Many people dream of being a professional photographer but just how do you get started? We take a look at how to get started in creating a professional photography business that has all the ingredients of success.
EVERY business needs a plan
No matter what the business, it needs a plan. This means that as well as photography skills, you need business skills too.
Here’s a snapshot of what a business plan should contain;
- A summary of your business – what services you provide and what makes your business unique. In other words, you are setting out the commercial viability of your business.
- Aims – these are the goals of your business. In other words, what are you aiming to do in the first five years of your business? Is it set up a photography studio or create a string of photo booths for parties and weddings?
- Objectives – these are ‘tighter’ than your business aims in that these are the statements against which you measure the success of your business. There is a lot written on business objectives but as a starting point look at how to make objectives SMART.
- Finance – you will need to be clear about financing your business too, where the money will come from, how cash flow will be managed and so on.
A business plan is the projected route of your business to success and for any new business, having a detailed plan is essential (but no guarantee of success!).
Your photography specialism
A professional photographer offers a particular service such as landscape photography, wedding photography, portraits and so on.
The professional photography market is a crowded and competitive place but that doesn’t mean that with vision, commitment and talent you can’t make an impact and have a successful business.
By offering a specialism, you are appealing to a niche market and for you, that means understanding your customer demographic.
What is ‘customer demographic’?
Customers demographic is an overview of who your customers are – their age, gender, income, occupation, wants and needs etc.
Build your portfolio
Getting a start in a creative industry can be tough, especially if you don’t have anything to show potential clients.
With photography, building a portfolio is a stepping stone to getting your first commission. By building a portfolio, both in print and online, you show potential customers you do have the photographic talent to deliver what they want.
Marketing
Every business needs customers – and a constant stream of both new and returning customers – and a steady flow of cash through the business.
When you start a business, deciding what to spend your limited budget on can be problematic. But with your business plan and your customer demographic defined, you are in a stronger position to create a marketing campaign that hits the right people.
Research what opportunities there are to push your business in front of the right people. As well as online marketing such as social media, pay per click ads so that customers find your website and so on, consider offline marketing tools too, such as booking a stand at a wedding fayre.
Expand your skills – photography and business
You will need your business head to push your business forward and into a successful arena, just as you will need strong photography skills.
- Get started with an online photography course – get the basics of photography covered with a course that sees you develop and hone these skills. From this, you can expand your field of learning with specific courses in your chosen photography area.
- Get started with basic business skills – alongside photography courses, take a look at online business management courses that help you write your business plan and projections for your business. You will need these if you decide to seek funding etc.
- Local business support – the government along with many local authorities want people to start and run successful businesses and as such, offer a free service for advising on business plans and other essential business skills and tools. They can also provide you with advice in relation to funding too.
Stick with it!
Starting and running your own business is a big step. If your dream is to become a professional photographer, here’s the good news – it can be done! – but here’s the tough lesson: you need to be committed, focused and passionate about what you do and what you can offer.
Is it your dream? How will you make it a reality?
If you want to become a childminder, you’ll need to know how to go about setting up your business. Find out the basics of how to become a childminder with our great blog. You can also learn more from our childcare courses.
Being a childminder is a fulfilling career choice. If its something that appeals to you, you may be considering becoming a self-employed childminder, offering to look after children in your own home.
Your local authority
You will need to see what measures your local authority has in place to register childminders in your county. Every authority has a ‘family services’ section, although it may be called something different from one county to another. There may also be different requirements in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland too.
Get your paperwork in order
Running your own business usually means some kind of background paperwork that needs to be completed and kept up to date and being a childminder is no different! Online business courses are a great way to introduce yourself to a new skillset.
There are certain key things that you have to have in place before you can formally register with OFSTED. You’ll need to check who inspects childminders if you don’t live in England.
You will need to complete;
- A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if you live in England, Northern Ireland and Wales or through Disclosure Scotland if you live in Scotland. You will also need a DBS certificate for each adult in your household, usually over the age of 16 years, who will be in your home or premises whilst caring for children.
- Paediatric First Aid certificate is also a must for anyone looking to become a childminder.
- A medical assessment by a GP is also required so that you can prove you are medically fit to look after children. This assessment usually has to be carried out by your own GP. You may find there is a cost to this, from £80 upwards in many instances. Talk to your doctor as they may be able to help with the fee for this.
- Consider completing at least one childminding course that gives a general overview of what childminding entails. Modern-day childminders are expected to provide a ‘learning through play’ environment for every baby and child in their care.
- Consider a business qualification too. This can be helpful in understanding how to price your services, the paperwork you need to keep as well as other aspects of running a successful and profitable business.
Register with the inspectorate body
In England, you will need to register with OFSTED as a childminder. This is process checks through your paperwork, documentation and whether you provide the stimulating, safe and nurturing environment that young children and babies need in their early years.
There is a growing emphasis on the quality of early years childcare provision as it has been proven with academic studies and research that the better quality learning in these early, formative years, the smaller the gap between children’s learning later in life.
In Wales, it is PACEY who are responsible for inspecting childminders. In Scotland is it the Care Inspectorate and in Northern Ireland, it is the Early Years’ Service. Check their websites for their current requirements.
Get insured
Once you have completed your application to OFSTED or the equivalent body, and successfully passed your inspection, you will be issued with a certificate. This is an important piece of paper, confirming to parents and caregivers that the provision you offer is safe and of the highest quality.
It also shows that you have in place all the necessary measures and basic qualifications such as first aid.
What you now need to do before you open your doors and welcome children into your home, is public liability insurance. This protects you against paying out potentially expensive claims should something happen whilst a child is in your care.
Stay up to date
Being a childminder can be full-on. After a busy day, you will need to stay on top of your paperwork because you could have a drop-in inspection at any time.
We have produced an in-depth guide to anyone considering becoming a childminder. You can find out how to become a childminder. You can also find out more about the skills and qualifications that are useful for childminders by taking a look at our growing range of childminding courses.
Within your professional field, you can become a specialist, offering childcare services with a specific slant to them such as provision for children with disabilities and more.