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Choose Your Business Structure

Lesson 9 from: Launch a Successful Photography Business

Philip Ebiner, Will Carnahan

Choose Your Business Structure

Lesson 9 from: Launch a Successful Photography Business

Philip Ebiner, Will Carnahan

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Lesson Info

9. Choose Your Business Structure

Lessons

Class Trailer

Chapter 1: Introduction to Starting a Photography Business

1

Welcome

02:26
2

Why Do You Want to Start a Photography Business

04:40
3

What Kind of Photography Business Do You Want to Start

05:38
4

Important Personal Note from Instructor Will

02:25
5

Case Study Starting a Photography Business

07:43
6

Quiz - Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Basics of Starting a Photography Business

7

Introduction to Basics of Starting a Photography Business

00:52
8

Choose Your Business Name

05:29
9

Choose Your Business Structure

06:12
10

Register Your Business Name

01:47
11

Get Your Federal Tax ID

01:39
12

Get Your Business License

01:16
13

Get Your Business Bank Account

02:16
14

Register Your Online Accounts

02:17
15

Branding Your Business

02:18
16

Set Your Prices

12:56
17

The Photography Gear You Need to Start a Business

03:42
18

Case Study - Business Basics

24:42
19

Case Study - Equipment

10:05
20

Quiz - Chapter 2

Chapter 3: Get Your First Paying Clients

21

Intro to Getting Your First Paying Clients

00:44
22

You Need to Prove Yourself

01:30
23

The Best Place to Find Your First Clients

02:36
24

What to Charge for Your First Clients

02:44
25

On Set - Partnering with Other Creatives

01:57
26

On Set - Getting Work in a Competitive Environment

02:38
27

Use Your First Shoot Wisely

01:20
28

Case Study - Getting Your First Clients

07:55
29

Quiz - Chapter 3

Chapter 4: Create Your Photography Business Website

30

Introduction to Create Your Photography Business Website

01:05
31

Why You Need a Website and Platform Options

04:30
32

What Needs to Be On Your Website

07:32
33

Design the Perfect Portfolio

03:17
34

Case Study - Looking at Photography Websites

12:56
35

Quiz - Chapter 4

Chapter 5: Expanding Your Online Presence

36

Introduction to Expanding Your Online Presence

00:55
37

Use Instagram to Grow Your Business

02:29
38

Use Facebook to Grow Your Business

01:21
39

Get Listed on Google

03:53
40

Get Listed on Yelp

03:20
41

Get Listed on Review Sites

04:06
42

Using Craigslist to Get Work

03:01
43

Case Study - Expanding Your Online Presence

13:16
44

Quiz - Chapter 5

Chapter 6: The Photography Business Workflow

45

Introduction to the Photography Business Workflow

00:54
46

Step 1 - Meeting Your Client

03:32
47

Step 2 - Booking Your Client

05:53
48

Step 3 - The Shoot

02:28
49

Step 4 - Editing Your Photos

06:34
50

Step 5 - Delivering Your Photos

01:05
51

Case Study - Business Workflow

15:54
52

On Set - the Shoot

02:50
53

On Set - Backdrop Placement

01:13
54

On Set - Paper Backdrop Rolls

02:01
55

On Set - The Back Light

00:46
56

On Set - Interacting with Clients

04:58
57

Quiz - Chapter 6

Chapter 7:Scaling Your Business with Better Infrastructure

58

Intro to Business Infrastructure and Continued Growth

00:46
59

Productivity Tools to Make Your More Efficient

06:21
60

Get Business Insurance

03:55
61

Accounting Tools & Tips

04:20
62

Business Tax Tips

03:38
63

Scaling Your Prices Up

02:56
64

Use Conventions and Meet Ups to Grow Your Business

04:01
65

Case Study - Business Growth

11:04
66

Quiz - Chapter 7

Chapter 8: Selling Your Prints

67

Intro to the Selling Prints Section

00:56
68

Why Should You Sell Your Prints

02:18
69

Choose a Printer

02:59
70

How to Price Your Prints

05:33
71

Selling Your Prints Online

08:06
72

Selling Your Prints in Person

02:38
73

Wrapping up This Section

01:26
74

Quiz - Chapter 8

Chapter 9: Conclusion

75

Tips for Personal and Creative Well Being

04:38
76

Conclusion

01:45

Final Quiz

77

Final Quiz

Lesson Info

Choose Your Business Structure

So let's talk about making your business official. Now this is a lot of stuff that a lot of people are interested in and we want to get you as much information and as much advice as we possibly can, everybody's situation is going to be different per your city, your state, your province, your country, your region. Um So we're gonna give you as much advice and resources as we can to help you figure out how to make your business official like business official like official business where you live. And again you are capable of starting to shoot and make money without doing any of this. But I wouldn't recommend it because this is this is something that's going to protect you legally. Um It's gonna help you with your accounting, it's going to make things very straightforward and it's going to make sure that you're doing everything right legally for your sort of region, country state or city. And I just wanted to pop in here really quickly and add that when I started my own business. I know ...

this is so confusing when you're starting out and to do it yourself can be, can be really confusing. So my best advice is to heed our advice and really find an accountant in your local area that knows the laws and knows the steps and has helped other businesses get formed because they can really help you work through this process. I found a friend who had started a business and he referred me to his accountant and it was the best decision to kind of outsource this process and get the help so that I knew um and and could trust that everything was done the right way. So just wanted to pop in here and really say it might be best to after you go through this lesson in this course to actually go out there and find an accountant who can help you. And of course that's going to be beneficial in the long run for someone who can help you with taxes and accounting and stuff like that too. Thanks Phil All right, let's get going. There's a lot of steps so we need to get going. The first step is choosing a business structure. So business structure. Now we make this course available worldwide and a lot of people are joining it. So we want to make it available to everyone, which is why we don't go into specifics about each region. So for my region, the different business structures are sole proprietorship and that means you can use your own name and it's just you a partnership, an LLC or a corporation in a sole proprietorship. You can get going right away. Now that's just you as a single person doing a business. William. Carnahan, Photography. There's not a lot you have to do to get going and you can use your own name and people can just pay you with your name without the photography on the end. Pro of a sole proprietorship is that you get going right away. Um you can use your name to really just carry you further without doing a lot of the paperwork, but the liability is there you as a sole proprietor are fully solely responsible for everything that you do as a business and entity. Which is why you would choose one of the other things for a little bit more legal protection. A partnership is a business with more than one person. Typically this is basically like to sole proprietors kind of coming together. My original wedding photography business that I started when I was 19 was a partnership and it was just two photographers. Typically, most of people that are watching this class are not going to be in a partnership. You're going to be running your own single photography business. But just so you know, now again like sole proprietorship in this case, anyone in the partnership is legally responsible for your actions. You're counting your money, your business, it's just the two of you as individuals. An LLC. Or a limited liability company is a way of creating your business as its own identity. In my region, an LLC has issued an E. I. N. Number. So it basically has its own tax I. D. Versus a personal tax id. So this is really the easiest way to start a sort of company structured business outside of sole proprietorship by starting your own entity. The LLC is now liable for pretty much everything. It's liable for its own accounting, its own responsibility. And it's a way of sort of separating you as a person from the company in case the company gets in trouble, The company will be at risk and responsibility versus you as a person. A corporation is similar to an LLC and that is a separate entity than the person you are as a sole proprietor. Um It also has some tax benefits in certain regions that you're independent on where you are. Um So it might be another step or a different step that you take from an L. C. It's a little bit more complicated to set up um And requires a little bit more work on the back end. But depending on your region, this could be a benefit for you um or you know, just being a sole proprietor or an L. C. Might be a benefit for you. Again, all this depends on where you are in the world. When it comes down to choosing your business structure, the L. L. C. And the corporation that are available to us in my region are what protect you as a business basically. They are responsible versus you if for some reason you were to get sued, the business would get sued and not yourself, so you can sort of separate that. So because of that we recommend actually starting a business structure as a business, whether that's an LLC or a corporation. Again, this is dependent on where you are and what you can start Um And what you're capable of doing in certain States and regions, LLCS and corporations may cost extra money. They may benefit you or not benefit you for taxes depending on where you are. Um So the big thing for us is the protection, the legal protection that you have is better served in a corporation or an actually official business with its own sort of I. D. And an entity. Again, I cannot recommend this enough. You need to talk to a lawyer, an accountant that's in your region and know your laws to decide what you want to get set up as another good tip is to find other photographers, sit down with them and see what they're structured as and see if you can get their advice. This is all very general advice on how what we do works for us, but it's very different for where you are.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

15 Tips: How Your Photography Business can be Adapted to Online Services
Start a Photography Business
Workbook
Worksheet

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