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Archive 2014 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.

  
 
lindabrowne
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


DigMeTX wrote:
Of all the expenses one could name that is an odd one.

Do you have a byline for that in your annual budget??


Get a Toto.



Feb 05, 2014 at 07:14 PM
MarGal
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


I'm not a "full-timer" and I've been renting a space about the same size that you're considering. We also sit on a main thoroughfare next to a florist. My investment is $300/mo plus $35 for utilities (My half -- the other half is paid by a newborn photog). I have booked 22 weddings for 2014 and NOT a single one has originated because of our "studio." 95% percent of our clients have come to us by word-of-mouth. The other 5% comes from the internet. I signed a one-year lease which expires in July... I'm not renewing. Lesson learned, but I had to try it.


Feb 06, 2014 at 12:37 PM
Curtiss Bryant
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


The only real reasons to consider a studio space is if you want to be completely separated from your business when you are home and if you shoot seniors. By having a separate space, you can leave whenever and go home and not worry about working some more because you really cant. Its nice in that regard, like a regular job to an extent.

Its also beneficial to a senior portrait business. There are not too many seniors that are willing to go to some strangers house to talk about pictures or to do a session. And there are even less moms/dads that will allow them to do that (especially being a guy). So having a local place brings a legitimacy to the business and you are more likely to build a successful business shooting seniors and what not by having a space.

But if you just want to focus on weddings, I really dont see the need. You can meet at starbucks. If you do post wedding sales, you can meet at their home or yours if you desire. There really isnt a need for a wedding only business to have a studio space.



Feb 06, 2014 at 04:44 PM
D. Diggler
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


Curtiss Bryant wrote:
The only real reasons to consider a studio space is if you want to be completely separated from your business when you are home and if you shoot seniors.


Occasionally I lose a potential booking when they want the address of my studio so they can drop in next time they're in the area - like they're thinking of something in a strip mall. They're put off that I don't have that and never hear from them again.



Feb 07, 2014 at 12:12 AM
Mark_L
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


D. Diggler wrote:
Occasionally I lose a potential booking when they want the address of my studio so they can drop in next time they're in the area - like they're thinking of something in a strip mall. They're put off that I don't have that and never hear from them again.


The irony is most of these places are those awful high volume portait chain stores.



Feb 07, 2014 at 08:10 AM
ricardovaste
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


D. Diggler wrote:
Occasionally I lose a potential booking when they want the address of my studio so they can drop in next time they're in the area - like they're thinking of something in a strip mall. They're put off that I don't have that and never hear from them again.


There will be more going on than "Oh, he doesn't have a studio, so we won't choose him".



Feb 07, 2014 at 08:13 AM
mjgphotoz
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


I agree there is more going on here than just "he/she" isn't professional. If you are dealing with females or brides there is usually a reluctance to go alone to a home studio of a male photographer, so the visit which might be made alone, on a lunch hour, or on the way home after work, is not as likely. Home studios will usually require appointments. This reduces the spur of the moment visit made without a friend/fiancee that might occur at a store front. For the female photographer, it is more than likely she may not want the first meeting with a new client to be at a home studio for many of the same reasons. To provide a safety factor with an opportunity to evaluate a client before inviting them into the home studio, she may meet clients at a nearby coffee house or popular cafe. I am sure this factors in with males photographers also. After all, your families, children, possessions and safety are involved. I choose to use and prefer a home studio but do realize that there are some downsides. The cost vs benefits ratio is usually the deciding factor. You must be willing and financially able to deal with the monthly overhead in good and lean times. If the net dollars earned are considerably more and can be directly attributed to the store front concept then it is a win, but in today's economy this is not as likely to be the case.

mjgphotoz



Feb 07, 2014 at 09:22 AM
D. Diggler
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Retail Space, is it worthwhile.


Mark_L wrote:
.
Occasionally I lose a potential booking when they want the address of my studio so they can drop in next time they're in the area

The irony is most of these places are those awful high volume portrait chain stores.


Yeah, they don't know any better!

I tell them I'd have to charge a lot more to cover overhead if I had studio like what they're thinking about but it does no good. They just write me off. I think with some of them it's the parents thinking back to how they shopped for their own wedding photographer 30 years ago, when most likely the photog did have a traditional studio.



Feb 08, 2014 at 01:31 AM
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