5 Tips for Building a Business Plan for a Successful Photography Business

Creating a detailed and accurate business plan is essential when you’re looking to set up your own photography franchise. But what do you need to include in your plan? And what will you need to know about the photography sector? If you’re looking to write your own business plan, here’s what you need to know.

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The photography business has been booming in recent years. With the rise of social media, businesses and individuals have been splashing the cash to make sure they’re getting the best photographs possible for their needs.

This boom has seen the industry diversify into a number of different specialist areas. Creative photographers can specialise in anything from food to sport, and clothing to wedding photography. With such a wide array of different industries in need of professional photography, there is clearly huge business potential for anyone with a sharp business plan.

Building a business plan for a photography business

1. Tailor your business plan to your audience

Long before you’ve opened your business you will need to have figured out who it is that will be visiting your photography business. Whether you have a unique selling point or a competitive advantage over some of your competitors, you’ll need to figure out who it is you’re really selling to.

Next, you’ll need to be able to present that information in digestible, but informed ways, for whoever it is that will be reading your plan. The core of your plan will need to stay largely the same. Key statistics, growth figures, investment details will almost always need to be in there, but it’s worth making sure that your plan reads well to whoever is reading it. If you’re presenting your plan to a bank, make sure your plan reads well from a financial perspective. If your plan is being put together for your potential future franchisor, ensure you demonstrate knowledge of the franchise.

A number of key details will need to be included in any draft you put together. These are:

• An executive summary

• Market analysis

• Financial projections

• Company history

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>> Read more:

• Why Is a Business Plan Important?
• 4 Reasons Why You Should Take the Time to Create a Business Plan For Your Franchise
• The Key Elements of a Successful Franchise Business Plan

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2. Know your unique selling point

Your unique selling point (USP) could be the difference between your business succeeding and failing. What makes your business unique could be anything from services, specialisms or even just price advantages. But whatever it is, make sure it’s prominent in your business plan.

To be able to turn your unique selling point into a successful business, you should know everything there is to know about photography businesses in your local area. According to a recent sector report by IBIS, the photography sector could boom in 2021 due to many postponed events and weddings, and in such a competitive environment, you’ll need to be certain about what sets your business apart.

3. Have a plan for how to launch your business

It’s an unfortunate aspect to starting a new business, but the overwhelming majority of new businesses fail. It isn’t always the fault of the business owner, or due to a lack of preparation, but unexpected things can happen that throw all the plans of a business out the window.

You can’t control the future, but you can control how you respond to it, so make sure that when you present your plan to your franchisor, you have a rough outline for how to launch your business. Many major photography franchises are willing to help new franchisees with marketing, training, support, the onboarding of new staff, and anything else you might need, so don’t be afraid to call on this support.

The more prepared you are for every eventuality, the more you will be able to guide your business through difficult patches.

4. Choose the right location

Photography businesses don’t necessarily need to be in the most high footfall high streets in the country. As a specialist service, many potential customers will search for you online, rather than searching their local shopping centre. But this doesn’t mean your business won’t need to be seen.

There’s a difficult balancing act to be struck between paying over-the-odds for a prime location in a city centre and having to chase revenues, or paying for a more affordable studio just off the high street. Neither is entirely perfect, but based on your research, you should be able to identify which area or areas are best placed for your photography business.

Identify some pros and cons and be prepared to justify why one location will work better than another. Having the right business in the wrong location is a common reason for businesses failing, so do your research and have confidence you’ll make the right choice.

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>> Read more:

• 5 Tips for Developing Your Employees into Future Franchisees
• Being a Successful Franchisee Means Adopting an Entrepreneur Mindset
• 7 Common Habits of Successful Franchisees
• Mythbusters: Common Misconceptions About What Makes a Successful Franchisee
• Five Tips for Boosting Your Self-Confidence as a Business Owner
• Traits of an entrepreneur

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5. Take on feedback

Be prepared to let others look at your plan and give you feedback. The photography industry is very competitive and even small mistakes or misunderstandings could cost you.

You could let industry professionals review your plan, hire consultants to audit your plan, or even allow close industry contracts to appraise it. Build up a bank of feedback and advice and use it to perfect your plan.

Why not start a franchise in the photography business?

Starting a business isn’t easy, but the photography sector is anticipating some booming demand in the coming weeks and months. If you’re looking to run your own photography business, now could be the perfect time to get started.

If you’re confident you’ve got what it takes to put together a sharp business plan, browse the full range of photography franchises on the Point Franchise website. Or, if you’d like to look at the full list of available franchise opportunities in all sectors, you can see a full range on the UK franchise directory.