How to Start a Photography Business

Start a photography business by following these 10 steps:

1. Plan your Photography Business
2. Form your Photography Business into a Legal Entity
3. Register your Photography Business for Taxes
4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
5. Set up Accounting for your Photography Business
6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Photography Business
7. Get Photography Business Insurance
8. Define your Photography Business Brand
9. Create your Photography Business Website
10. Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your photography business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

• What will you name your business?
• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?
• How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Photography Business Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability.

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

What are the costs involved in opening a photography business?

If you will be working out of your home, the costs for opening your photography business can be quite low depending on what you currently own and how much you are willing to spend.

The standard photography equipment needed to get started includes a professional camera, editing software, and a computer to edit your pictures. You may need more equipment depending on the type of professional photography business you manage. If you have a studio, you may want to invest in proper lighting as well as props for your pictures.

Running expenses are quite low. You will need transportation funds for photography sessions that are outside your home or studio. You will also need to pay for electricity and possibly internet in order to edit your photographs, communicate with clients, and do research.

Who is the target market?

When you are first starting out, you will want to reach out to family and friends as your first clients. Word of mouth is very important for growing a photography business.

How does a photography business make money?

Service based photographers charge in one of three ways:

1. package-pricing, or charging for a specific number of edited photos
2. event-pricing, or charging a fixed price for a single event
3. hourly-pricing, or charging a fixed rate per hour

As a freelancer, depending on where you’re selling your final product, the price can range from a few cents per photo for a stock image site to several hundred dollars for a magazine or gallery.

How much can you charge customers?

As a service-based photographer, when you are first starting your business, you can expect to make between $20 to $75 per hour. As you gain more experience, and if you are able to break into the top end of the market, you could even make up to $500 per hour. However, this doesn't factor in time for all the work you will have to do before and after a shoot. 

In addition to charging for the delivered product, you can also charge for added services, such as a rush delivery.

When setting prices for your business, estimate the amount of time you will spend photographing the event or subject, how many pictures they will be receiving, and how long it will take you to edit those pictures for delivery. In addition, you should look at what some of your competitors are charging in the area.

For further details see the article, How much should Photographer charge in 2016.

If you’re a freelancer uploading your photos to a stock image site, you will typically get about 15-50% in royalties per download. You also retain full ownership of your work.

If you manage to pitch your photo to a magazine or an ad company, a one time use your photo is can earn you a few hundred up to a thousand dollars, with a bonus if your artwork is selected for the front cover.

For an overview of the range of expected pay different magazines offer freelance photographers, see the article, Who pays photographer and how much?

 

Many professional photographers who are just starting out make around $30,000 per year.

How much profit can a photography business make?

The amount of clients you can have on a daily basis largely depends on the type of photography business you maintain.

• Wedding photographers can typically handle one wedding per day.
• Photographers for engagements or senior photos can serve as many as three clients per day, including time spent taking editing the photographs.
• If you photograph in a studio with clients coming to you, you can serve many more clients.

Work may be seasonal depending on the current needs of the market.

How can you make your business more profitable?

As you gain experience and build up your professional reuptation, you can consider other ways of making money in addition to offering your services as a photographer. For example, you could offer photography courses for beginners, or you could sell photobooks or individual prints of your work. If you are tech-savvy, you might also consider starting a photo-editing / restoration service.

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation.

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your photography business is sued.

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a professional photography business.

Service Agreement

Photography businesses should consider requiring clients to sign a service agreement before starting a new project. This agreement should clarify client expectations and minimize risk of legal disputes by setting out payment terms and conditions, service level expectations, and intellectual property ownership. Here is an example service agreement.

Recommended: Rocket Lawyer makes it easy to create a professional service agreement for your photography business when you sign up for their premium membership. For $39.95 per month, members receive access to hundreds of legal agreements and on call attorneys to get complimentary legal advice.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

Is this Business Right For You?

This business is great for people who have a creative eye, like flexible work schedules, and enjoy creating and editing photography of all kinds.

What happens during a typical day at a photography business?

If you’re running a service-based photography business, you will be:

• searching for potential customers for your photos, including cold emailing, calling, marketing and networking within your community and finding freelance work online
• reviewing event logistics, pricing, and service details
• taking photographs of clients or your specific subject/event
• editing the photographs and delivering the final product to your customers

As a freelancer, you can expect to be:

• taking photographs wherever your inspiration is from, be it architecture, landscape, human or animals
• connecting with and pitching your work to local galleries, art fairs and coffee shops
• submitting high-quality photos to stock image companies
• freelancing for magazines or a newspaper for specific events

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful photography business?

You don’t need to be a seasoned photographer to open this type of business. You can start photography business as long as you have passion, a camera, editing software, and can find someone who is willing to buy your service.

As you grow your business, you should also consider taking classes to hone your skill. You can find many online courses to take regarding specific aspects of photography as well as classes offered by local colleges that you may want to consider.

There are also two professional photography associations you should consider to help get more education in the field:

• Professional Photographers of America
• American Photographers Association

What is the growth potential for a photography business?

A professional photography business can be managed on a part time basis and kept rather small or it can be built to be a much larger business. There are some professional photography businesses that have many different photographers on the payroll for additional man power to cover more events. On the other hand, a small photography business with just a handful of customers can be managed from home on a part time basis. As your company grows larger and you get new clients, you may want to consider moving your business out of the home, leasing a professional studio.

Not sure if a photography business is right for you? Try our free Business Idea Generator and find your perfect idea.