As millions of Americans look for greater control over their financial destiny, the dream of self-employment has become more compelling that ever. Just the idea of launching a small business to become their own boss, and financially independent, drives many people to stake their life savings on everything from franchise opportunities to some gadgets they’ve invented.

To entrepreneurial spirit is, of course, a part of our great national tradition. The problem is that many people devote a lot of their time to half-baked ideas and high-risk flings that have little chance of success.

There is always some gamble involved when you start a business, whether your investment is $50.00 or $500.00, or more. But once you begin to view your new business as a “gambling” the risk-reward radio tilts out of whack! The shrewdest and most successful entrepreneurs know that “taking the plunge” works best when you take along tested principles that put the odds in their favour.

TAKE WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED AND BUILD YOUR BUSINESS AROUND IT

If you decide to join the ranks of self-employed freelance photographers, you will soon discover there is no magic in being able to earn thousands of dollars every year. Forget about the notion that you can start up a business just because you have a camera laying around you know little or nothing about. If you try the casual “learn on the job” approach with photography and competitors will capitalize on your mistakes, promoting customers to turn elsewhere for the products and services you market. Then your business will be floundering by the time you get to know what it takes to succeed. Never expect people to pay you while
you practice on them and waste their time and money. And never take an assignment you can’t handle. Being honest with yourself and your customers will be your benefit in the long-run.

The best approach to starting your freelance photography business is to start off slowly and build on a base of knowledge and experience. In other words, take the knowledge that you presently have about your camera and build a company around it. Start out by offering a particular service where you can be competitive from the first day you are open for business.

YOU DON’T NEED A STUDIO & FRENCH PROVINCIAL FURNITURE TO GET STARTED

You don’t have to open a studio with elegant French provincial furniture, glass showcases, and large expensive frames all over the walls, to go into business as a freelance photographer. It’s actually just the opposite; you don’t need a studio at all!
What you will need, is a camera, a couple of strobe lights, lights stands, and a black-and-white darkroom setup. From there, it’s just as easy for you to go to your customers as it is for them to go to a studio.

How much money you make will depend on the amount of time you want to devote to your business. The beauty of being a freelance photographer is that you can create your own markets, and establish your own rates. If you go into freelancing with the intent to earn extra money working on weekends, you should be able to earn $1,000-$2,000 per weekend if you did nothing but shoot weddings followed with package deals. If you decide to go into business on a full-time basis, then you could earn up to $50,000 and more depending on your specialty. It really boils down to one important thing; you must have the ability to use the equipment you have to produce a good photograph. People are willing to pay top dollar if you produce quality results. They don’t like paying for poor work that isn’t pleasing or effective.