Do you run a photography business? Do you want to run a photography business? Do you earn a small amount of money from your hobby of photography? Do you want? If you answered yes to any of these questions, here’s the question for you: three big money mistakes people make when it comes to photography and the business side of things.
When I first started taking pictures, I had absolutely no intention of turning it into a money-making business. It’s all for love and adventure. Then some of my pictures started getting noticed here and there and some friends asked me to do some pictures for them. All good because it’s friends, until it’s time to trade cash. All my friends run legitimate businesses, and as such, they want to formally approve our cash/service exchange in the form of official receipts and the like. I didn’t have anything set up at the time and kept losing a lot of potential work because I sounded like an amateur. In fact, I did, but it taught me that I need to be more serious with my work, as well as the business side of things. But how can you?
That question brings us to this great video by Evan Ranft, in which he shows you three big mistakes that photography businesses — or potential businesses — make. I like the first one best because it discusses legalizing your work and saving you money. How? By establishing yourself as a registered business with an LLC (different from in other countries like Australia, where an ABN is available). This offers plenty of opportunities to claim expenses like travel, equipment, and driving, as long as you can relate them to photography in any way. There are tons of other great tips out there, so watch the video and let me know what you think.
