12.

What is your backup plan for your financing to maintain your business? I have a full time job to support my family and business as I grow into my photography lifestyle. It can take a couple years of heavy work to be in a position to work as a photographer full time and be able to take care of all your bills and expenses annually. My wife and I have four kids, a house, a car, and both work full time to support our family. I've just recently begun working more and more in the field of photography and am beginning my first full time year in 2012. I'll have at least 80 hours of work each week to work at my regular job and as a photography business owner. The foundation of my business must be stable enough to carry my family throughout the year. My hope is to have the ability to quit my day job of course, and have my wife be able to quit her job and help with the photography company. But that's all in 2013 at the earliest. I keep this business plan as a long term goal. I know from starting businesses before that it can take at least two years to really get into a business that will support you throughout your third year and that's about it, your fourth and fifth year are where you can really see the benefits of the previous years of work. Our goal is to earn at least $104,000 after taxes. This will give us the room to move into a larger home, buy a more efficient vehicle, have a little more spending options throughout the year, and create enough income to begin saving each month for our personal lives and retirement. Don't plan on striking it rich with your photography in just a couple years. You won't see a huge profit until your third year. Plan slow, plan smart, and take every possible scenario you can think of and move through your plan with every angle covered.

Good Luck... There is much more to come over the next few months and throughout the year of 2012. This is just the start of my blog that will show the preparation of what it takes to start your photography business from literally nothing. No cameras or lenses. A small budget, and a huge plan.

The ultimate goal is to have a fully functioning professional grade studio with the best gear and the best rates we can offer. We also want to create openings for staff and assistants but that is way off in the future.

I hope this blog provides you with as much information about a photography company start up as it can. I'm happy to add any information that is requested and answer questions as they come in.

Happy Shooting!!!