Going Pro – Location location location
Today’s post is continuing our series focused on taking the big step and ‘going pro’.
Some other posts in the series:
Going Pro – Working for Free – Charities
Starting a photography business – Ruth Bayley
Location location location
Why did we say it three times? Well there are three things to think about in regards to the location of your photography business.
- Where are you going to be located? Home based or studio?
- Where are you going to target your marketing?
- Where are you now and is it very different from where you’d like to be?
Home based verses studio businesses
For some owning there own studio is the dream whereas others have tried and failed. Both types of buinesses have there pros and cons but here’s a few things to consider:
- Even if you are in a great location with heavy footfall you’re not likely to have a great amount of ‘walk in’ trade… that is unless you give them a good reason to.
- Heavy footfall areas = expense but the saving you make by being based in a more obscure location can be spent on temporary stands in shopping malls.
- A studio means heavy overheads so keep a firm eye on your product costs.
- Having your own studio is better for presentation and professionalism.
- A good studio manager could cover most of your overheads by renting out the space to other photographers.
Where to target your marketing?
A common complaint that photographers make is “that won’t work in my area”. The answer is … don’t market in your area. We (UK folk) don’t live in a very big country so there’s no reason why you can’t concentrate on a post code or two down the road.
If you’d like to get a better idea of what areas near you might be slightly more affleunt then head over to www.upmystreet.com/ and enter some locations or postcodes.
Where would you like to be?
Learning to walk before you run is just common sense but great advice. If a central London studio is the target you might have to start off home based for the first few months/years just to build up a client base. You can of course rent spaces in the meantime if a studio is what you require.
There is a reason why most start-up businesses fail in the first year. Overnight success is often built on the back of years of preparation and hard work so there’s no need to rush things!
