The good news is that it is a simple fix.
I’ll explain how later, but first, let me show you why this is…
I saw the results of a survey of photographers recently and the results make a lot of sense and are no surprise as they are in line with all the data I have seen on the industry and business over the last 10 years.
Just because this survey was of photographers, don’t dismiss this, the principles apply to all kinds of business.
As always, it’s the principles that count.
The respondents were a more or less even mix across genres – again this makes sense as a business is a business whatever genre you photograph or whatever kind of business you are in.
Only 9% of those who responded had a turnover of more than £60,000 with just 4% with a turnover of over £83,000.
The vast majority in the survey were working part-time and basically not making any money after costs for equipment etc.
There is a really big clue as to why a few people are successful, and the majority are not.
Those with the highest business turnover, the most successful, tended to have come from Marketing, Management and Finance backgrounds.
This would indicate that they think and run their businesses very differently to the majority who are earning much less.
Their previous jobs had taught them to think about their businesses very differently and had given them a grounding in the underlying principles of business.
This is not a surprise as it is something that the majority of training and workshops for photographers miss out completely.
It is why I frequently talk about thinking like a business owner and knowing and understanding the foundational principles of business.
Interesting food for thought…
What do you think?