“Hey, you should go pro!”

Have you ever been told “hey, you’re really good – you should go pro”? I got an email from a reader named Evy this week saying just that.

Photography seems like a pretty easy business, right?

knowing how to take pictures + a badass camera = ready made business

Right? Right? No, wrong. Evy went on to tell me that she registered as self employed and got herself insured. And then realised how truly hard it is to break into photography. She rightly said that the market is so saturated with photographers that it’s hard to stand out and be seen. She has been very clever to keep her day job and allow her photography to be the added extra in her life that provides a bit of luxury for her and her family.

This is exactly how it should be. In June when Darren & I did our 5 ways to draw the business out of your creativity webcast, Darren talked about how when you start a new career which you’re hoping will turn into full-time, you shouldn’t quit your job. You should build your new venture brick by brick and as it grows, the money you’re making will begin to overlap with the money you’re making at work and you might start to pull back from your job a little and do your photography more. Eventually, you will find that your business has more than overlapped your day job: it might overtake it altogether and you will be able to move into doing photography full time. This is the smart way to build a business while maintaining your responsibilities and current lifestyle without going broke, burning out and failing.

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Fotografie Sergegils

I’ve the same thing.There are several people how find it a pleasure to work with me on photoshoot’s,they all love my work and now there are buisnesses how are asking if I have a website.But I need a litle more equipment and I have to build a website.So fore now it’s just some shoot’s for friends ore family (how all pay ofcourse) and saving for some new equipment.
http://richcopley.com Rich Copley

Yes, what you said. I hung out my shingle earlier this year after years of shooting, and getting really serious about it the past few years and building up a gear bag(s) that will let me accomplish what people hire me to accomplish. Since then, I have had several people say, “so if this gets going you can quit you day job.” My response uniformly is I have absolutely no thoughts of quitting the day job at the moment because I love my job and and don’t know that I will ever want to leave. It would also take a lot of photography to make up for the security, salary and benefits of my day job. As it is, I am able to derive some additional income off of something I enjoy and have talent in, but the mortgage doesn’t hang in the balance. Now, in five or 10 years, who knows where I or any of us will be.

I do agree with Evy, and many others I have read here, at DPS, and other forums, it is a slow build. You just have to keep shooting, work hard to improve and get your name out there and hopefully the business will follow.
http://ashleysisk.blogspot.com Ashley.Sisk

I’ve heard the same thing and even considered getting myself registered as a business with insurance…but more to protect myself than to seriously launch into the world of photography professionals. I’m not quitting my day job anytime soon and if my husband couldn’t help me cover my expenses, I definitely can’t imagine being a full time photographer right now.
http://www.desinicole.com Desiree

I have gone pro, and it’s going well, although not without a lot (and I mean lots) of long days and hard work. Most likely if I had known before hand how hard it would be, I probably would have picked something else to pursue. I have the advantage of having been successfully self employed before, and that does help, but I still sometimes wonder, “What was I thinking!?!” So my advice? Either keep it as a hobby until it grows, or go full out, work hard, expect hiccups, and work hard, or did I mention that already :0)
http://www.francesmorency.com frances morency photography

Shooting what you love and taking the jobs you really care about is the LUXURY of keeping your day job. I’ve always said that I don’t want to shoot just anything just to pay the bills. I LOVE WHAT I DO AND WANT TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.