The above graphic was originally posted on A Photo Editor and unfortunately represents the exact reality of my photo studio. The thing that I love to do and that you hire me to do has become secondary to myriad other aspects of my daily business and personal life. This problem is not exclusive to any single industry but seems to get frequently forgotten when creatives are involved. The 87.8% of the pie not spent "doing what we do" is entirely necessary since those are aspects of the business that support, enhance and grow the creative aspect of what we do. Businesses that ignore those pieces are not really business at all, they are hobbyists doing something fun on the side, a truth I have become well aware of.
I initially saw the above graphic on Chase Jarvis's Blog and he points to a different misconception than the graphic addresses. While the graphic speaks to the non-photographer (or client's) perception of what we are doing, Chase points to the amateur photographer as thinking this lifestyle is "all that." In fact these are two separate and distinct problems; Chase touches on the poser vs the pro, with the former not realizing the full efforts of the latter. But I get plenty of clients and friends who have no clue how many other things I must spend my time with when I'm not taking pictures.
Guy 1: Hey man, when do you work?
Guy 2: I work errday!
I have no formal photo studio training. I never assisted for anyone and never went to bidness school. I was an amateur hobbyist who moved up the ranks to poser status. It was never my intention to go pro but clients started to seek me out and I decided I should probably take this seriously. And while I did eventually concentrate on making the transition to a Pro Photographer I never gave my STUDIO the same respect. I now refer to this tidbit that accompanied the above graphic on Seth Godin's Blog:
"Part of the magic (and the risk) of the internet is that if you want to, you can use your access to tools, markets and media to go even further in the direction of the chart on the right. You can become your own booker, accountant, publicist and more. Hey, it's free! You get to keep all the money!
Of course, it also means you don't get to spend very much time at all doing what you set out to do in the first place, which is shoot pictures, or write music or coach or whatever it was.
The other thing you can do is find the guts and resources to move even more to the left. Hire other people (at huge expense) to do all those things you certainly could do on your own, so you can actually do the work you were born to do."
I knew that there was more to the business, to running a studio, than just taking pictures. I knew about all of the pieces in the pie and I eventually dedicated MYSELF toward them. But that was not the answer, that was a terrible mistake. For years now I have run a full service Photography Studio all by myself, doing everything myself, making every decision by myself (with some important input and encouragement from my wife of course ;)
Thankfully most of my clients never knew or cared how things got done, they just wanted to hire me to take pictures and that was that. On occasion I have missed a deadline but for the most part the problem with my studio is that I was completely overwhelmed. I had overcommitted and was killing myself, physically, mentally and spiritually. This is not hyperbole, I was kinda burning out.
We are restructuring. We are rethinking. We are reworking. We are a team.
Several months ago I came to realize all of the above points by all of the above post authors. I knew that I needed help running, maintaining and developing my Studio and I spent considerable time seeking it. I have since found a couple of people who have started to make a profound difference in my work experience. I have committed to spend that "huge expense" that will allow me to move from the pie on the right to the pie on the left.
I'm nowhere near finished. This is an ongoing process and I'm dedicated to building Kruter creatively forward.
If you or anyone you know are interested in joining the team please leave a comment below.
Thank you.
