If you love photography and you are looking to start your own business then why not kill two birds with one stone and become your own boss. By starting a freelance photography business not only will you have your own business to run and have the flexibility you want but also spend each day doing a passion you love.
Starting your own business is no easy task and there are a few things you can do to start your business to help make sure you can get started as best as possible.
If you are unsure how best to start your own photography business and you would like to get some ideas of what you can do to get started, then the tips below should help you get yourself started and give you a better understanding of starting your own freelance photography business.
Make sure you have relative training and examples
When it comes to photography it is classed as an art form so you need to be highly skilled at it to make it a successful business. A lot of potential customers will not hire you if they do not think you have the certifications to do the job so even if you know what you are doing, try to get some sort of accreditation or certification to help you stand out. This will also give your customers a piece of mind that they are hiring someone that knows what they are doing. You should also try and build up a portfolio so potential clients can see your work and the type of work you create. Do this by just taking photos or starting off doing it for free to get experience and build your portfolio. Having something to show your customers will give you a better chance at getting more work.
Purchase the equipment you need
When starting up a business initially you do not need much equipment, just a decent camera and all the lenses and flashes you require to do your work. You could also look into what you need for lighting and different aspects should you need it when starting out. As time goes on and as you start getting better and getting more customers then you can look to increase your equipment and diversify your photography.
You can look into getting drones to help with your projects, drones like the DJI Mavic 3 Fly More Combo are great investments to help you as you increase the services that you offer. For example if you are doing a wedding shoot having the drone can help to increase the footage and angels captured throughout the day.
Setup a website
Like any other business, having a website is going to really help you to get customers. Having a website will help you by giving your customers somewhere to see your services and more about you. A lot of customers tend to research businesses before actually using them so having a website to answer their questions and allow them to see your portfolio and what you can offer is going to be a great tool when you start your business, and will also help you to show off your new business and your work.
Market your business
When you are looking to get your first clients you need to start marketing your business, there are different levels to this which depends on budget and how well you know the world of marketing. To begin with you can have your website and also social media pages setup showing your work and allowing you to put yourself out there for work whether that be just local work or taking photos for online sites and magazines.
You can utilise social media as that is where most people tend to look for photographers and also it is easy to reach lots of potential customers through sharing and posting. As well as social media you can do ads online to help you reach more people with your site, things like google ads and bing ads help you to reach more people that search the keywords linked to your site. This does cost money however so make sure you budget for this or wait until you start earning from the business and put it back in.
Make sure to keep track of your clients
Once you have managed to get your clients you need to make sure you manage them properly to give yourself time to do the work.; Aswell as taking the photos you may need to do edits and work on them so over booking your time will not allow you to do this work efficiently. To avoid this make sure you have some sort of scheduling software to help you manage your time and clients so you do not get overwhelmed and you can do your best work.
Make sure you keep track of your finances
When running your own business you need to make sure you understand and track your finances properly. If this is something you do not feel comfortable doing then you should think about an accountant to help you control your finances for the business. Not only do you need to track money out but also money in for tax reasons as you will need to file your taxes because you are self employed and freelance. If you do not then you can end up in trouble and debt so make sure you research this and do it properly. As well as knowing what you get, make sure you budget what you are spending and putting into your business so you know if you are spending more than you are getting in and eating into your profits.
If you love photography and you want to make it your job and business but you are unsure where to start or how to build it up from scratch. Then these tips should help to give you some understanding of what you need to do to start off your freelance photography business and hopefully, make it successful.
