BUSINESS AS USUAL... OR IS IT?
At first I had the preconceived mentality that when one has a business he automatically assumes the position of being in business or better yet the role of an entrepreneur. This, now upon reflection, is clear as to why I have always thought I have a business yet bears no fruits, reason was simple really… in order to be in business you have to do business and most importantly stay in business. Doing business means going out showing yourself to the public in order to get people to set appointments to source my set of skills in the photographic arena and in turn pay for the products, i.e photographs.
How I have acquired my jobs thus far has been by word of mouth, a tool which proved over the years to be powerful. In April of 2015 when I took on a five (5) day graduation photographs with a photo/video company contracted by Vaal University of Technology I was met with a predicament of epic proportions – I could not voice out my desired poses to the graduates along with their families, as a result they were as baffled on poses. The second day saw me develop a keen sense of people skills, essential in all spheres of business especially that my field involves people skills. This was my first time engaging practically with one of the core course subject Professional Practice 2. By the week’s end my employer, Mr S Douwenga (who also gave the training), commented on my growth in the aspect.
With all the confidence bagged from the shoot I started taking in more jobs. Doing business also incorporates the mentality of an entrepreneur this means generating money however way possible – as long as it is legal. Recently I signed a contract with a professional model who has opened a modelling agency as his photographer. The contract was drawn up by both of us. I heeded the advice of Mr T Mathee. As stressed by my lecturer that written contracts are better than verbal contracts during weekly, theoretically engaging our class discussions.
One mistake an aspiring photographer must never make is submit their work without selection process having been done. This leaves you exposed to damaging reputation for it is said you are as good as your work. Even when the customer/client requires the images straight from camera you must always select what you give them – not everything. The words of my other lecturer Jakob Doman rang in my head when I received feedback from a fellow student whom I filled for, Mr Doman once said the few bad images overshadow the beauty of many. In business of photography it is vital that I maintain a clean record because my reputation is what my generating of money depends on.
Staying in the photography business entails adapting to new opportunities, “...sooner or later, some assumption you have about what’s critical to your company will turn out to be no longer true” (Johnson:2015), being able to do events, portraits and still life, also going as far as designing logos – an aspect I am practising at the moment with the logo design job pending . When I am on the field I always have to professional. Remember: professionalism goes hand-in-hand with reputation.