revising business goals
Most every Wednesday for the past few months we’ve discussed business topics here on prophotolife. How to start a business, negotiate with clients and how to find a niche have been popular subjects. As these topics are discussed it has allowed me to assess what my studio, Daylight Photo, is currently doing well and what we could be doing better.
As an established business my photo studio has undergone changes in the past few years, evolving with the times. On the recent Worldwide Photo Walk I admitted to being a bit envious of photographers just starting out in the business. Yes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence! New photographers are facing a very competitive marketplace and I’m already established. I realize the benefits of that.
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What I admire about those starting out today is the ability to present a very professional appearance using electronic marketing methods and to gain access to a wide variety of art buyers online. While it’s more competitive now (both for work and regarding pricing) many of the old barriers of entry have come down. Sometimes it’s hard for established businesses to adapt to the newest, best ways of operating.
Realizing this has made me step back to look more critically at the way Daylight Photo is operating. It’s important to continually revise operations but every few years or so an even more critical look should be made. I think it’s that time.
We work with many small (and not so small) businesses and on every photo shoot I generally ask people what trends they see emerging in their respective industries. I’m genuinely interested in the state of business and how all industries are reacting / coping with faster turnaround times and downward price pressures.
A lot of downsizing is going on, companies are getting leaner. This is true locally with commercial photographers, also. Many photographers that once had costly studios now work from home, renting space and equipment when needed. Renting conference rooms at local hotels for photo shoots has also become accepted. Catering is on hand, the environment is comfortable and facilities are spacious and readily available. That’s thinking outside of the old-school box and it seems to work well.
I currently travel 50 miles round trip to the studio each day and my office is at the opposite end of the studio from our digital post-production, where Bob spends most of his time. In between there is an additional office, our video editing room and two bathrooms. That’s for two people and a freelancer or two.
Every time the lease is up we consider whether we need the 4,000 square foot facility. It sure is nice and we do fill it up at times. We’re split pretty evenly between location and studio work and the work done in the studio more than pays for the overhead of the space. Plus, we’re located conveniently near a number of clients. Based on that criteria we’ve continued to renew the lease, understanding that the large space at least pays for itself and gives added capabilities.
The general nature of our photo assignments continue to downsize, though. Where we used to build large room sets we now shoot on location in homes. The studio isn’t needed as much. For specialties such as food and fashion photography a specialized studio is a necessity. For us, maybe not. We have to consider whether a smaller, more convenient location would aid or hinder the bottom line.
The biggest thing I’ve realized lately, though, is the time spent commuting and managing the large space could be put to other uses. That time could either be spent in pursuit of other work or riding my mountain bike.
What I find interesting at the moment is that many prophotolife readers are just starting out, looking to grow their business. At the moment I’m seriously considering downsizing mine in favor of simplicity and more personal time. Maybe one of these days we’ll all be meeting in the middle…maybe that’s where the grass is truly green! 
Jim,
One option you should consider is whether you can keep the larger studio - which can be convenient at times, but make it pay for itself a bit more.
One of the issues many of these new photographers have is that they do need both studio space, as well as a professional appearance as they start their business. But they may not yet have enough revenue to justify having their own studio. So there may be a good opportunity to sign up a few carefully vetted local newcomers as assoicates to your studio.
I’m very much in that position myself, needing just a bit more space, and a professional location from time to time, but am not quite ready for exclusive space. So I signed up with a local group of photographers doing just that type of deal. I get a set amount of hours of studio time in the 3,300 sqft facility, lighting equipment, my name on the door, and access to the studio manager in return for a decent monthly payment and a quarterly renewable commitment.
Works out well for both sides.
I can certainly relate on the commute. I travel about 45 miles to work and back each day. That’s an hour and a half for me. My wife and I are planning on moving to Arizona by next spring where I’m hoping to find a telecommute job. That will give me 7 1/2 hours every week of time I didn’t have before. That’s time I can spend with my family, taking care of the yard, working on building a photography business and doing so many other things.
I wouldn’t count your commute in miles. I’d count it in hours. Hours seem to be so much more valuable, especially if there are things left over that you want to do or need to get done at the end of the week.
Jim,
Thank you for your candid remarks on your business. I know what it’s like to work for yourself. I understand what it means to be competitive and at the same time downsize.
I owned a small manufacturing company. In order to grow I had to expand production. My employee’s doubled but my costs increased four fold. I needed to cut back and expand at the same time. It was constipation of the small business world.
Finally, for my business to be more competitive I subcontracted. I found a firm that in their off months laid off employees. Their off months were my busy months. We spent the money to retool the facility for my type of product.
To make a very long story short it worked. It was a symbiotic relationship that worked for many years. I lowered my overhead to just storage space and a small office in my home. The other business kept their employees year round, and increased their bottom line.
Your responses have been a great help and make me very glad I started prophotolife.com. I’m continually amazed at the benefits I receive from starting this site.
John, you nailed it: I need to find more hours to devote to the things I really enjoy (this blog, for example) and spend less time spinning my wheels (literally).
Jan and Kirk have ideas at opposite ends of the spectrum and both are equally valid. An established studio here in Cincinnati is trying Jan’s model and I just sent them my best wishes. They have a large space to fill and I want to see them make it all work. That idea would involve more people (and, subsequently, more time spent managing) and that’s something I’m really tending away from at the moment.
Kirk, I often relate my business to manufacturing and so your idea seems to fit right where I am at the moment. We’ve grown our business over the years and increased income but increased expenses seem to negate the benefits. And we’re left with more complexity. Just curious…what did you manufacture?
Hmmm, outsourcing…how about John comes on as the IT guy, Kirk manages the business, we outsource the photography to Jan’s group and I hang out on the beach, blogging?
Hey Jim,
The family business that I work for currently operates out of the owners’ basement. For years employees have been welcomed into the owners’ home and finally, after years of encouragement, they’ve decided they have the financial means and enough lack of space to move the business into it’s own building. It means some changes to what they can write off at income tax time, but I’m hoping it will help them realize the professional nature of having a building for their publishing business.
Most of our business is conducted via phones, and e-mails, so there is just the matter of furniture and phone lines to move over, but they wanted to keep the business within walking distance for them (looks like it will be less than a five minute stroll) while not increasing travel time for employees coming from further afield.
The interesting part will be that the new location allows them to rent out office space to one or two upstart companies, hopefully this will help offset the costs of moving and set up.
It will be interesting to see all the employees consolidate under one roof and see how the business works in this new environment.
Good luck with your own revamping. Personally I’m for opening new revenue streams (rent out space evenings or during slow times to us upstart photogs looking for access to studio space).
I never would have thought of renting a conference room at a hotel for a photo shoot. What a great idea! Although sometimes those ceilings aren’t very high. But it’s something to keep in mind.
A friend of mine, an automotive shooter, has a small warehouse that he uses mainly for storage. I did a model portfolio shoot there a few weeks back, using mostly my own equipment (borrowed a few C-stands). I kept thinking “I’ve got to get me one of these studio things!” I do everything on location, so having a controlled environment was a wonderful luxury.
I like the idea of having a studio. I also like the idea of generating enough business that I needed and could afford a studio. But business models change…you might not need the studio as much now as you did a few years ago. You might also find that in another few years, you need one again. It’s hard to predict.
I know a local commercial shooter who had something like 4000 ft of space, and then downsized to about 1000 because he no longer did any large product shots. Then a couple of years later, he was looking around for more space because the larger items were back in his business model. I’ve lost touch with him, so I don’t know if he’s moved again.
It definitely sounds like your studio and your home are too far apart though!
Good luck with your new plans, whatever you decide. I’m jealous of the studio, but not of the overhead.
Hey Jim, I know an ex-co-worker that left the company to pursue professional photography. What he is doing is that he teamed up with Al Lang, Hoover Photography, a wedding photographer and a graphics designer and all leased a building down in River Rd. They all have separate offices over there and the capabilities of the building are amazing! They all share the lease, and share the capabilities of having a high end kitchen for food prep and food photography, a huge white wall for group photos, a kid’s area for children and family photography, and a lot of different textured walls for backgrounds. The lease is minimal and this enables them to have a professional place with minimal overhead cost, and don’t feel bad about shooting on location and wasting the space since it is always in use.
This would only work if a good scheduling system is in place and the communication is flawless, but so far they are doing pretty good. Maybe we can learn a little from them: http://www.riverimaging.com
After I went to their open house last week, I’m actually interested in doing something like this.
Hey, Juan, it’s good to hear from you. I know Al and Randy down at River Imaging and you’ve actually inspired my post for tomorrow! I’ll write about it more tomorrow.
Cool man! Glad to help out. The one I know is Rick Lohre and he has become a good mentor after he left the company. I actually inherited some of the photographic equipment he left here and built a product photography capability for the department. Pretty cool to mix both your full-time job and your hobby.
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