Possibly getting laid off...thinking of going into business for myself. Any tips?

Quote from TheEdge : Has anybody here gone into business for themselves? What would you recommend as the first step?

My best advice is to start as a side-hustle and grow it from there. Unfortunately that might not be the case for you. The things you mentioned (other than TV shows) have fairly low startup-costs. A website won't typically turn into an overnight success. Start building a few now and see what happens.

Find a replacement job, either at your current company or a new one. Work on the side while at the new job, since most of what you describe could be done in off-time or scheduled.

It's going to be tough starting out. And while you may be afloat until June, it could take much longer than that before you make a livable wage. If you augment a full time job with side work, then you can get a feel for it without taking a huge risk.

Whats the competition like in your area for such a venture? What do they charge? How busy are they? Etc.


As for websites and iPhone apps, I assume you are doing them yourself, again a side-work kind of thing. If you're hiring someone to do them for you, keep in mind the cost for them to be developed. Also look at similar sites / apps. Unless you get a LOT of users, you aren't going to make a livable wage very quickly.

A lot of people want to work for themselves, unfortunately most businesses fail because of poor management. IE, poor implementation, saturated market, too small of a market, high startup costs with long term ROI that isn't affordable, etc. If you're emotionally involved in a business, you will make poor decisions.

Edit:
Also, Can you live off of just your wife's income if you cut back, and without dipping into savings? Can you continue to contribute to retirement off one income if you cut back?

What kind of hit would your career take if you stepped out for 2 years right now? IE, are you in a fast-growth period, or can you afford to step away for a couple years and return if needed?

If your career can take the hiatus, and your wife makes enough to live off of without touching savings, then go for it, you don't have a lot to lose.

If it's a financial hardship, then you need to work at least part time so it isn't. If your in a growth phase then you should keep working until you are at a good point to put your career on pause, should things not work out.

Video/editing for weddings are tough. People choose to pay for photography before videography. I have 2-3 friends in this field. Most do it part time in addition to their day job. One does it full time; however, he does not support a family.

As a videographer, be willing to accept photography jobs. Also i hear to set your prices high. People who low ball you will probably make you hate going into business on your own. Weddings vendors rely highly on recommendations. If someone hears that they booked you for 2000$, they will expect all their friends to pay 2000$. If you feel your work is worth 3000$ start there. Set the bar high. Your work will speak for itself and people will feel the value of 3000$.

You also need to build a portfolio. Start shooting birthday parties, engagement shoots, etc etc. anything that allows you to collect footage. Shoot at all parties occasions etc. spread the word, share your work. Hopefully someone will want to pick you up to do their wedding.

Photography/videography is not just about shooting and editing. Its about business relations. How well you understand the couple, the guest, the host. Talk to them, be warm, dont be arrogant.

Quote from Serus : Also, Can you live off of just your wife's income if you cut back, and without dipping into savings? Can you continue to contribute to retirement off one income if you cut back?

If we took our daughter out of daycare, we could manage with little to no dipping into our savings. However, my wife wants to keep her in daycare...at least for the six months that I'm getting paid severance. If I'm still jobless at that point, we'll have to re-evaluate. Even if I took care of her, the ~$1000/month we would save would just be a fraction of what I'd be out due to no income.

Quote from Serus : What kind of hit would your career take if you stepped out for 2 years right now? IE, are you in a fast-growth period, or can you afford to step away for a couple years and return if needed?

I felt like I was on the verge of a promotion, but...as I've held my current position for eight years, I would think that I could "step away" and still return to my "career" should I desire to two years from now.

Quote from jaqnabox : Video/editing for weddings are tough. People choose to pay for photography before videography. I have 2-3 friends in this field. Most do it part time in addition to their day job. One does it full time; however, he does not support a family. As a videographer, be willing to accept photography jobs. Also i hear to set your prices high. People who low ball you will probably make you hate going into business on your own. Weddings vendors rely highly on recommendations. If someone hears that they booked you for 2000$, they will expect all their friends to pay 2000$. If you feel your work is worth 3000$ start there. Set the bar high. Your work will speak for itself and people will feel the value of 3000$. You also need to build a portfolio. Start shooting birthday parties, engagement shoots, etc etc. anything that allows you to collect footage. Shoot at all parties occasions etc. spread the word, share your work. Hopefully someone will want to pick you up to do their wedding. Photography/videography is not just about shooting and editing. Its about business relations. How well you understand the couple, the guest, the host. Talk to them, be warm, dont be arrogant.

Thanks for the tip(s). $2000 sounds a bit higher than where I planned to start -- especially since I figured a lower initial fee would welcome more clients and help me to establish a bigger/broader portfolio.

I have shot a few weddings -- including one with a professional quality TV camera. Authored a DVD with menu(s), etc. It was a few years ago, but I have at least one sample of work. It was for a friend, but I always told myself that if "crap hit the fan", I could do this as a side business (or full-time business) to supplement my income (or become my income). I have some additional skills that I'm guessing many other videographers don't and some additional "tweaks" that others might not implement. I think I could really stand apart once I established myself.

When my wife and I were married in 2004, we were able to get VERY basic videography for $300 to $400. He shot our wedding and reception and gave us the mini DV tapes. I edited them myself and created DVDs. I have basic photography skills but wouldn't feel comfortable just yet having that be one of my "packages" for clients. I would think that if it's cheap enough (i.e. $1000 -- trust me, I'd make the package worth it), they could have the best of both worlds -- the photographer of their choice PLUS video coverage of their big day -- as handled by yours truly. Once I've established a strong network, I foresee it running around $1250 - $1500 (depending on what they wanted in their package).

There is one other thing I've pondered doing for weddings to include in a package (as an upsell). I highly doubt anybody in the country is doing it -- however, I'm still debating if the demand for the product would justify the investment for it.

I think your best shot would be videography for the short term. When we looked into getting a videographer a couple years ago, we found that many were still shooting in SD, with DVDs as the only option of getting the video. We found a couple that were HD but one charged a huge fee for Blu-rays while the other was younger and more reasonably priced. We ended up going with him and he did a great job. I think many other couples out there are looking for HD quality like us, and if you make that a selling point, you could steal some potential clients away from the existing videographers in your region.

If you truly have talent in shooting and editing video, then with the right equipment, and a couple smart marketing decisions, you could probably start hitting 10 or 15 weddings next year and then grow from there. The key would be finding something to do outside of wedding season.

Bwahahaha, check this out when this thread tops the forum . . .

http://slickdeals.net/forums/foru...ay.php?f=6

Most videographers in the southern california region use a Digital SLR to capture HD video. HD is almost a must.

Its been a recent trend to make the video almost like a music video. They are actually pretty awesome. 3-4 staff members and maybe even someone ready to edit day of footage right before the reception.

Quote from travathian : Bwahahaha, check this out when this thread tops the forum . . . http://slickdeals.net/forums/foru...ay.php?f=6

muahahahhaa

Quote from godfather927 : I think your best shot would be videography for the short term. When we looked into getting a videographer a couple years ago, we found that many were still shooting in SD, with DVDs as the only option of getting the video. We found a couple that were HD but one charged a huge fee for Blu-rays while the other was younger and more reasonably priced. We ended up going with him and he did a great job. I think many other couples out there are looking for HD quality like us, and if you make that a selling point, you could steal some potential clients away from the existing videographers in your region. If you truly have talent in shooting and editing video, then with the right equipment, and a couple smart marketing decisions, you could probably start hitting 10 or 15 weddings next year and then grow from there. The key would be finding something to do outside of wedding season.

That is one of the things that I feel that I could offer that few others could -- HD-sourced video with the final product delivered via Blu-Ray.

If you don't mind me asking, what price range did you end up paying? If you're not comfortable sharing with the public, a private message would still give me an idea of what price range is tempting for some people.

Thanks.

Quote from travathian : Bwahahaha, check this out when this thread tops the forum . . . http://slickdeals.net/forums/foru...ay.php?f=6

Perhaps I should edit the title to say "PROBABLY"...

Quote from TheEdge : That is one of the things that I feel that I could offer that few others could -- HD-sourced video with the final product delivered via Blu-Ray. If you don't mind me asking, what price range did you end up paying? If you're not comfortable sharing with the public, a private message would still give me an idea of what price range is tempting for some people. Thanks. Perhaps I should edit the title to say "PROBABLY"...

I think it was around $1200 or so for our videographer.

Quote from travathian : Bwahahaha, check this out when this thread tops the forum . . . http://slickdeals.net/forums/foru...ay.php?f=6

Quote from TheEdge : IHowever, my wife wants to keep her in daycare...at least for the six months that I'm getting paid severance.

Umm, that's a poor real bad idea financially to keep her in daycare if you are not working. Why should we try to help you if you can't even do the obvious.

Quote from zzyzzx : Umm, that's a poor real bad idea financially to keep her in daycare if you are not working. Why should we try to help you if you can't even do the obvious.

Actually, it's not so obvious. Just because I might not be holding down a paying job doesn't mean I wouldn't be working -- or working towards securing my career.

There are a lot of things I could be doing that wouldn't allow me to watch my daughter.

1) Job hunting.
2) Interviewing.
3) Working for free at the company I currently work for. Why, you ask? I can't get paid or it would negate my severance. I'd get experience that would hopefully lead to a full-time position eventually and if nothing else, it'd be experience I could put on my resume to help land a job somewhere else -- or with the company later down the road.
4) Taking steps to start a business for myself. I might not be pulling in a paycheck -- and might actually be making investments in equipment, etc. -- but you can't work towards starting a business if you're tending to a toddler all day.

Beyond these, my wife strongly believes that her having the social interaction and educational experience from her daycare/school would be very beneficial.

Does that help clear things up?

As a long-time, dyed-in-the-wool entrepreneur I applaud your consideration of becoming one yourself. It takes courage to make that step and I admire you're considering making that step.

First and foremost, have you written a business plan? A business plan will show you many things you didn't and couldn't know before you wrote the plan as well as help you gain much better advice from others.

Second, go see a counselor at SCORE [score.org]. You can get free advice from fellow and former entrepreneurs who volunteer their time to help others who want to become entrepreneurs such as yourself. They can help you develop a business plan as well as review it and strengthen it once its written. You can gain some very valuable information from them.

Third, now - in a down economy - is the very best time to start a business because everything you need to start it costs less.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires a completely different mindset than that of an employee. There are many potential pitfalls, much more responsibility, much more risk . . . but, all of that is balanced with the potential for much more reward.

Any questions in particular?