How to Start a Home-Based Photography Business

If you enjoy taking pictures and you are good at it, you might think about starting your own home-based photography business. Photographers often get business by word-of-mouth marketing and displaying their work to others. Working out of your home can allow you to create your own studio or even allow you flexibility to go to the client’s location for the photographs. Start out by recruiting your family and friends to be the subject in your pictures to allow you to build a portfolio of your work.

Step 1

Create your home-based photography business plan. Visit the Small Business Association for samples of business plans to get you started. A business plan will give you a broader vision for how you want to conduct your business. Decide whether you will use your own name for your photography business or create a new name to operate under. If you come up with a new business name, register it with your state to use it legally.

Step 2

Purchase your equipment. Decide what type of camera you will use and purchase lenses and other camera accessories needed. If your photography business will be studio based, you will need lighting, backdrops and props. Entrepreneur, an online business resource, shows the average start-up costs of a freelance photography business to be $2,000 to $10,000.

Step 3

Create business pricing packages and draft contract templates for your clients. Coming up with these before you open your business will help you to run your business without having to worry about these details. You can always edit them later if you need to. Hire an accountant to worry about the business paperwork so that you can focus on doing what you do best.

Step 4

Build your portfolio. Start taking pictures of anyone and anything you can. The more diversified portfolio you have, the better idea it gives potential clients about what types of photos you can take for them. Practice taking portraits, casual and formal types of photographs indoors and outdoors.

Step 5

Market yourself. Set up a website to display and sell your work. Attend local markets and fairs to give out business cards and get your name out to the public. Start networking with local business executives and attending business to business events. Setup social media accounts and use social media to communicate with the public about your work and special projects you are working on. All of this will get your name out to the public and get people interested in your services.

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013