Is Being Passionate About Photography Enough
I thought I would start this blog with a nod to my very first blog post about photography back in May 2010! I was extremely passionate about photography when I first discovered I had some talent.
You see as a child, I quickly realised I had no artistic talent whatsoever. In fact, my art teacher literally laughed in my face when I told him I was considering Art for GCSE. He made it very clear that doing so would be a waste of both our time. So I had resigned myself to the fact that I got the science genes while my siblings (both talented artists in their own rights) got the artsy end of the gene pool. #boo #theystolemytalent
So when I discovered in December 2009 that I could be create through photography and people actually responded positively to my work - it was quite a revelation!
However discovering photography was just the beginning. From 2009 to 2012, it was more of a side hustle as I worked full time as an investment banker. I went full-time in 2012 after I had my first son and I quickly realised that there was a big difference between being a part time photographer earning some money on the side and a full time photographer trying to build a business.
It wasn't an easy journey but I invested a lot in education and I was able to build a successful business and brand that doubled in size every year. Now I want to share all I have learned to help up and coming wedding and portrait photographers like you build profitable businesses.
Dane Sanders, author of Fast Track Photographer, discovered during a 3 year study that 60% of photographers give up in their first year, 25% of the remaining will quit in their second and only 15% of the remaning photographers make it through their 3rd year of business. So in simple English, if 100 photographers started their business today, only 5 photographers would still have thriving businesses in 3 years time! How crazy is that?!?!
But then again I'm really not surprised! Building a photography business is hard! However with the right guidance and education, it is very possible to build a thriving and passionated photography business you love!
Does this sound like you?
- You love photography
- People have said you are good
- They pay you to photograph them and their loved ones
- You are doing hundreds of shoots a year
- But wait, where's all the money you're supposed to be making?
- You start to feel burnt out and resentful about your cheap clients
- You don't quite love photography like you used to
- You are thinking of quitting and getting a 9 to 5 so you can pay your bills
Passion is great but it just isn't enough to build a sustainable business. I want you to know it is more than possible to build a successful business as a photographer. But you can't just love photography, you've got to learn to love business too.
If you are a photographer in your first 5 years of business and all of this sounds all too familiar, then I'd love to chat about how I can help you set up tools and systems to build a thriving and profitable business you love.
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