Your Photography Business Plan

A business plan serves as a blueprint for your photography business, and will probably change over time as your business develops and grows. Writing a business plan is time-consuming, but it is time well-spent. There are several reasons why you should write a solid business plan:

1. To ensure your success. Writing a business plan enables you to consider all aspects of your photography business. When you have thought about all the details, you will have a smoother start up process, since your business plan should help you spot any pitfalls before they happen.

2. To obtain funding. If you are planning on getting any sort of loan, you will definitely need a business plan in order for a bank to consider you.

3. To set goals and track your growth over time.
Things to consider:

-Day to day operations of your business

-All of the equipment you will need

-Any financing you'll need to get started

-Where will your photo business be located?

Below are some ideas to get you started:

-Summary of your photography business (also called an Executive Summary)
Here is where you give a basic overview of your photography business (state what it is, what you are selling, what services you are providing, where you are located, your qualifications, your target market, etc.)

-Your Objectives

-Description of your product (describe your photography services and what you are selling, along with a description of how you will fulfill customer orders - vendors and labs you will use, etc.)

-A Market Analysis Who is your market? What are your customer needs? How will you reach them, What is your sales strategy, etc.

-Market trends and future growth (you will have to do some research here)

-Your financial plan
A full listing of all start up costs, your current assets, and any liabilities you have. If you have investors, list them here, too (along with amounts invested).

-Your mission

-Where your photography business will be located
Will you shoot on location, have a home studio, have an external studio, etc.

-What facilities are available / desired for your business

-Legal considerations (describe your business structure, taxes, business licenses, insurance needed, etc.)

-Description and locations of your competition

-Any competitive edge you have

-A management summary (who will manage, will there be employees, etc.)

You may want to include additional items. If writing the plan yourself seems too daunting, you can hire someone to write it for you, or purchase special business plan writing software. If you do an Internet search for "business plan software" you will find many options.