The Cost of Starting and Being in Business - Photography part 3
(This is a reprint of a series of notes I wrote on Facebook in 2009)
In our last episode our subject started to set up a foundation for their business. They picked up a few services like a website, cell phone, Internet service. They also joined the local chamber of commerce and a trade organization. We brought our total business start-up cost to $1110 and reoccurring annual cost to $821.
In this episode we will further explore marketing and the cost of running a business.
So what marketing should we do for this wedding and portraiture business? Lets start with some traditional marketing, Yellow pages ads. For yellow pages we have to ask which one we'll advertise in. Which one, our subject asks confused. Yes which one, there are several yellow pages books, To name a few: Dex, The Yellow Book, The us yellow pages, super pages, etc. Second we need to decide where the ads will run since every area has a different book as well. We also need to decide what kind of ad we'll place: just a name and number or a visual ad. Last of all we need to decide if we will accept any of the extra addons like Internet ads.
Lets do dex and stick to the general salt lake area, just a name and number, and maybe do the Internet ad too. A basic ad will likely cost you over $15 per month or $180 per year bringing our start-up cost to $1290 and reoccurring annual costs of $1001. (as of 2012 I wouldn't recommend any phone books as advertising for a start up, word of mouth, networking, and online ads tend to be more successful now. You should make your own evaluation before deciding on a marketing strategy)
Our subject joined some groups so they could network, this requires attending monthly or quarterly events. Each of these events costs money and time. We'll estimate the cost at around $1000
In addition our subject will need business cards. Excluding design costs and special printing 500 cards will cost between $150 and $300. (Smaller runs of 50 to 100 cards can run as low as $25 in some online services)
This brings our costs up to $2440 for start up and $2151 annual reoccurring costs
As stated by one of our readers all of this will only make a business that barely whistles despite all the money shelled out.
In our last episode our subject started to set up a foundation for their business. They picked up a few services like a website, cell phone, Internet service. They also joined the local chamber of commerce and a trade organization. We brought our total business start-up cost to $1110 and reoccurring annual cost to $821.
In this episode we will further explore marketing and the cost of running a business.
So what marketing should we do for this wedding and portraiture business? Lets start with some traditional marketing, Yellow pages ads. For yellow pages we have to ask which one we'll advertise in. Which one, our subject asks confused. Yes which one, there are several yellow pages books, To name a few: Dex, The Yellow Book, The us yellow pages, super pages, etc. Second we need to decide where the ads will run since every area has a different book as well. We also need to decide what kind of ad we'll place: just a name and number or a visual ad. Last of all we need to decide if we will accept any of the extra addons like Internet ads.
Lets do dex and stick to the general salt lake area, just a name and number, and maybe do the Internet ad too. A basic ad will likely cost you over $15 per month or $180 per year bringing our start-up cost to $1290 and reoccurring annual costs of $1001. (as of 2012 I wouldn't recommend any phone books as advertising for a start up, word of mouth, networking, and online ads tend to be more successful now. You should make your own evaluation before deciding on a marketing strategy)
Our subject joined some groups so they could network, this requires attending monthly or quarterly events. Each of these events costs money and time. We'll estimate the cost at around $1000
In addition our subject will need business cards. Excluding design costs and special printing 500 cards will cost between $150 and $300. (Smaller runs of 50 to 100 cards can run as low as $25 in some online services)
This brings our costs up to $2440 for start up and $2151 annual reoccurring costs
As stated by one of our readers all of this will only make a business that barely whistles despite all the money shelled out.
Comments