Business plan - it can be as simple or complex as you want, but it's basically what you want/need to do over the next 1, 2, 3, or 5 years. So make a list, 3 columns.
First column is a list of gear (lense, bodies, lights, BGs, etc), collateral (handouts, pricelists, procedures, workflows), computer (1, 2 or more,monitors, software, etc), advertising (biz cards, sample prints or albums, newspaper, magazines, bridal shows, direct mail, website, etc), business items (filing cabinet, dayplanner, accounting needs (software/cpa/whatever works for you), business license, tax ID, sales tax, business bank account, stamp for back of checks, ability to take credit cards if needed, etc), space - where to shoot, run teh business from, etc.
Column 2 is the cost of items in column A in dollars. Time if you're doing it also (like designing a website, etc).
Column 3 is the date you need to have the stuff. You may not need everything today, or may not be able to afford it. If you plan to start with wedding then add a sports league or studio work then set things up accordingly.
Tally up the $$ column and be sure you're sitting down when you do it. $20,000...$40,000? It adds up, fast. You can borrow this money, and figure to pay it off by using the gear to earn the money. It's the way the world works. Figure 3 years to pay it off (or 5..your choice) factor in repairs, upgrades, etc and get a monthly figure. You need to generate this money every month (on average) to pay the bills. Figure in phone, 'net fees, advertising (15% of what you want your sales to be is a good place to start), etc. Remember, the bills get paid first, you get paid last!
Many things will come up that you had not planned for. Where does X get filed? Got an invoice for that? A client places an order - you need prints from Lab A, frame from place B, album from company C and a canvas from company D. Got suppliers for all this stuff? Got samples, accounts with them, prices (cost and what you're charging?) Put all this a 3 ring binder you can refer to. Put in a page with the vendor, acct number, phone number and a contact person - one place to go when you need to order stuff! Remember that you have to keep track of all this stuff coming from 4 places, and add in 10 clients all having stuff from 2 or 3 or 4 vendors and you've got to have a system for tracking it all or you'll go nuts, screw up orders, etc.
When you get a job they have a system in place for everything, a filing system, a way to answer phones, etc. You have none of this, and no one to ask about it! It's taken me 3 years to get most of it in place and now I'm getting to be rather efficient. For example, every print size I order has a code letter that is prefixed onto the final file that is ordered, and a qty number. J1.... meand 1 8x10. I3... means 3 5x7s. When I go into ROES to order all teh files are in a subdirectory in order by size. Drag and drop. No errors, no time wasted. And later on if I need a reprint or want to know what was ordered I know just from the file name.
Get insurance. Business insurance. About $500-600 a year but covers you for liability, gear, computers, business income loss, data loss and a lot lot lot more.
have fun!
Message edited by author 2008-05-01 16:56:37.
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