Assignment:
Q1A: What would be your deepest red (the most amount you will be in the red) for starting your own photo business. It will also require some estimates about cost (see the post that provided a cost breakout) and revenue by month.
Q1B: How does you deepest red compare to one of your class mates?
Q2: What are the sources of finance you would pursue to cover the deepest red assuming you are starting the photography business?
Discussion Information needed to answer question:
1.a) Primary Research to start a Photography Business. Specific questions that I would want to have answered are as follows:
Do I know what the Photography Business is all about?
Do I have a business plan?
What are the various needs and wants for me to start this business?
Do I have the financial investment to start with?
Do I need professionals to support my business?
How many camera gears I need?
What are the basic amenities do I need?
What would be my break even (investment vs profit)?
Do I have a pricing plan?
What should be my marketing plan? Who are my target customers?
2.b) Answers to two of the above-mentioned questions...
Do I know what the Photography Business is all about?
Photography was once popularly seen as a hobby. With the latest advancement in technology, it is seen as both hobby and business currently. In the last 10 years, camera gear has become more consumers friendly; financially affordable which made everyone to see themselves as photographers. As a start up photographer, one must get started with weddings and events. This being a highly competitive business, market positioning is extremely crucial.
What should be my marketing plan? Who are my target customers?
Niche marketing type purposely aims a unique segment in the market... For example, particular goods or services with very less or no competitors. In our case, developing unique photographic styles that no other competitors does will be Niche segment. The key element of any business is its target consumers. Knowing the target customer is a significant effort any business owner will aim for as it far more essential than knowing the presence of a particular product in the market. Hence customer segmentation is an essential criterion, which mean splitting the market into small pockets of consumers with wide range of features, needs & characters that the individual is seeking for... So with the usage of market segmentation, our photographic business classifies larger zones to smaller that can be reached easily. Segmenting the market based on the customer need - based on 5 different groups. They are,
Dividing photographic consumers based on geographical location
Based on Demographics such as date of birth, sex, marital status etc.,
Consumers lifestyle and personality which is Psychographic differentiation
Photography Market which includes location of the Photoshop, size, hourly inflow of consumers etc.,
Classifying consumers based on their Behavior viz., usage of service, profit, purpose of using etc.,
Q2. a) How do I build my photography business plan?
A typical business plan contains the following:
An Executive summary
Mission Statement
Vision Statement
Objectives
Organizational Summary - About the company
Ownership details of the company
Summary of the start up (Basic Financial details)
Company location and its facilities
Product details & description
Portraits and Catalogue to be displayed
Competitive advantage - display to include the following...
Photos that are award winning
High-quality photographs
Price sensitive value photographs
Instant photos
Literature of sales
Technology focus
Summary of Market Segmentation & Analysis
Market trends, growth, wants & needs
Industry analysis and major competitors
Purchase and distribution patterns
Strategic plan and Implementation plan
Management team and staffing plan within the shop
Financial details, sales forecast, break even analysis, cash flow analysis etc.,
Q2.b) To select two areas mentioning how to go about building the same.
An Executive summary - Historical details, Explaining the context, problem statement or the business case, what is the need in the market etc., why it makes sense to get started with this etc.,
Mission, Vision, and Objectives:
Mission Statement - Explaining the core capabilities of the photography business and how it serves the consumers will be covered here.
Vision Statement - What is going to be our focus area? In what ways do we aim to achieve the required target through key performance indicators viz., productivity, quality, utility etc.,
Objectives - Clearly categorize the specific goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound in nature