There is an AMAZING office/studio that just became available and I have had my 'eye' on it for a long time. I think it will go fast, so I have to make a decision fast (urghhh. hate that!) but it's a 1000 sq ft home turned into an office. It is insanly ideal... great location, great condition inside & out, the grounds are great, there is a room large enough to have a studio in it, along with other rooms to have (whatever). There are huge trees in the backyard, a cute 'picket' fence, a treehouse even... and a cute play house (which I think would be cute to take some childrens pictures in). But I just would like some feedback about studios/office spaces in general. Help me try to make a decision. Ahhhh!

I have always just worked out of my home. I have never taken photos IN my home (always on location or at the client's home) nor have I had them meet me in my home... but I always meet clients somewhere else - like Barnes & Nobles or a local coffee shop, etc. It has worked fine... but I feel like I can't 'progress' in my business or get to the 'next level' this way. I feel like I will stay 'like this' for the rest of my life in this situation. AND I personally would probably not just buy/rent a small office space only to 'meet' people. If that's the case, meeting people where I do works fine. However, this place would not only be a super cute place to meet people, but also I can have a studio as well as cute grounds to take pix.

so since I am debating getting a studio/office space, I have a few questions...

* One main question I have right now... Do you seem to loose a lot more money (being that you have a lot more 'overhead'... including rent, etc) that it seems like you're 'bringing home' about the same amount as if you were working from home, but doing more work? (Does
that make sense? For example... this is all hypathetical of course... but say working from home you bring home $2000 a month, but no office, no overhead, etc. Having a studio you make $5000 in a month, but you spend $3000 in 'expenses' due to the office/studio.. therefore bringing home the same, $2000/mo. Does that make sense?)

* I am curious what everyone is paying for their studio &/or office space, what is the square footage, and what does that include (for example... utilities, etc).

* Also, those of you who DO have a studio... do you think it was a good idea/investment or not? Are you glad you have one or is it more of a hassle than a blessing?

* Those of you who do NOT have a studio... is that totally working for you, or do you wish you could get into a studio/office space?

Any and all comments on this subject would be SO greatly appreciated!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Have a fantastic weekend!



kate jeppson

k:
am really just thinking aloud here...
took at peek at your question and wanted to wish you the best of luck in making this tough decision

my random thought: since your main reservation seems to be the $ overhead, is it worth contemplating whether renting the space might be a joint venture? -- meaning, can the space be shared -- not even necessarily with another photographer, but another creative self-employed/self-motivated type soul who is also currently working mostly out of their home but contemplating "the next step?" ~ will be checking in; can't wait to read more about your journey + decision....

good luck!

well........... I love my studio space.....I share it with another photographer
we pay $225 each a month...it's great...I meet all my clients there and we
have 2 big windows with big pictures in them......

Our PG&E is only $13 a month...
low overhead so it's worth it for us...just the pictures in the window alone are worth it,
the advertising we get on that busy street from our pictures is great....the photographer that I share the space with has a maternity image of a nude man and woman in the window....people actually stop their car in front of our studio, get out and just look at the image.... you can see the image here, it's half way down the page under Oct 16...it's the first image

Kirsten and Roman Maternity Image


Denise

That sounds just about ideal.

If you put that same maternity image in a window here it would be on the news, and you would have public outcry. People would complain about how they would be afraid that a child would see it or something.

This actually did happen here probably about 5 or 6 years ago. Someone put up a nude painting in a window downtown, and people freaked! I ain't lying!

DOH! I did forget to mention... my sister-in-law decided she wants to start photography as well (she's photographed one wedding - a month ago) ... therefore, we would be doing this together - going into business together (another topic, I'm sure!)? but as for 'another photographer sharing space with me' - no, just the 2 of us.what is the square footage of your studio/office space?thanks!kate

Hey Kate:

I wouldn't try to convince yourself that you are going to be more profitable, work harder, and make more money just because you have a studio. Been there, tried that.

We do have a studio space, but it a single room in a building that sounds similar to what you have described. We share with another tennant currently, and there have been as many as 4 tennats total. We were able to decorate the entire building with our work though, so it ended up being a perfect situation. We do a few shoots there (maternity, etc.), but mostly we still use natural light & work on location.

While having a studio might not make you proftiable, it does make you credible. I look back on the first two years of our business & I honestly wonder how we convinced people to hire us when we were meeting them in a coffee shop or at a Books A Million. I wouldn't spend $4000 on a lawyer that needed to meet me in a coffee shop because he had no office...I expect full service.

So having a studio is a great investment for a lot of reasons...but it is just overhead. if you can afford it, do it. But I wouldn't enter a situation unless you can afford it when money is tight, bookings are down, and cash flow is limited. Those are the months to think about.

~ Charles

Check out this thread, people have pictures of their office/studio spaces
Studio

I moved out of a rented studio and built a small studio office at home about 5 years ago, so I can tell you about the process in reverse. There are a lot of differences both good and bad.
You are right to some extent about working harder to make the same profit, our income initially dropped but our profit did not change. I think that working from the rented office took up more of my time - I would arrive well before an appointment in case people were early (and then have them run late), now I only have to walk downstairs. I eat a healthier diet without junk food across the road from me.
On the other hand, some people do see a proper office as more professional and you can more easily separate your business and personal life, I occasionally spend too much time in the office because it is just downstairs.

I agree with Charles 100% in the issue of credibility. I know for sure some couples I met in the past didn't hire me because I was 'cheap' and they ended up hiring photographers that would charge 3-4 time more than me. Their quality of work wasn't very different, just the perception.

Just came by from checking out my new place for the first time since the tenants left yesterday. It's a small space in Old Town Pasadena, CA to meet with couples. Photos and experience soon.

It sounds like there is property outside the building that you'll have to keep up...lawn, weeds, etc. Maybe I'm lazy, but I'd look for a place that would have minimal maintenance. Regardless, in the question of having one vs. not, I'd definitely choose having one. Not only is it more credible, but planning meetings is SO much easier...they're always in the same place and you'll already be present when they occur. I used to meet in different coffee shops all the time and the driving and planning got tiresome...dragging samples to my car...ugh. What I'm saying is you'll discover a lot of efficiencies you may not have even realized. Those should pay back enough to allow for more work, which ought to minimize the impact of paying additional overhead.

Congratulations Rodolfo! Do share some shots when you get a moment!

~ Charles

We worked for the first 2 years out of our home, meeting clients in our home office and at coffee shops. Then we decided that a store-front would be more credible and a spot that we had been looking at for awhile opened up 5 blocks from our house. (Not a great area of town, but not bad either. Very blue-collar. Right on the main road in town and just down the hill from the local high school. Good location, cheap price) We jumped on it. Our rent was $800/month (for over 2000 sq ft.) and our utilities ran about $700 per month. We were right next door to the local diner and so there was foot traffic by our place a lot. We signed a 1 year lease at first to just test it out and then thing were going well so we signed a 3 year lease after that in order to lock in our low rent.

Sadly, just 10 months after we signed the 3 year lease, the diner closed up and our foot traffic completely died! We struggled for the next 2 years trying to pay the overhead with no portrait traffic walking in the door. We were still doing very well with weddings, but we really didn't need a studio location to do weddings. Also in that time, we were broken in to twice by a punk that lived in the apartments upstairs from our office. Luckily, he was too stupid to realize what all we had in our offices and only stole a $600 projector.

We just moved back into our home office a month ago, and I am so much happier here. It is more work on our part now as we are doing consultations on location again and we store our studio equipment in a storage unit so that when we have a shoot, we just pick it up and take it with us. But that will get better as the weather improves and we can start shooting outdoors again.

Here are the things that I think need to be taken into consideration with this decision.

Is it a good location?
Will it bring in more business than you currently have?
Will the business that it brings in be enough to cover your overhead?
Is there a need to move the business out of your house? (ie. need more space at home, can't focus working at home, etc.)
Will this make your life simpler or more complicated?
For overhead, take into consideration that you will have rent, utilities, property maintenance, phone and internet. (And a little known fact is that your phone and internet will cost double what it does at home because it is a "business" and not residential...even though it is exactly the same thing.)
Do you look forward to leaving your home everyday to go to the office? Or are you going to miss having the "home" comforts close by? (ie. a kitchen! LOL)

I think that these are valid things to consider. My personal opinion (having 4 years of studio leasing and 2 years of working from home behind me) is that an office makes you credible in your OWN mind. It adds a certain validity to what you are doing and gives you the feeling of "I am a true professional" because I have an office. I found that it made very little difference to my clients. (And I did an e-mail survey before we closed our studio to see how they felt about it.)

Many of my clients are happier that I come to them. They don't have to drive 30 minutes to my office after work to meet with me, I just come to them and bring my work and they get to stay in the comfort of their homes. They see it as added customer service that I am willing to come to them. All of them thank me many times for coming out and my closing ratio has never been higher. When a client invites you into their home, they are allowing you access to their private lives. You are now on more of a friend level than a business level. I have closed about 70% of the consultations that I have had in the past 2 months since I have been meeting clients in their homes or coffee shops again and my average package is about $500 higher than it was in the past.

I bring my credibility to the table. I am confident in my work and in myself and therefore, they are confident in me as well. I am very easy going and I make friends with my clients. I don't need an office to prove that I am good at what I do. They liked me enough to take an hour to meet with me, usually from just seeing my website and they usually like my work enough and my personality enough to hire me regardless of where I do business.

I am very upfront with my clients and I explain to them that I work from home. I tell them that I had a commercial location, but just didn't see the need to spend the money on it every month and I am enjoying more time with my family working at home. They are very understanding of this and I have had many clients think very highly of the fact that I turn off my phones at 5pm and spend time with my family. My voicemail handles all calls after 5pm and all weekend long. If they have an event, they have my cell phone in case they need me for an emergency after hours, but for the most part, they know that this is my family time.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I just want you to understand that the credibility that you gain from an office is most self-perceived. Some people might find you more professional with an office, but the people you truly want to work with will find the professionalism lies in you, not your space!

Good luck with your decision!
Steph

PS: I am not against a studio location. If I found the right one down the line, I might consider doing it again. But at this point in my career and my life with 2 small boys, it just doesn't work for me.

Thank you everyone for your advice! (But still keep it comin )

I have a home office, where I meet clients - this is the 2nd step for me since before i would go to their place, or at a coffee shop etc. I still got work as I was going about before, but I always felt like I would be more credible if they could meet me at a set place, therefore having images on the wall etc, I seem more serious.

So I have my home office, it has a couch/chairs, and Im building it up. It works well since my layout is great for this, and Im fairly central in the metro area.

However, Ive always wanted an external office/studio - similar to how you described actually - somewhere that has the possibility for taking photos out the back or nearby locations, a few extra rooms to spread out, use as a studio, meeting room, work rooms etc. The reason I want this is so I can shut the door at night, and leave it there - and not be working at home late at night missing out on time with hubby etc cos Im working (whether or not that will work is yet to be seen ).

Also, its so I dont have people coming to my home - Ive heard lots of stories of clients rocking up unannounced, on weekends etc, and I know they ring me on weekends/late etc so having something external will be great for that also.

BUT - the next step from my home office, will probably be an external meeting room. Nothing big, just a place I can meet clients for initial meetings, pick up prints, proofs/albums etc. I would probably keep my computer/gear at home still, but it would be enough so i can get a little bit out of my home, but not worry too much about large overheads, bills, insurance for gear etc, and see how I go - then if THAT works out well for me, I will consider the big place idea.

Thats just how I intend on going about it... I suppose I tend to be a little more cautious about leasing etc than others might, but its another view for you

Well said, Steph. I don't know for a fact if this is universally true or not but I sure hope that it is. I've been thinking about taking the plunge on a studio and have yet to be convinced that the additional overhead would be worth it (although Denise's situation does seem to be ideal to me as well ).