Do you think it is worth it?

S

snapsnap

Suspended / Banned
Messages
581
Name
Dan
Edit My Images
Yes
Evening i am in talk of getting a big storage unit that i can turn into a massive studio. It is 1800sq feet in size and i am allowed to put temp walls up.

I was looking at doing a big curve wall at one end near to the big open slide door so the studio could be used for car/transport photography.

Other parts will include seating area/rec area. A place to take pics of little ones with different style background as well as the main high key images done on the curve white wall.

I would then be looking at hiring the studio as a business and getting other photographers using it.

Commerical photography also in band groups, teams, car dealers etc.

Do you think there will be life in this sort of business or will it close shop to early. The rent on this place would be 9000 pa.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
It seems you are in the very early stages of your idea.
You need to collate a lot of details before you can even get an idea whether this
is going to be a viable business.

The £9000 rent is just the start of your costs!!! The tip of the iceburg even.
Google 'business plan' and put a spreadsheet together of what your cost will be on a month by month basis, going forward 24 months.

Check the lease in the big and small print, what maintenance fees, insurance, insurance renewals, inspection etc. Landlords will send out invoices like you never imagined, but it will be there in the small print.
Lease agreements typically ask for 3 months payment as a deposit and 3 months rent in advance !

Estimate the cost of outfitting the unit and equipment required.
What will the public liability and company insurance cost.
Heating - is the unit well insulated. IT's a big space and heating that to a comfortable temp will be very expensive.

Fire alarm installation ? Telephone and Internet. Advertising. costs ?
There are 101 more costs. Find out what they all are FIRST.
Then estimate your income. Be very conservative in the first 18 to 24 months.
The spread sheet will show you how much will will need to invest or be prepared to go in the red until your business starts to fly.

Yes, I've set up my own business about 4 years ago (not photo related) and the business plan and spread sheet was the key to minimising the surprises.
Good luck with your idea and if you can talk to some one you know locally with experience in setting up a business.
Dave.
 
Sounds to me like it's destined to fail simply because you are asking the question you should have researched already! :thinking:

"...The rent on this place would be 9000 pa..." is this the only figure you have in your business plan?

Heating, fixtures and fittings, advertising, what else is in the area that would be considered competition? Loads of other questions that are looking for answers...

You mention building a large Cyclorama - not a cheap thing to do, unless you have the skills yourself.

Paul
 
I'm afraid you won't get much takeup from car dealers, so I wouldn't count on that income stream.

I sell high end and collectable Porsches and despite being a photographer myself I take our website photos on a Nikon Coolpix P&S outside the office, purely from a time PoV. Some days I might have 3 or 4 cars to process, the time involved taking them to a studio just wouldn't work, not when you've got all the rest of the work to do, writing the advert, checking the history and details and then uploading it to several different websites.

That is at the top of the market (cars up to £750,000), at the lower reaches even less chance.

I hope I've not dampened your enthusiasm but didn't want you to rely on something which I very much doubt would happen. Good luck with your project.
 
With insurance and business rates,you will be at a grand a month, I would suspect around 5k for the build, equipment that's up to you, but a decent rig is goi g to be another couple of grand.

So you will need at least 20k to get thou through the basics for the first year

If you think there is a market for it go for it, but cars..... Not sure they are seriously tight..
 
All depends how many people in your area need to hire a studio.

If you're looking at renting to commercial photographers, the chances are that they'll either have studios, or they'll rent in London, since that is where most of the art buyers are.

Also, are you offering equipment with this studio? If so, what equipment?

Rather than targeting people taking family portraits, you'd be better off targeting videographers looking for greenscreen space.
 
markmullen said:
I'm afraid you won't get much takeup from car dealers, so I wouldn't count on that income stream.

I sell high end and collectable Porsches and despite being a photographer myself I take our website photos on a Nikon Coolpix P&S outside the office, purely from a time PoV. Some days I might have 3 or 4 cars to process, the time involved taking them to a studio just wouldn't work, not when you've got all the rest of the work to do, writing the advert, checking the history and details and then uploading it to several different websites.
Click to expand...

You're selling high-end, where the cars are going to look good no matter what, though. He might be able to get repeat custom from mid-range dealers looking to have a homogenous style of photography on their site.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top