I was recently able to interview Susan, a photographer who is married to one of my cousins. Susan operates a photography studio in the rural town where she and my cousin reside. I sought to ask her about her experiences founding the studio, established five years ago, and about the transition she made from being strictly an artistic photographer, to becoming a small-business owner. Her business has been able to grow steadily, and because there is not much competition in her town, she has become to go-to photographer throughout the area.
The initial part of the interview focused on how Susan perceived photography, both in relation to art and business, and how she decided to establish a studio and become a business owner. Susan considers being a photographer as a fundamental part of her identity. Even if she never got paid, she says she would still be taking photographs. She was introduced to photography in high school, when she took a class that taught her how to develop her own film, before the digital era. Throughout her twenties, she approached photography as an artistic endeavor, but never considered doing it professionally.
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Susan claims her journey toward becoming a professional entrepreneur with photography started when she began using social media accounts, approximately ten years ago. At first, her only consideration was to use these accounts to post her artistic work, which largely involved nature and landscape photography. However, once she started working with models, there was a significant rise in the amount of professional inquiries she would receive: people would contact her through social media accounts asking if she was available to take graduation pictures, senior portraits, weddings and family reunions. Even at this point, she did not consider opening her own studio, but she was beginning to receive interest in her work. She says she did many jobs for free while still working her other job at the time at a bank, but she soon began to realize there was true business potential with photography.
About seven years ago, Susan began to charge people for her work. She cites this as one of the first major steps toward becoming an entrepreneur. She did not have a studio at the time, so much of her work was outdoors. However, this is when she began to research the laws on becoming a professional; for the first time, she had to get a business license, learn about business taxes, and she also had to consider how to market her services. Initially, she wasn’t sure to charge, so she began researching rates as well as expenses related to starting a business. She previously did not have startup venture experience, but she was not completely satisfied at her current job, and began considering photography as a full time career. For the first year of her photography business, she retained her bank job, so she was working both at the time. Her plan was to continue as such until photography provided enough income to be a full time job. She also married my cousin around this time, who has a successful career in marketing, so he was able to help her with the business element of her business.
The biggest obstacle she says she faced in the initial years was a combination of funding equipment, and finding a way to market her services in a way that would still be profitable. The basic issue was time; photography tends to be a more personalized service than other services one might seek, such as plumbing or dentistry. Clients like to know their photographer and see a body of previous work. They also have numerous specifications, and each time Susan books a client, there used to be a considerable amount of messaging and emails in regard to scheduling, finding stylist services, conducting viewing sessions, and many other associated parts of booking a client that one might not consider. She therefore had to create a rate that would cover not only the time it took communicating with clients, but also the cost of doing the actual photoshoot, as well as editing the photos.
Susan says her business fully blossomed once she acquired a studio space. She was able to rent out an old home, which she could dedicate toward providing in-studio options for clients. This cut down on the time it took to travel in many cases, and it also boosted her reputation. While she was a professional photographer for a few years before the studio, she believes owning the studio is what finally qualified her as being a true entrepreneur. She has had an increase in sales as her reputation in the area has grown, and now people from other counties take the time to travel to the studio. She has also started training assistants; while her own photography work comprises the majority of her business, she is training others to work in her style to help reduce the amount of workload.
The greatest lesson Susan learned, and what she cites she would have liked to have known when she was first beginning, was that running a photography business encompasses much more than actually taking photos; there needs to be extensive business knowledge, and there also needs to be resources and time dedicated toward the operation of a small business. Susan was fortunate enough to not need a significant amount of external investment, although she did obtain a loan when purchasing the property for her studio. However, this investment has paid off considerably, as her business is quickly becoming a success within her community, and her reputation has only grown over time.
