Running a Wedding Photography Business
(Or any small business for that matter!)
As the year comes to a close I have, as most of us have been doing, looking back and reflecting on my business and how I operate both as a professional, as what I like to think of as a nice person and as a passionate photographer.
One of the things I need to look at in more detail is my payment terms for clients and the hard choices between running a business and being a nice person.
Now this isn’t some sob-story blog about but something that I am sure affects a lot of small business – getting paid.
Wedding Deposits and Confirmation of Dates.
This is a small area really as I only ask for £150 deposit to confirm the date. A client may say to me that they want to book me for a particular date; however without a deposit being paid the date is still free for other couples. I will obviously hold the date and have been doing so for several weeks now on some weddings; but I need to draw a line somewhere.
This has caused me to put a clause into my contracts stipulating that a deposit and contract must be returned within 5 days or I have to offer the date to someone else.
I am also considering increasing the deposit level as I have found some couples are still looking around for better deals (nothing wrong in that) and then some photographers basically buying the business from me (totally ethically wrong on all counts).
Being paid in full for the wedding photography.
Over the past 10 months several clients have not paid me. Some have paid a partial amount; others have not paid at all. Normally I don’t worry too much about this, as I basically just don’t give them their wedding images! However with times being a bit hard (recession etc) I have relented somewhat and have sent out pre-wedding prints, “Facebook CD’s” with proof images on, uploaded images to an online gallery etc.
(Editors note: a “Facebook CD” is what I use as my image proofs. I used to print all of the images in a small book for clients to select their album images. Turned out some clients were then using digital cameras or worse – mobile phones – to take pictures of the pictures in the book and upload them to Facebook. Really bad quality images do nothing for my reputation and are essentially a breach of copyright. Much better to give them higher quality images on a CD – better for the environment as well I think.)
Do I chase up with court action those couples that have not paid and all the resulting bad PR that may ensue? Tough calls.
I know that weddings are expensive and that I am not the cheapest guy out there (best looking, probably – cheapest in my area? No.)
It has gotten to an extent that I now have to seriously consider asking for full payment 4 weeks before a wedding. I don’t want to do this as it puts an extra burden onto couples along with all the other things they need to pay for 4-6 weeks prior to the final wedding day.
Why this is important to the price of wedding photography.
This payment is important for a number of reasons:
- I have a mortgage, car, Tax, VAT; insurances etc to pay just like everyone else!
- If forces me to look at my pricing and possibly increase my prices to take into account for couples that don’t or won’t pay – see the point above!
Thanks
