New Studio Part 3: Plotting a Course

02/01/2005 12:16:09 AM · #1

I promised I'd try to write about what I'm learning as I go from DPC flunkie to studio owner. This is the third chapter.

Chapter 1: Starting Out
Chapter 2: Organization

Your mission is to go outside, get in your car and drive to my house. No maps, no roadsigns, no directions. I live on Main St. in Tully, NY. Go!

No? Why not? Surely you know the general direction of NY from your home. Go northeast for most of you. If you live nearby or you�ve been through Syracuse, even better. Just hop off the highway � what? No, I can�t tell you which one � there are no signs anyways.

Difficult? Imagine the Europeans! They need to fly into the US first � but fly to where?

I�m sure you get the point. You need a map. The better the map, the easier your trip. Without a map, you may know a general direction but before you found me, you could make several wrong turns and get lost a lot along the way. Your business needs a roadmap as well. That�s where a business plan comes in.

The first thing you need to decide is how comprehensive your plan will be. The smaller the plan, the higher chance you will finish this assignment. The more detailed, the better chance you have of reaching your exact destination.

A simple business plan should have the following sections:
1) Mission/Objectives - what do you hope to accomplish?
2) SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats?
3) Product description - what are you offering EXACTLY?
4) Analysis of target market - who are you competing with?
5) Marketing plan - what avenues will you pursue? Details!
6) Financial Projections - Where are you, where are you going?

That is the barest of essentials for a worthwhile plan, but whichever form you choose to express your plan in, complete the entire plan as quickly as you feasibly can. You need a business plan to approach banks for money. You need a business plan to keep you on track to reach those goals and objectives. You need a business plan because you need to know how you measure up and what you need to work on.

You can find more information about each section of a business plan pretty simply online. Rather than going into it here, I'd rather you did some homework and figured out what a real business plan looks like and how you can write one.

This exercise is not a hollow waste of time. Nor is it a workbook exercise that you can read along with and never actually do on your own if you want to be successful. If you research your competitors, you will learn more about your business than I can express here. You will learn what works, what never works, what not to try because it looks tacky. You will see different business models from yours in full action. By doing a SWOT analysis on your own business, you will be forced to take a serious, honest look at what will make you a success and what may derail your dreams.

You should write your business plan for about an 18 month period. If you write it for any shorter of a time, it could be accurate, but you won�t make much of a trip. If you write it for any longer, it wil be obsolete before you get to the end of your journey. It is possible to plan gear needs, album supplies and your calendar for about 18 months, so this is probably a good time frame to use.

Keep in mind that your goals will and should change. The more you learn, the better you will know what is possible and what is not. You may need to revise your intial guesses upward or downward, but chances are you will need to revise it somehow. We will address this in a future topic, but just keep in mind that your plan will change.

Once your plan is done, print it out. Store it with your business documents. Read your goals every so often so you remember your plan and you can see where you are going. Do things everyday to further those goals.

Til next time,
Matt

Message edited by author 2005-02-01 00:18:41.

Nikon AF Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G IF-ED DX

02/01/2005 07:59:00 PM · #2

erm

grigrigirl

Nikon D3

02/01/2005 09:22:21 PM · #3

wow mav! My pee brain cant handle all that. I just wanna take pictures.... ;)

Nikon AF Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G IF-ED DX

02/01/2005 09:28:47 PM · #4

Originally posted by grigrigirl:

wow mav! My pee brain cant handle all that. I just wanna take pictures.... ;)

LOL

I'm sure you have an idea where you are going - probably better than my idea where we're going! But I would take a contest between me armed with a plan and the most talented photographer here without a plan and see what happened after 5 years of being in business.

I don't know why this topic flopped so much. Maybe cuz it's boring? Or maybe it IS complicated. I lost track. lol

M

grigrigirl

Nikon D3

02/01/2005 09:30:32 PM · #5

im really just messin with ya. But truly, I dont think like that..so i hire others to think for me ;)

Nikon AF Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G IF-ED DX

02/01/2005 09:35:14 PM · #6

Originally posted by grigrigirl:

But truly, I dont think like that..so i hire others to think for me ;)

lol

I'll do this when I have more $.

;)

M

Spork99

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Canon EF-M 22mm STM Lens

02/01/2005 10:00:24 PM · #7

I'm reading and learning from your experiences. I love photography and always have. My complete lack of understanding of operating a business is what drove me from the profession the first time. I don't plan to make the same mistakes twice.

It's the complicated, boring bits that will screw you up.

Thanks Mav

Message edited by author 2005-02-01 22:01:30.

grigrigirl

Nikon D3

02/01/2005 10:03:44 PM · #8

i fully expect to be living under a bridge soon~!

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

02/01/2005 10:39:10 PM · #9

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

I'm reading and learning from your experiences.

I'm glad! I was wondering if I'd bored any audience these things were having to sleep! lol

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

My complete lack of understanding of operating a business is what drove me from the profession the first time.

Please feel free to share in these threads or elsewhere what you think we should be doing as well. We can and should be sharing! :)

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

It's the complicated, boring bits that will screw you up.

That's SOOOOO true. People do the easy stuff. They pick the low hanging fruit. THEN WHAT? A business plan will get you to the real fields of fruit, not just the stuff that's hanging around waiting to be picked. What you don't need is to look back in 2 years and say "that was a good idea...damn."

:)

Thanks too - I hope the next one I write (about financing and money) perks people up a bit more.

M

loz1

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

02/01/2005 11:13:29 PM · #10

Thanks for the post. I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping at night and this post seems to be the perfect medicine for me :D

OK now that I got the smart ass part of me out I can continue lol I was wondering about your 18 month time frame. I understand why you choose this amount. I do think a year is way too short and perhaps is too long. Although I think I think slightly differently to you. I would probably have an 18 month plan as well as a financial year plan. Do you have one of those as well? I was just wondering.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

02/01/2005 11:55:54 PM · #11

Our financial planning for the year is included in our 18 month plan. There's where we project this year and where we project 18 months all in the same section. I don't know that we'd have a need for two plans for two time frames like that when the 18 month is inclusive of a year.

M

loz1

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

02/02/2005 01:43:55 AM · #12

I was probably thinking more on a marketing side of things, like for this year you would spend $x on advertising and next year you may have a different target amount. But then I guess it would make more sense to spend percentages because they grow when you grow.

In Oz the financial year is from July to June (which I think is really stupid lol) so business here probably have to look at calender year as well as financial, which is kind of why I asked.

Your calender and financials are the same aren't they?

JCDean

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

02/15/2005 11:08:03 AM · #13

Sorry to reply to an old thread but I thought that it could use some attention because a lot of people have the dreams of going at this full time.

First, Matt I have really enjoyed the series so far and await more. My wife and myself are starting on the challenge of building a business but don't plan on it being full time.

Second, do you have experience writing? Your style has changed for the better throught the series.

I am a recent maketing graduate and have been throwing around the idea of an article on marketing photos. Just wondering if anyone has beat me to the punch or if there is any interest out there for it.