Finance.

So let’s talk about it. That big elephant in the room that makes people so uncomfortable they would rather just watch the weather channel  on repeat instead.
(Pictures added to provide stimulation for artists who hate numbers)

 

Truth is – life really is all about the money. Sad to admit, but without a steady inflow in the bank people struggle to keep their spirits up.  Money issues are one of the main causes of depression and divorce in today’s society and with the rising inflation and influx of expenses, it is hard to keep head above water.  When you are self-employed and lack basic understanding of business and self-discipline, these stresses become even more intense.

What Do You Need To Survive??

So let’s look at today’s basic living costs per month in Cape Town in order to live fairly responsibly:

Expenses	Budget Living	Average Living
Housing:
Rent (1 – 2 bedroom)	R5000	R10 000
Utilities	R300	R600
Internet	R500	R500
Transport:
Car Finance	R3000	R4000
Petrol	R1000	R2000
Insurance:
Medical Aid:	R1500 (hospital plan)	R3000 (Comprehensive)
Camera Insurance	R1500	R2000
Car Insurance	R400	R700
Life & Disability	R300	R500
Living Costs:
Food (3 meals a day)	R1500	R2000
Household products	R300	R500
Retirement Planning	R500	R1500
Total Costs:	R15 800	R27 300

 

Sure, these amounts are variables and some are not applicable to everyone.  Perhaps your car is already paid off. Or you inherited a house and don’t need to pay rent.  Or you don’t plan to ever retire and want to work until the very last day you take your last breath at age 92 (good grief).

So what does this have to do with Photography?
I mean, Photography is Art.
It is a gift of Beauty.
It pays in “Exposure” and “Likes” on social media, right???
Wrong!

 

 

People in the Workplace vs. “Artists”.

Now let’s compare with people with “real” jobs (Since Photography is “art” and not a “job”).
People with real jobs work from Monday to Friday from 9:00 – 17:00 (160 hours a month) and get paid a fixed monthly salary plus a few benefits like pension and UIF and sick leave and weekends!
Every month on the same day a fixed salary gets deposited in to their accounts. Nice, isn’t it?

Now here you are.  Artist. Photographer. Storyteller.  You get paid per assignment.  Some months mean glory to all as it rains with weddings and other bookings. Other months it’s like crickets and you try to see how many cups of tea you can drag out of the last tea bag.

Does it really need to be like this?
No. Not if you price yourself correct and according to your worth and time.

 

 

How Many Hours Do You REALLY Work?

How much work really goes in to one wedding?  Some of these things are generally not considered as “work” by clients.  At least, not until their employers ask similar tasks of them in their off time.  So Let’s see:

Initial Marketing	1 hour
Responding to client inquiries and questions	1 hour
In person consultation	1 hour
Charging camera gear and preparing cards	1 hour
Driving to Engagement session	1 hour
Engagement session	1 hour
Driving home from Engagement Session	1 hour
Downloading cards & importing into software	1 hour
Culling of images	1 hour
Editing images	3 hours
Delivery of images	1 hour
Pre Wedding Venue Visit	1 hour (optional but recommended)
Timeline coordination for Wedding Day	1 hour
Charging camera gear and preparing cards	1 hour
Driving to Wedding Venue	1 hour (minimum – usually more)
Pre Wedding Prep and location check	1 hour
Wedding Day Photography	12 hours
Post Wedding Prep and camera breakdown	1 hour
Drive home in the dark with tired eyes	1 hour
Downloading card and Importing into Software	1 hour
Culling of extra images	2 hours
Editing Images	10 hours
Blog Post Image Selection, Writing and Blogging	1 hour
Album Design	2 hours
Drive to Printers to deliver Design	1 hour
Responding to constant inquiries from brides wanting to know when images are done	1 hour
Drive to printers to pick up album	1 hour
Drive to client to deliver album and images	1 hour
Total amount of work you’ve done	52 hours

52 hours = That is 7 hours a week more than the average “normal” person who works an 8:00 – 17:00 workday.

Great.  So now we’ve established that you don’t “only” work when you are holding a camera. Those hours add up quickly, don’t they?  But now, let’s look at some more numbers (I know, we are artist, numbers break our heads and they are not fun to look at or think of, but really if you want to do this as a business you need to continue paying attention)

 

 

Your Direct Expenses Per Wedding

Travel Costs: Your car has a running cost and maintenance cost.  Tires need to be replaced, oil needs to be filled up, car needs to be serviced.  Visit the AA website to calculate your car’s running cost	100km = R350 / R500
Camera Insurance Per Wedding: Divide your annual insurance premium by your annual number of weddings.	(R2000 x 12 ÷24) R1000
Assistant (not to be confused with a second photographer)	R1000
Album Printing Costs.  This will vary on the amount of pages and quality of printers you use and get as expensive as R6000+ for a decent 20 spread leather cover album.	R2000
Packaging Material	R300
Branded USB	R200
Courier costs	R200
Total Expenses per Wedding	R5 200

So that is the direct expenses per wedding, but what are the costs to run  your business and market yourself successfully in the Wedding Industry – set up at Wedding Expos, advertise on Wedding Blogs and Directories and have a strong Online Persona?

Running Costs Of Your Business Per Annum:

Marketing:
Online Marketing: (Roughly R500 per month minimum)	R6000
Print Based Marketing (Magazines/Pamphlets) (Roughly R1000 – R2000 per add)	R20 000
Wedding Expos (Roughly R10 000 per expo)	R20 000
Webpage
Website Initial build (once off)	R13 000
Website Domain	R 2 500
Website Hosting	R2 400
Software Subscriptions
Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom	R 1 650
Blogstomping Software	R   700
Album Design Software	R   700
Communication
Cellphone contract	R6000
Total Annual Business Expenses	R72 950

 

If you dIvide that annual business expense in to monthly payments, it costs you about R6080 per month.
That essentially brings your monthly requirement as an individual and a business to:
R15800 (basic living expense) + R6080 (monthly business costs)  = R21880 (total monthly expense)

 

How Many Weddings Should You Do?

Alright, so now we have established how many hours you work and how much those hours cost you, so how many weddings do you need to do per year to support a basic, responsible lifestyle and a basic overhead business expenses?

We do it like this:
Yearly cost of basic living and business:  R21880 x 12 = R262560
R262560 ÷ (profit per wedding) = Weddings Required to run your business and support yourself

R8000 Wedding:

How much you charge	R8 000
Your Expenses for the wedding	-R 5 200
Profit	R 2 800
Weddings needed to support yourself	94 per annum
Weddings per month	8 per month (is this even possible?)

 

R10 000 Wedding

How much you charge	R10 000
Your Expenses for the wedding	-R 5 200
Profit	R 4 800
Weddings needed to support yourself	54 per annum
Weddings per month	4.5 per month

 

R15 000 Wedding

How much you charge	R15 000
Your Expenses for the wedding	-R 5 200
Profit	R 9 800
Weddings needed to support yourself	26 per annum
Weddings per month	2 per month

 

R20 000 Wedding

How much you charge	R20 000
Your Expenses for the wedding	-R 5 200
Profit	R 14 800
Weddings needed to support yourself	18 per annum
Weddings per month	1.5 per month

 

Looking more realistic when you work it out like that, right? And to think that I didn’t even calculate TAX in yet.  That decreases your actual income even further.

 

 

So now  you have to ask yourself the question – how many hours are you prepared to work in a year and what level of income do you need to support yourself?  As the saying goes:

Work Smarter, not Harder.