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02/19/2008 10:35:37 PM · #26 |
Fortunately my wife has the real job, benefits, etc. I can 'work' at photography without the pressure of supporting myself or my family.
Getting past the break even point is the hard part. I've seen my average monthly sales increase, and remain reliable - a good sign of viability. But how much I need to make each month to pay the bills goes up too!
A friend's plan, after 18 months or so of planning and prep, is to shoot 30 weddings at $3500 each. All the research in the world means nothing when reality is in front of you. His first bridal show was last august and he's done 3 or 4 since then. Has 10 bookings. And not at an average of $3500. In some ways he ahead of me - better gear, second shot some 24 weddings before he even attempted to book his first as primary, no debt, beautiful samples and website and materials.
I'm finding there isn't enough hours in a day to market, manage, shoot, edit - and have a life.
My goals for 2008: shoot 15 weddings and 40 seniors. So far I'm on schedule with the plans to make that happen.
More time management - I have implemented a scheduling board for that and it seems to be helping.
Get out of debt and buy gear for cash only. So far so good, but I want a new lens...and my old ones aren't selling...we'll see how this goes.
Get a paycheck! I started that last year, but I want a raise! $2 an hour isn't cutting it LOL (really - that's a legit figure!)
Accumulate cash - for lean times, for advertising, and to get a studio - I'm going to try and empty my garage and turn it into a shooting room for this year. It's detached, and unheated, so it won't work in the winter without a furnace. I'm still thinking on building a studio in the back yard (costly, messy, time consuming) or leasing space (even more costly, no asset at the end of the lease, but quicker to do). I don't think buying commercial space is financially feasible in the forseable future.
And work on evaluating what do I want? Do I want to do 15 high end, artistic weddings, some events, and a few seniors and stay a one man show, or grow into a million dollar business. Might be nice for the ego perhaps, but does that really give me the happiness I'm seeking?
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02/19/2008 11:23:07 PM · #27 |
MY wife and I (who btw is on mat leave so very little income there) came up with the following over the past several hours. this is based on the assumption that we will have bought in advance many of the things we need (office equipement, computers, etc)
Monthly expenses
- Rent & Utils $3,000
- Office Supplies $500
- My salery $3,000
- Her Salery $1,500 (same pot really in the end so who cares who gets what)
- Part-time help $1,000
- Advertizing $1,800
- Insurance $270 (based on what were already paying)
- Printing suplies $1,000 (we'll start by doing our own printing)
- Total $144,840 (just enought o make our heads spin
What we think we can do in a given year (base loosely on what you mentioned before, what we do know of the market, and where we're already at
weddings
39 in a year at an average of $1500 (very conservative) $58,000
Portraits
2 a day 5 days a week = 520 sessions x $100/session $52,000
Schools
2 schools/ 300 kids each/ $30/kid (conservative again) $18,000
100 senoirs at $150 each (super conservative) $15,000
Events
Christmas parties etc. $1000 each event $5,000
Total $148,000
so that leaves us with about $3000 to call 'profit' sound about right???
this actually seems doable really... alot of work for sure...but doable... |
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02/20/2008 12:33:47 AM · #28 |
Originally posted by Eyesup:
Monthly expenses
- Rent & Utils $3,000
- Office Supplies $500
- My salery $3,000
- Her Salery $1,500 (same pot really in the end so who cares who gets what)
- Part-time help $1,000
- Advertizing $1,800
- Insurance $270 (based on what were already paying)
- Printing suplies $1,000 (we'll start by doing our own printing)
- Total $144,840 (just enought o make our heads spin
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Your figure of almost 145 thousand a month shocked me at first! What you've listed actually adds up to $12,070 per month. |
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02/20/2008 12:45:23 AM · #29 |
Originally posted by Louis:
Originally posted by Eyesup:
Monthly expenses
- Rent & Utils $3,000
- Office Supplies $500
- My salery $3,000
- Her Salery $1,500 (same pot really in the end so who cares who gets what)
- Part-time help $1,000
- Advertizing $1,800
- Insurance $270 (based on what were already paying)
- Printing suplies $1,000 (we'll start by doing our own printing)
- Total $144,840 (just enought o make our heads spin
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Your figure of almost 145 thousand a month shocked me at first! What you've listed actually adds up to $12,070 per month. |
12x12=144
12 months in a year.
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02/20/2008 12:54:12 AM · #30 |
Originally posted by littlegett:
Originally posted by Louis:
Originally posted by Eyesup:
Monthly expenses
- Rent & Utils $3,000
- Office Supplies $500
- My salery $3,000
- Her Salery $1,500 (same pot really in the end so who cares who gets what)
- Part-time help $1,000
- Advertizing $1,800
- Insurance $270 (based on what were already paying)
- Printing suplies $1,000 (we'll start by doing our own printing)
- Total $144,840 (just enought o make our heads spin
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Your figure of almost 145 thousand a month shocked me at first! What you've listed actually adds up to $12,070 per month. |
12x12=144
12 months in a year. |
Mrmm.... thnx. :) |
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02/20/2008 01:08:02 AM · #31 |
Originally posted by Louis:
Mrmm.... thnx. :) |
np 6-;
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