What to Invest In When Starting Your Photography Business
For those artists who have the entrepreneurial itch creeping into their hobby to start a photography business, this is just the beginning of your journey. The desire to make money with your talents and build a business is both exciting and nerve-wracking, which is why I wanted to give you the information and guidance on the three most crucial investments I made when starting my photography business - education, business management, and photography gear.
Ready to start learning!?
Education
Up first and foremost is education! This one is HUGE when it comes to building your own business. How can you sell something you don’t know anything about!? Practice, study and soak in as much knowledge as you can before officially opening your business. This will give you a higher quality product to offer your clients and help establish credibility and professionalism.
Give yourself some grace and be patient with yourself! Begin your education journey with these four topics: how to use your camera, the importance of lighting, the art and design of creating beautiful images, and how to edit your photos. Once you have these fundamentals down, the rest will fall into place!
I have a ton more specific ideas on what you need to educate yourself on + my favorite photography education resources to be a successful photographer that I think you will find very helpful in my "What to Invest in When Starting Your Photography Business" guide.
2. Business Management
Now, how many professional photographers started their business because they love all the technical, practical, non-artistic businessy stuff that comes with being a photographer? Definitely not me! But that’s okay! Most of us started our own photography business because we were excited about the photography side, not the business side. That doesn’t mean it can’t be fun and exciting though, and so, so important to invest your time and money in!
In my "What to Invest in When Starting Your Photography Business" guide, I include a ton of info on essential parts of starting a business that includes:
-Registering your business
-Creating a financial tracking system
-Creating a professional website
-Getting organized for scheduling shoots
-Finding a photo gallery to Use
-Brading and logo design
-Setting up social media
Taking the time to set effective and efficient business systems up will allow you to grow with your company and take care of your customers. You’ll never lose an order and your clients will see you as an established, professional business owner. Help your future customers see why you’re worth the investment by using tools to create a positive client experience and let their word of mouth referrals do the rest!
3. Gear
When you feel comfortable with your camera and have soaked in as much education as possible, it’s time for the last step of your journey to becoming a photography business owner - upgrading your gear! Cue the happy dance!
Many people make the mistake of investing money in a nice camera and lens hoping it will incentivize them to finally learn how to take nice pictures. What usually happens though? It sits collecting dust for years because it’s too intimidating to learn! Rather than buying all the nice gear at the beginning, practice and excel with the equipment you have before dropping serious dollars on professional-level photography gear. Then when you’re ready to get serious about your photography, you can invest in the gear that will launch your hobby into a business! (And you’ll have such mad skills you’ll earn back what you spent on your gear in no time at all!)
You'll find in my "What to Invest in When Starting Your Photography Business" guide all my favorite beginner camera, lenses, and accessories that will enable you to learn how to use professional equipment while taking incredible photographs.
Now that I have listed the three essential things to invest in when starting a photography business, there is actually one more thing (my favorite thing) you NEED to invest in for your business: YOU!
YOU are worth investing in.
Yes, you.
You have the passion, you have the skills, you have the spark. And I have the tools and information you need to make this business happen. Check out my "What to Invest in When Starting Your Photography Business" guide today to get SO MUCH MORE helpful information on how to educate yourself, self up a successful + organized business, and get the right geat to get the business of your dreams successfully started.