Business making no money - Need advice

[connersz]

I am a sole trader portrait photographer and have been doing really well but from the start of this year, it's been a nightmare.
I have been struggling to survive, can't pay the bills, rent, etc.

I have no idea what's happened or how to remedy the issue but if I don't do something fast I'm going to have serious problems.

 

[Forgot password]

Hi Conner

I am sorry to hear your predicament and feel your pain and I can only give you my thoughts on the matter and I feel that photography is by and large a shrinking industry due to the advancement of technology ie smart phones.

People can take too quality pictures from their phones. Maybe look at other angles (see what I did their) that you could offer.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

Hi you need to speak to an Insolvency Practitioner, or Citizens Advice or a charity like Stepchange to explore your options.

One of the following might suit you:

1. Debt Management Plan
2. Debt Relief Order
3. Bankruptcy
4. IVA

 

[Mr D]

Ok presumably you have been advertising and promoting your services in your area.
Have you tried a small stand in a supermarket or shopping centre? I know my wife's cousin sees Eileen Mason portrait stands every so often in her local supermarket. Presumably generates some business.

 

[tony84]

Where were your customers coming from?
Why are they not coming from there anymore?
Are you getting any enquiries? If not, then you need to look at what you can do to get that up first.

 

[MBE2017]

OP, what have you been doing when you are not busy?

If what you are currently doing is not working, then try something else. Stands in shopping centres, markets, call schools with offers, wedding fairs, nightclubs etc. It would help to know a bit more of your current business model, it sounds like you wish to continue.

Edit.. I see from your website you specialise in child photography, would it be worth marketing yourself to the highly profitable wedding market as well?

 

[CVRO]

How about the old strategy of school photos? Of course, most schools probably already have deals with photographers but, hey, it's possible some in your area may be willing to change.
When my kids were younger there was a company that would go to the school take pictures of the kids and email them to a studio in Barcelona, if I remember correctly.
The studio had about 15 to 20 artists who would create a charcoal portrait from the photo and post the drawings back to the school.
So, one day when going to pick up the kids we'd be offered to purchase the portraits.
Of course, this may no longer work but it's just an idea...

 

[Socio South West]

First the basic mantra... in portrait photography other photographers are NOT your competition: Your competition is other leisure spend outlets - holidays, restaurants, garden centres etc.

Portrait photography is a luxury item, and is in the front line when times get tough and people become cautious with leisure spending - Look at the businesses in the news at the moment - travel companies, restaurants..... So it should be no surprise that people aren't spending lots with you at present.

Who are your target market? And what are you trying to sell them?

OP (and many others on the forum) will doubtless know the name 'Venture' - They defined a target market of high disposable income/ leisure spend families with younger children.
Their logic was that besides the parents of younger children wanting product, there was likely to be additional demand for product from grandparents.
Their product range was designed and priced to fit that target market.
Venture were pioneers of the 'studio experience' lifestyle action shoot as a move away from stiff studio portraiture of the latter years of the last century, and smaller operators such as yourself have taken that a stage further in dispensing with the expense of a studio in favour of working on location.

At a lower level, a tried and tested formula is the 'free photoshoot including an 8x6 print' - but when your clients arrive to view, they are surrounded by your display of fully framed 16x12, 24x12, triple frames, etc etc..... and the art is to add value to the sale when they see what they could have instead of the relatively tiny image in a card folder, and even if you don't have a studio there are several software packages that enable this to be done digitally)

I have a horrid feeling you are letting too many clients slip away with a CD or stick of images for far less than your time and work is worth, and your customers are trashing your work at home on their free Photoshop Elements, and spreading it around the internet like jam on bread without you getting any credit.

This isn't the place for website critique, so I suggest you contact someone in the trade to get your website critiqued. There are a lot of long established professionals who have ridden through the digital revolution and are willing to give a few hours of their time to help younger photographers improve, and this could help you considerably.

 

[Second Place]

Could you advertise to do other types of photography such as room photos for say Air B&B or product photography?

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Increase your fees. Far too many photographers work far too cheap. You need to be making enough to tide you over slack times.

 

[14Steve14]

Think of other ways to use your equipment that you already do not offer.

How about contacting landlords/letting agents to offer a photo service to the people that carry out start, mid term and final inspections of properties. As others have said, weddings is a great area, but must be done right as complaints can be rife.

If you can do it, what about high quality product images for websites.

Just a few ideas.

 

[Mitch3473]

Increase your fees. Far too many photographers work far too cheap. You need to be making enough to tide you over slack times.

Good answer, people associate price with quality when delivering a service. For eg. We increased our prices year one and we kept getting busier so we kept increasing, this went on for 6 years and we were finally charging nearly 3 x our nearest competitor. You have to be confidant about your service.