1. The Photography Pond & The Fish That Swim There
Alright! Strap in and buckle up for a whirlwind series of creating your Photography Business Plan! I am a firm believer in Photographers taking the time and doing the research to create a Business Plan. Creating a Business Plan can be a bit overwhelming… I divided the Business Plan into small parts, and will be giving you a few days to think, research, and draft your Plan between each part.

Before we begin, I want to remind you that I am offering a Free 15-Minute Marketing Consultation for Photographers. NOTE: Please follow the exact directions in the post, or I will not receive your request.

There are 3 main topics that I will cover in this post. They are: Industry Analysis, Target Market, and Competitive Analysis.

I. Industry Analysis
This is the “Photography Pond” that I referenced in the title of this post. Your business plan should have information related to the Photography industry in general. Some questions that you might want to answer for this section are:

- What is the current size of the Photography industry?
- Is the industry growing, or losing size? And what is the growth, or loss rate?
- What trends are taking place within the Photography industry?
- What are the major Photography organizations, or associations?
- What are the major Photography trade shows, or conferences?
- What are the major Photography magazines?

- What are the major Photography websites?

I know answering these questions may take some research and time, but knowing this information will help you and your business in the long-term. Please take the time to do your research and answer these questions (and other questions like these) in a thorough manner.

II. Target Market

Now that you’ve done your research on the Photography industry as a whole, lets narrow it down a bit and focus on your target market. Your target market is simply the type of clients that you want to buy your Photography services/ products.

The key here is to be as specific, and provide as much detail as possible. Some questions that you might want to answer for this section are:

- First off, what is your target market? (Don’t try to be a “Jack of All Trades”…)
- What is the size of your target market?
- What is the geographic area for your target market?
- Describe the demographics of your target market: Age? Sex? Class? Location?, etc…
- Wedding Photographers: How many weddings take place annually within your target market?
- Wedding Photographers: What is the average cost of a wedding within your target market?
- Who are the key decision makers in your target market?
- What is the typical purchasing cycle for your target market?

III. Competitive Analysis
If you are the only Photographer servicing your target market – Congrats! You are officially done with this section!!! However, if there are other Photographers (these are the “Fish” I referenced in the title) servicing your target market, you have some work to do…

In this section of the Business Plan, you will list every single Photographer that is servicing your target market. Yes, I said every single Photographer… The keywords however are “servicing your target market”. So this may not mean every single Photographer in your city, or geographic region.

After you have this list, create 3 categories for each Photographer you listed. The 3 categories are: Products & Services, Strengths, and Weaknesses. Now it’s simply a matter of filling out the 3 categories for each Photographer. A sample one may look like this:

Anita Photographer
Products & Services: Weddings, E-Sessions, Trash the Dress, Albums, Family Sessions.
Strengths: Great Portfolio, 15-years Experience, Servicing Clients.
Weaknesses: Website, Marketing & Branding, Keeping up with Technology.

The more information you can provide for each Photographer you listed, the better it will be. Answering these questions will help later on in the Business Plan as you figure out how to position yourself in your target market.

Hopefully you do not feel overwhelmed by all of this… I really want you to take your time and think about each one of the areas we covered in this post. If you have any questions, or would like to pick my brain about this section of the Business Plan, I will be available to you via Twitter: @ryanswigert

Thank you for your time and interest in this series, and stay tuned for Part 2 when we discuss the question: Who Are You???

Filed under: Business Planning, business plan, Marketing, photographers, Photography