13 things to consider before starting your family photography business

As the new year approaches, I want to reach out to anyone thinking about launching a photography business in 2019.

Pursuing your dream of starting a photography business might seem crazy to everyone else – don't listen to them.

Instead, weigh the pros and the cons to yourself, or with a partner since their life will be affected too. Or maybe with a trusted friend.

I want to bring in a bit of necessary realism so that you can make a more informed decision at the beginning of your journey.

1. It might take years before you earn a decent living

When I was getting started, a teacher in the photography space said that you just do free sessions for a few families, and then they’ll all have a few friends that will want to hire you (at prices that are actually sustainable to you.) This is not what happened in my case.

They say that it takes an average of 3-5 years to get your business to a profitable place.

Which means your savings may take a hit unless you have access to money some other way. I'm lucky enough to have a husband with a job that supports us ok for the lifestyle we have right now, so I've been able to build my business over the course of 5 years. I'd say the past 2-3 years I've been more aware of just how intentional you have to be building your business.

I’m 2-3 proper, “I’m doing this seriously” years in, and am about halfway to my yearly revenue goal. Note that this does not mean I'm halfway to my salary goal – the less the revenue is, the bigger the percentage that goes to business expenses.

I have a great feeling about 2019 though – I've been working with a coach who has opened my eyes to how I can better connect with the families interested in my photography approach. I feel all kinds of fired up!

2. You need to be very good at managing your time and yourself

In the beginning working for yourself is quite thrilling - you can decide your own hours, work in your PJs, while snuggling your dog.

Soon you realize most of your time is not spent taking and editing pictures, unless you get to a point where you can hire someone to do the other things. And soon you will be working far more hours than you would have at a regular job, or sneaking in work during baby naps or when everyone else is happily tucked in for the night – partner included.

Since you are your own boss, there is no one telling you what's important to work on – you have to figure that out for yourself. You have to set the boundaries around your work schedule.

3. You'll be the boss, the marketing department, the bookkeeper and so many other things

Working ON your business is not something you get paid for directly. You have to account for that time to be paid through your sessions (when you are working IN your business). And there are tons of things you do outside of client work:

Since you don't work for a big company that takes care of marketing and bringing in clients it's now your job.

There is no department figuring out the bookkeeping - it's now your job or a job to hire out. I remember when I first started my job I was overwhelmed by the amount of work that I had to do.

There are a good chunk of other things to do – find a list of photography business owner tasks here.

4. The money you bring in doesn't go straight into your pocket

At least not if you are doing everything by the book.A lot of money goes back into running the business, into product costs, licenses and permits, insurances, software, gear, mentors or coaches, education – as well as taxes.

Count on at least $5,000 for expenses and cost of goods per year for the years when you are going bare bones without any equipment upgrades, $15,000+ for years when you attend workshops and conferences and upgrade some gear. Maybe $25,000+ if you also work with coaches, website designers etc.

More if you are renting a studio. More if you are selling a ton of products.

If you are only pursuing photography as a side hustle, you might think you don't *need* to make as much money as others because you have a steady income. But you still have to cover those same expenses, so you'd actually have to charge more per session than photographers who do photography full-time.

5. There is no employer who covers your sick leave or vacation days, nor does anyone match your retirement savings

These are just a handful of reasons why you need to charge more than you *feel* like you should charge, or *feel* like you are worth. Do your math!

6. You pay an additional 15 or so % in self-employment taxes on top of your regular income tax

This self-employment tax is to cover Social Security and Medicare, which is normally the employer's responsibility.

This means less of an opportunity for savings, retirement, travel etc. So to get the salary you want, remember to account for this in your pricing. (This is for USA.)

7. Starting and running your own business requires a lot of personal awareness and development

There's a lot of uncertainty that comes with starting and running your own business – and you have to learn how to handle that uncertainty so that you don't give up as soon as the first bump comes along.

You also have to do a lot of work on figuring out who you are, to be able to infuse everything in your business with what works FOR YOU, instead of trying to do what everyone else out there is saying is the best way to get clients/build a website/post on social media.

If you try to do things the way someone else does them, it will confuse your potential clients if they can sense that it's not really "you".

Pricing yourself in a way that makes the business and your life sustainable is something a lot of people have trouble with, because of the deep-rooted issues we have around money. But if you can't make a living through your business, it's not viable as a business. Set feelings aside when you work on your pricing – unless you are staying optimistic.

Now, 6 reasons to pursue your dream of working for yourself as a family photographer:

1. You don't exchange your hours for money to build someone else's dream or vision.

2. There is potential to design the life you want to live – as long as you price yourself to support that life.

3. There is potential to mold a schedule you want to live by – as long as you make intentional decisions.

4. There is potential to make a living creating your art –every artist's dream, right?

5. You get to work with people – creating something for or together with others is a great way to spend your life.

6. You work on yourself in ways you never expected to – even if I've had to learn a lot about myself to figure out how to be the best business owner I can be, those lessons have been invaluable to me in good old regular life.

Final thoughts

If having your own business was easy, more people would jump at the chance to work for themselves. I've barely scratched the surface here, but I am confident you now feel a bit more knowledgeable to make a decision about starting your very own photography business. Running a business is not for everybody, and that's ok. You can always, ALWAYS, be a photographer even if you do not start a business.