That is a question I get asked frequently, so I've decided to share my thoughts here on my blog on how I juggled all of this. Many of you know that I used to do photography part time and luckily now, it's my full time career. So how did I manage my part time photography business with a 40 hr a week corporate job, a 2 hour commute, and a young child?
First and foremost, if you are married or have a significant other, you definitely need to have someone like my wife who is understanding and supportive. Without the support of those close to you, it is very difficult to succeed. Thank you babe!
In my opinion, to run a photography business, there are 5 major components that you need to focus on:
- Respond to your clients
- Meeting potential clients/active selling
- Shooting the session/wedding
- Editing photos/albums
- Competitive analysis/education
Respond to your clients
This is extremely important. Clients write or call you because they are interested in your services, so getting back to them is my number one priority. Whether it is a "hey, I got your email and will respond later" or a detailed email regarding my pricing and availability, I always get back to my clients within 48 hours. I was lucky to have a desk job that I do email most of the day. I schedule 2 check-ins per day to check my photography emails. This is usually during lunch hour or sometime in the afternoon around 3pm (this is when my energy level is low, and a coffee break is required). After I get home, have dinner with my family, relax a bit, I then check my photography email one more time before I go to bed.
Meeting potential clients for jobs
We all have 24 hrs in a day, and I am no exception. It is a matter of making the time and making your sacrifices. If you want something bad enough, you WILL make the time for it. If you don't, then maybe it is not something you really want nor is it something that is important enough for you to sacrifice your other commitments for. Meeting clients is the only way for you to actually get a job signed. Especially as a wedding photographer, 95% of the potential clients want to meet you before they commit. You would, too, if you were spending thousands of dollars and it was one of the most important days of your life! So how do I do it? I usually schedule client meetings first thing Sunday morning at my home studio. I make 8am or 9am appts so I have the rest of the day for my family. Sometimes, I meet my clients after work, i.e. 6pm at a hotel lobby before I commute home. At times, I meet my clients during lunch hour, have lunch with them and go over things. I do all of this during my personal time. It is a sacrifice because I could have used the lunch hour or after work hours to relax, but I didn't. Instead, I used the hours to work on my photography business. I knew what I wanted, which was to go full time, so I sacrificed my hours for it. I didn't want to sacrifice my family time, so I tried my best to only sacrifice my personal time. Sometimes it is difficult to coordinate my schedule between my clients and my personal time, so there are occasions that I have to meet my clients Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons. I usually schedule my meetings during my kids' nap time so the house is quiet and I am not taking any family time away from them, which is important to me.
Shooting the session/wedding
As a part time photographer, I can only take on so many jobs. I maxed out at 15 weddings per year and about 10 portrait sessions. That is still a lot since my only available time is the weekends. If I take on a wedding one Saturday, my Sunday is completely blocked for family. If I don't have a wedding that weekend, I use the Saturday for shoots, sometimes Sunday. So whatever I do, I save one day as a family day. Again, this is a sacrifice I had to make. Something has got to give, and in this case, my family time gave. There's no perfect situation, you just have to make it work if you want it bad enough. During the summer, when day light is long, I sometimes shoot after work. Meeting clients at 6:30pm or 7pm to start the shoot and end the shoot at around 8pm at the latest. At that time, commuting home is easy, 35 mins max. I get home by 8:30pm and have dinner with my family. I don't usually do this, but if sessions pile up, that is what I did.
Editing photos/albums
This is all night time work. I am a night owl. I usually start photo work right after I put my kids to bed. I usually spend 2-3 hrs on my computer either working on an album or editing photos that I did the weekend before. I don't get to watch much TV nor work out, to be honest with you. I figured, TV or photography, I chose photography. I put on music, then went at it with Photoshop. That was my relaxation :) Sometimes, when work backs up, I spend more night hours during the weekend (11pm to 3am) to finish up.
Competitive analysis/education
This is also night time work. To be honest with you, this is one area that I lack the most because the other 4 were more important to me. I surf and I get an idea of what is out there, but I wanted to spend more time researching and find out how I can be a better photographer. I do it some time, but I just don't have enough time in the day to handle this. I intentionally allocate 4 hrs per month to do this. I surf other photographer's blog and web site to see what others are doing. Review my own pricing and my offerings twice a year to make sure I stay competitive. In my opinion, this is important, but the other 4 areas are more important if you try to keep your head above water per se.
Conclusion
All and all, we all have the same number of hrs per day. Like my previous manager (and a close friend), Randhir, has always said to me. Life is about choices and sacrifices. You choose what you want/have to do and sacrifice things to get what you want. I truly believed in this. No one is going to hand you a golden key or a silver bullet. You need to work hard, figure it out to get there. If this is not the time for you to make sacrifices, then maybe this is not the time for you to take on this huge commitment. You need to make a commitment and run with it. It also helps if you have good time management skill, too!
I hope this had shed some light to many of you that are planning to get into photography part time. It is do-able. If I can do it, you all can! Good Luck!
