I had some success a couple of years ago helping small advertising agencies starting up or rejuvenating. Currently I am considering doing the same helping photographers make the transition into business, or helping existing businesses in the doldrums. You could help me with a quick survey.
The service would consist of several one-on-one sessions culminating in my preparing a business plan consisting of business strategy covering marketing, sales, operations and administration. I am not a financial or tax consultant, but would consider a cashflow projection.
You'd be buying a lot of common sense gained in running several businesses, some qualifications (MSc, MBA etc.) and experience in the SME and corporate world. Plus I am a photographer.
(If you are in the US, you're more than welcome to answer but I couldn't fly over from the UK for those prices )
I'd be the textbook example of someone who SHOULD use your services, but I'm too damn stubborn to consider hiring outside consulting for something that I would need to learn anyway. I considered hiring out all my retouching on my commercial shoots, but instead spent 4 weeks staying up until 3-4 AM teaching myself photoshop. Same thing applies here. I've got a stack of entrepreneurship books that I'm using, plus some common sense, and occasional input from my accountant to get things up and running.
I'm right in the middle of setting up to turn pro... I guess I would be your target market. I've been building a website, researching possible clients, putting together a mailing list to send example prints with a cover letter, and basically doing things other than photography...
I've come to the conclusion that some things are better left to the people who are good at those things! It's all very well trying to be self taught in all the skills required, but it all takes time away from doing the thing you're supposed to be doing. I'm pretty clueless at the moment when it comes to business planning and marketing, so I would love to take some good advice in those aspects.
However, right now I'm not in a position to fork out a lot of money for advice, and I would always be skeptical about whether I was going to get anything worthwhile out of it... I'd be really pissed if I paid good money and the advice ended up being many pages of shite which basically boiled down to "get clients, do work, get paid"...
I suppose what I'm really saying is, how could I be sure I wasn't getting my pants pulled down? £500 to £1000 could be money very well spent if I got the right advice, but that money could go a long way in paying for other essentials.
I think it's a mistake to ask the question of what people think such a service would be worth to them, when no needs assessment or value proposition has even been presented.
In other words, a lot of respondents are automatically going to assume they can't afford it or won't spend more than £500 given the fact they really don't know what kind of impact you will have on their bottom line, which is what you HAVE to demonstrate in your value proposition.
I think what you could be selling might have some real value, because it's the kind of thing that helps a photographer do what they love to do, take pictures...and the more time they get to do that, the more money they can make.
First, Don't go into business without a good business/marketing plan. Furthermore, every photographer should understand and know every aspect of the business so that when they outsource it, they wont get taken for a ride.
A consultant would be good. But mentors are fairly easy to find, and they are typically free.
)