studio as a gallery? If so, then invest in secure storage. Build out a storage room if needed to make sure your gear is locked up. The more people there are, the faster things vanish.

07/30/2008 02:07:08 AM · #9

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Message edited by author 2008-07-30 19:32:20.

07/30/2008 01:59:44 AM · #10

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Message edited by author 2008-07-30 19:32:29.