Business plan photographer

 

If you want to become self-employed, the photographer also needs a business plan, as in every industry. This will be created with careful consideration and specification of your own goals and determination of the facts and circumstances. Our tip: immediately after reading this article, study our financial plan template and some of the business plan examples on our website.

A photographer's business plan is not only required for submission to banks on the subject of "financing and start-up capital" but also helps with the self-assessment and organization of the "self-employment" project.

In the following interview: Characteristics of the business plan for a photographer.

Business plan for the photographer: special features and ideas

Especially in photography, many factors need to be clarified from the outset, delimited, and included in the foundation. Since there is a photographer's apprenticeship and even several courses of study in the industry, it is primarily important to acquire a certain basic knowledge with which you can build and secure a good and serious reputation right from the start.

If you don't have any commercial knowledge, you can and should seek help to create a photography business plan. Be it experts in business start-ups or the form of seminars and training courses on this topic. Further training can be helpful for the path to self-employment far beyond the creation of the business plan.

Business plan photographer tip 1: A look at the selected market

The average annual turnover of a photographer is €155,000. But some photographers earn significantly more or significantly less. Peak photography season is around Christmas time. The prices photographers charge for their images varies wildly, pointing to a market where you have to be very competitive.

Business plan photographer tip 2: The target group and the offer

In the field of photography, the request is almost limitless. First and foremost, you should consider who or what you want to photograph and what you want to achieve.

Nature and landscape photos? However, if you specialize in it, you have to keep in mind that the customer base is quite small since very few people hire a photographer for landscape photos or buy landscape photos.

Photoshoots with pets or people? Photoshoots are probably the most common reason to visit a photographer and professionally taken application photos. They are ideal as a gift for family and friends and as decoration for your own four walls. Here it must be noted that although the customer base is significantly larger, the work is also substantially more demanding. Photographing animals, in particular, requires a lot of patience and good tactics to take the perfect photo.

Photographer for events? In addition to photoshoots in our photo studio, an offer as a bookable photographer for events such as weddings, christenings, or birthdays is a productive part of the work as a photographer. However, the time factor must be taken into account here. Being present at the event and bringing the required material with you is often a lot of work.

It would be best if you also thought about additional special offers for customers to attract potential new customers' attention and increase your customer base.

 

Business plan photographer tip 3: Competitive situation

Of course, in a business plan for a photography service, you also have to deal with the competition to analyze your market opportunities and make realistic forecasts objectively.

This also includes a detailed location analysis: Where will the store open? Where is the best location? How much competition can I expect there? Which potential customers do I find there?

The competition needs to be looked at closely: What products or services does it offer? What price range does it belong to? What is the quality of their goods and services? What is her reputation?

The photo industry, in particular, is a very tough and competitive branch. Nowadays, photographers are often replaced by ever-improving smartphone cameras, including photo editing, so it is essential to show competitiveness and stand out from the crowd.

Business plan photographer tip 4: The legal framework

In the photo industry, in contrast to the catering industry, you do not have to deal with a serving license, but here too, the legal framework conditions must be observed.

Above all, data protection and the right to one's image are important here. Before becoming self-employed as a photographer, you should be well informed about these relevant legal regulations. Otherwise, you risk committing a criminal offense and going to court. This is also an important aspect of using video/photo drones to create aerial photographs.

 

Photographer Business Plan Tip 5: Pricing and Marketing in the Photographic Industry

Marketing and pricing strategies should also be well thought out as a photographer. Questions arise here, such as: Do I advertise? If so, where and how do I advertise? How do I promote? How do I keep my prices? How do I change and customize them?

There are various methods and tactics to achieve the highest possible sales in pricing and marketing.

The elementary question here is whether you offer good quality at corresponding prices and thus want to build up a fairly well-off customer base or provide somewhat poorer quality at significantly lower costs and therefore aim at a diverse and large customer base.

We hope this brief look at the thoughts you should have when creating your photographer business plan has been of some help to you. In addition to the ideas in this guide, you should also note our respective articles on business plan components and our tips on business start-up grants.