Image by Lori Smith

A few years ago, a friend and I started a wedding photography business. Our short term goals were reasonable. We simply wanted to pay off our start up loan. The longer term goals were more ambitious – we wanted this to become our fulltime jobs. We both were in 9-5 jobs that were making us miserable and this business seems like it was the way out.

It turned out that we were good at what we did. She brought to the table the photography skills and I had more business experience. We did several weddings, many of which were referrals and we managed to pay off our start up loans.

But in the interim, we both found day jobs that we enjoyed and the photography business became less of a priority. For me personally, spending an extra day a week away from my son was a source of guilt and also hard on my husband who works fulltime during the week as well.

About six months ago, my partner and I sad down and had a frank discussion about the future of our business; we decided that it was time to let it go. We finished up the weddings that we had scheduled for the year, but are not working to attract clients for next year.

I think it was the most worthwhile venture in which I’ve taken part. I learned several important questions to ask myself before starting another venture such as this one.

1. Have I chosen my partner carefully?

While my friend and I worked well together, in general, there were several sticking points that caused a lot of frustration. Much of this was a result of us wanting to preserve our friendship. Do you have someone that you can be completely honest and forthright with? If there are any barriers to communication, they need to be addressed prior to monetary involvement because once money is invested the conversations become much more difficult and awkward. You and your partner also need to be on the same page as to the plans for revenue – determine how much you each get as income and what portion is going to be reinvested in the business.

2. Determine how comfortable you are with variations in your income

Especially in a field like wedding photography, there are times of the year that are significantly more work less, but more importantly there are times when there is significantly less work available. Of course, as the business grows, the work tends to level off more, but it takes a long time to build that sort of reputation.

3. How much are you really going to make?

As a business owner, you’re free to set your own prices, but you need to be able to find clients willing to pay those prices. But even if you can find those clients, keep in mind that there isn’t anyone taking out taxes for you automatically each paycheck. What’s your after tax rate going to be? If this does become a fulltime gig, how much are you going to spend on insurance (health, life, business liability)? These two things can be a big hit to your take home pay. Then again, there’s always the question of how much needs to be reinvested in your business. In our case, we needed to continuously invest in new equipment as our equipment wore out or became obsolete.

4. How much time are you willing to invest?

While at the beginning it’s easy to assume that you’ll be spending every available waking moment working on this new and exciting pursuit, keep in mind that if you’re stilling working a day job a lot of your time is already spoken for. If you have a family and other obligations even more of your time is already spent. Is your spouse on board with your plans? How are you going to feel about the time spent away from your children. Yes, long term being your own boss may lead to more free time, but in the short term there are a lot of sacrifices to be made.

5. If this fails do you have a backup plan?

Before you quit your job to pursue your new interest full time, do you have a Plan B? I was lucky in that wedding photography is a job done primarily on weekends and my job was a standard 9-5. If you quit your job and your venture fails, can you easily get another job or do you have enough savings to support you until you do find other employment?

I think that I would certainly try to start another business when the opportunity presents itself, although I would do things differently this time… beginning by considering the questions above more carefully than I did last time.

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