Setting-up & Opening-up a gallery, need help on technical and business aspects

Wail

Wail

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Wail
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In a few months time I am moving back to my home country (Saudi Arabia), and am planning my “retirement” project of setting-up my own gallery to display, and sell, my photos.

This is a whole new business for me and something new to the Saudi market as a whole; especially with the concept(s) that I have in mind.

My career has spanned numerous senior positions in international companies, so I have been able to devise a rough draft of a business plan for this. Never the less any business & technical input on the gallery will be of great help.

There are two aspects to this, the business side where I’m marketing the “end products” and how I will sell them; and then there is the technical aspect of printing, framing, copyrights, etc.

As myy move back home will not be for another few months, early to middle of March 2009. Never the less, I will need to build-up knowledge and do my homework before I am over there. I will be able to travel between here (UK) and my country on a regular basis (5 ~ 6 times a year, or thereabouts).

So, please give me whatever input, pointers, head’s-up that you may have; as nothing’s better than getting it from a fellow-photographer.
 
Thank you for the good wishes :). I do have a lot of "homework" to do as I've moved this project up the schedule list a couple of years (20 years to be closer). So, a lot of work has to be done between now and then.

Again, thank you for the kind wishes.
 
Hi Wail,

Good luck with your move to Saudi.

I would start with a website design in mind. Something dynamic where once created by you or outsourced, you could upload your piccies. Come to think of it, even my corner shop has a website so a website is a must must.......

Take a look at http://www.parkwestgallery.com/ This website is geared towards paintings but I am sure you can steal a few ideas from it.

CheerZ
 
Hi Wail

Very best of luck with both the retirement and the business.

Do keep us all posted of your progress - and of course some pictures of the gallery once setup!

One thing I have found with galleries I have put work in before is good lighting and lots of clear wall space. Dont let pictures merge - keep them as spaced out as possible. And, the larger the better!
 
PS - if you need any advice re printing/framing, give me a shout. I can probably put you in touch with the right people :)
 
chouglesz,


Thank you so much for the best wishes :)

With regards to the web site, yes of course this is a must. Especially in times like today – as you’ve said – even a local corner store would have a web site.

Most likely I will outsource this, since I would want this to be as unique and original as possible. I do have to keep in mind the budget of course, since I will aim to run this as a business and not as a hobby anymore.

Again, thank you for the best wishes.
 
LeeP,


Thanks for the posts and best wishes. Moving back to Saudi will be a big step, it gets all too comfortable to live here (I’ve spent more than half of my life in the UK).

Your points on space is well appreciated; and I have to agree with this one. I am still undecided as to how I will go about displaying my pictures. Should I print them, mount & frame them, then hang them? Or, should I use something more hi-tech, like using numerous large LCDs around the hall to show the images with smaller LCDs (one small LCD for each one large LCD) which would show the details of the picture (name, subject, etc.).

May be a mix of the two methods?

Whichever way I go, the “end product” will be sold as a framed piece to hang. As such, I would appreciate your help in getting me in touch with whoever is good at both printing and framing.

That said, I am not sure if I am going to do the printing and framing here in the UK, or do it myself back in Saudi. There are pros. & cons. to whichever way I go about this.

Pros.
- Pictures will have more “exotic” to them, as I can rightfully state that they are captured, printed and framed in UK
- Pictures will undoubtedly have better quality since the range of materials here are far greater than what is available back in Saudi

Cons.
- Cost will be a lot more!
- I will have to pay import duties on my work, since it is for a business and is being “manufactured” abroad. Though I would have to look into this in more details.


Again, thank you for the input ... and I would seriously appreciate your help on the matter of printing and framing :)
 
I guess it depends on your market as to which route you'll go down.

Limited editions / one-offs I would have printed, mounted and framed so that the buyer can see the end product.

For run-offs or prints that you feel are mass-sellable - then perhaps a single example on the wall, with your framing examples, followed perhaps by a touch screen system where potential buyers can see the range.

This opens up your gallery further - enhancing the number of viewable pictures in perhaps a small space.

I would always always put your best work up - in the most suitable frame possible...this will be what people will admire the most and sets the stall out for the rest of the display.

Re framing and printing costs - perhaps you could search locally in Saudi for reputable framers? There must be someone out there with a skill for it. Importing glass products is difficult - especially if it is only 1 or 2 at a time. Palletising products is far easier -but that requires bulk spend and further expenditure.

Always try and go for EU glass - it's safer, clearer and easier to maintain. Flexi-glass is great if people move around a lot - however it comes at a premium.

Printing can be done again locally - have you considered doing it yourself?

A 24" epson large format printer are very easy to source at the moment at bargain prices and will give you better results than the majority of the commercial photo labs in the UK.

The more you can do yourself - the more money you will make!
 
Wail said:
Pros.
- Pictures will have more “exotic” to them, as I can rightfully state that they are captured, printed and framed in UK
- Pictures will undoubtedly have better quality since the range of materials here are far greater than what is available back in Saudi

Cons.
- Cost will be a lot more!
- I will have to pay import duties on my work, since it is for a business and is being “manufactured” abroad. Though I would have to look into this in more details.
Click to expand...

Ask Lee about "drop shipping" directly to your clients from the UK. This would exempt you from paying import duties, and the shipping charges are added to your price. As a purchased item, I doubt if your clients would pay any import duty. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Lots of luck anyway :)
 
LeeP,

Wow, that a wonderful lot of information there. Thank you :)

I like the idea of Limited Editions vs. One-offs. This had totally skipped my mind. I guess I can do this once my name is established, to give more merit and value to the limited edition :shrug:

I am sure that I will have to display many mounted and framed, as this would show the end-product as you’ve rightly stated. My dilemma with this is the cost! As I will need to keep the gallery “fresh” and updated, this means that I need to change the theme and subject periodically. As such, I will need to display different pictures with every change. Since each theme and subject would have “say” 12 ~ 15 frames. Hence, the cost would be too much? This is why I was thinking of using LCDs to display the pictures. However, if this is not a good way to go around the cost issue, then I will just have to fork out the price of the frames. May be a mix of the two (framed photos and LCDs ala touch screen).

As for my best shots, over the decades that I’ve been shooting I’ve amassed a number of nice shots (not wanting to brag, but 34 years of photography does bring some nice rewards). Thanks to Adobe Lightroom, I have been able to build a very nice library with good rating system to filter out the best of the best. This will help me to select the ones for the particular theme and subject I am going to put on show at a given time.

There are many good framing and mounting business in Saudi, like all other business the good ones are very expensive. That said, the Saudi culture puts products & services from Europe (UK in particular) to very high esteem. Because of this, I would be able to charge a premium if the pictures were mounted and framed here.

I wasn’t thinking of having the pictured covered with glass, my thoughts were more inline with things like canvas printing; but to be honest I haven’t researched this in much depth. If need be, I could do the glass cover part in Saudi :shrug:

I like the idea of printing the pictures myself. Again, thank you for the suggestion on the Epson printer. I’ve been reading about large size printers and it seems Epson are the ones highly rated for this kind of use. Though, this brings a whole lot of new questions to be answered! To print at 24”, I’d need extrapolation software to enlarge the prints without loss of quality; or I’d need to move to higher mega pixel? Any advise on this?

I could always, still print, in the UK even if I was to do it myself. I have my own flat in London (which has enough room for me to set-up a printing room, a studio, a photo editing room with server). This may be ideal, since I always “shuttle” between UK and Saudi (with the exception of this year where I’ve stayed here in UK without a single visit to Saudi, but usually I do 3 ~ 4 trips both ways).

Again, thank you so much for the very informative feedback. You’ve certainly given me a lot of food for thought.
 
phil golan,

Thank you so much for the idea on “drop shipping”; didn’t even think of this :clap:

Just goes to show how useful asking here can be. Yes, this method would save me, and my potential clients a whole lot (even though import duties in Saudi is only 5%, I’d rather no one pays that since it just adds to the price needlessly).

Thank you for the good luck wishes.
 
Would love to hear if anyone else have any tips or input :thinking:
 
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