^{photo by Vasyl Dolmatov via iStock}

Now that you’ve been running a photography business for a while, you probably see some things that you think should change to make your photography business ideas work out better. I’ll give you some photography business advice, tips for photographers who are a little beyond the beginning stages of running a photography business.

Most of the worthwhile photography business tips can be implemented without buying any new photography gear, though if you see that you would benefit from an equipment upgrade, then making a wise gear investment might be an important step. 

Separate Art From Business

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One of the most important tips for photographers running a photography business of their own is to separate the thoughts and concerns of the art and craft of photography from the business aspects of working as a photographer.

In other words, don’t let being an artist get in the way of making smart business decisions. We could be the best photographer in our area, but if we run our business poorly, it will fail. Instead of letting that happen, it’s a good idea to know how any small business should operate, regardless of what the business involves.

Basically, the same business practices that govern any other small business will also work for running a photography business. A florist, a plumber, a hotshot delivery driver, a food truck, and a lawyer all need bookkeeping, tax records, proper licenses or certifications, and a way to take in money. So does your photography business.

Cutting corners on doing things correctly as a small business will adversely affect your ability to make profit and stay in business as a professional photographer. Check out LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and SkillShare for online classes for all aspects of small business administration.

Protect Your Business

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Worst case scenarios do happen, don’t let it happen to your photography business. A few simple and inexpensive steps will help protect your business. Satisfy local regulations, get insured, and secure your images and other records.

Learning how to satisfy local regulations is just an online search away. The Small Business Administration and your local Chamber of Commerce are excellent sites to check, plus it doesn’t hurt to talk to other local photo pros.

Insurance is vitally important for running a photography business. You can insure your equipment (no, homeowners or renters won’t cover tools used for work), insure against damage and liability, and insure against losing images, being unable to complete a contract. You can get all of this insurance in one online session.

You can secure your images and other important records by using secure servers or services to create your own private cloud drive. This way, if your memory cards all get zapped or lost, you still have images securely saved as a backup. Same with financial records and other losable paperwork. 

Learn More:

• Must-Have Gear for Your Growing Photography Business
• Architectural Photography Tips
• Tips for Processing Landscape Photos

Improve Your Workflow

Few things cost more of a photographer’s profit than a poorly designed workflow. A bad workflow saps time, wastes time, that could be better used elsewhere, including having the option of taking some time off. 

This tip for running a business might involve investing in some better  photography gear, but the benefits can be substantial in the long run. This is especially true in our photo and video editing studio. One of the best upgrades I’ve made to my own photography business workflow is investing in better monitors.

I  invested in a dual monitor photo/video/audio editing configuration with ViewSonic ultra-wide curved screen large sized monitors. You don’t have to jump directly into a dual monitor setup, you can start with upgrading to one such as the ViewSonic VP3881 38-inch curved screen monitor. 

The mere fact that the screen is substantially larger is a great leap in improving your workflow. ViewSonic monitors also make things better for editing in that they have superior resolution and amazing color definition. As far as investments in photography gear is concerned, upgrading to better monitors is a great choice.

Networking - Invest Time and Effort

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Networking is so important in any small business endeavor, it can put you in line for increased business, give you options for finding other products and services you need for running a photography business.

In regards to networking, we should remember the first tip, separating business from our art. Don’t just focus on photography related networking, look at it from a whole business point of view, business holistics as it were.  

Businesses and other freelancers that we might consider for our networking could include tax accountants, bakeries, florists, architects, realtors, event coordinators, school administrators, county clerks, beauty salons, and other photographers.

Bonus Tip - Hire Out a Pro

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Sometimes, the best photography business tips aren’t involving us doing a certain aspect of the job ourselves but rather making the decision to hire out some parts of running a photography business to other business professionals.  

For instance, if we figure out that business finance and tax documentation is beyond our best efforts, it makes sense businesswise to have a pro in those fields do the work for us. 

We can even hire another professional photographer or videographer from time to time to either assist us on larger jobs or to handle a part of the job that we want help handling. Running a photography business is one of the best decisions many of us have made, use these photography business tips to improve yours.

Learn More:

• Portrait Post-Processing Tips
• The Best Upgrade I’ve Made To My Editing Studio
• 3 Common Photography Business Mistakes