Zoom airlines recently announced it has “suspended operations.”
Zoom is, er, was a low-cost alternative to traditional, higher priced air travel. Zoom offered budget flights and reportedly excellent service. Unfortunately, they charged too little for a good thing! People loved Zoom until they got stranded at the airport recently or, like my parents, paid for flights that no longer exist! Speculation was that rising fuel prices squeezed the airline more than it could handle.
What has that got to do with photography? The budget photo business model can lead to the same results as Zoom Airlines. Substitute low cost photo work for Zoom’s low cost flight service and you could encounter the same “suspended operations.”
Avoid pitfalls with solid business training.
Pricing your photo work low can help attract some early sales but it can create problems:
- client expectations of low cost work. Try raising your prices to sustainable levels after a year of low cost photo service – see what your client says.
- little breathing room for unexpected expenses like equipment breakdowns or ‘high fuel prices’.
- industry expectations – If too many people offer budget prices the new norm may be unsustainable wages for photographers. What you charge affects the industry!
- price too low and your happy customers may be disappointed after they discover you have “suspended operations” because you cannot make ends meet.
Want to stay in business and promote a healthy photography industry? Discover a way to charge fair and realistically sustainable prices for your level of service! This will require:
- educating your clients to the value of your work
- saying no when dollars are too low
- learning how much is too much for the customer
Pricing work is a tricky business!
Skip painful mistakes – Learn from other creative business people with the Creative Business Seminar in November, 2008.
Harry