39 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T START A PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS
/
1. People will think that all you do is take pretty photos
2. People will think that you always bring your camera with you, and don't mind taking photos wherever you go. Including at your niece's birthday party... "since you're going to be there anyway."
3. You'll spend most of your time trying to figure out which photos don't suck.
4. You'll constantly be wondering whether anyone else thinks any of your photos are any good.
5. You'll want to change your website/blog/logo/business card/brochure/etc every time you log into a photography forum and see another photographer's new website/blog/logo/business card/brochure/etc.
6. Most of the people that contact you will think you're overpriced. You'll never know how many didn't take you seriously because they thought you were underpriced.
7. You'll constantly be asked "that includes a disc of all my images right?"
8. You'll constantly be asked "can you do that thing where part of the picture is in color and the rest is in black and white?"
9. People expect you to be able to make their children smile... on command... every time.
10. When people realize you can't make their children smile, they'll get mad at you... as if you punched their kid in the face.
11. You'll spend hours at your computer "processing" your images, which is really a euphemism for staring blankly at your screen wondering why anyone actually pays you to take these terrible, terrible photos.
12. Usually, everyone else is sleeping, while you're still sitting at your computer at 2:30am.
13. Camera companies release new gear all the time, and you'll constantly think you need it in order to make your photos suck less.
14. The average photography business lost money in 2011.
15. You'll have zero job security
16. You'll spend about 20% of your time on photography, and the rest banging your head against the wall, trying to figure out how to make money doing this so you can still pay your mortgage.
17. Most small businesses last less than 5 years.
18. The average photographer has $14,520 worth of camera gear...
19. that they put on a credit card...
20. You'll meet with 50 people to get 15 to say yes to you.
21. You'll be required to learn to like coffee.
22. There's no pension plan
23. There's no health insurance
24. You'll wonder why XYZ photographer always gets to shoot at the cool venues.
25. You'll also wonder why she gets published all the time.
26. What you won't realize is that she sits up at night wondering if her work sucks... just like you do.
27. Running a business is really hard.
28. You'll often feel very alone, and that no one else in the world understands what your life is really like.
29. You'll wake up on Saturday mornings for the rest of your life, wondering if you are supposed to be at someone's wedding.
30. You'll attend weddings of family and friends and will spend the whole time watching the photographer, not the wedding.
31. Then you'll look at the photos later and wish you'd have paid more attention, since the photos suck.
32. You'll have to hire an attorney and an accountant.
33. Wedding photographers get sued by their clients.
34. They also get audited (3X more often than people who don't own their own business).
35. You'll find yourself worried more about what other photographers think, than what your clients think.
36. You'll have to carry 50lbs of gear around for 10 hours, often without food or water.
37. People will think that you have little elves that work for you that can apparently "photoshop" anything.... even people who didn't actually show up at the wedding... for free....
38. Someone will always show up at a wedding with a nicer camera than you.
39. And they'll post their terrible photos on facebook, and the bride and groom will love them, and you'll wonder why you even got out of bed.
BONUS - Here are three reasons you should:
1. Owning a business means creating something that supports the kind of life you want to live. It means freedom.
2. Being creative means you get to give the world something it has never seen before.
3. You have the opportunity to help people remember the way they feel at the most important moments of their lives.
Did you find this post helpful? CLICK HERE to have posts like this delivered to your email inbox.
