Going Pro - Seeking Guidance
Monday, January 11, 2010 at 8:57PM 4 Comments One of my resolutions for the coming year was "Going Pro". At the time, I didn't really state what that meant. I wanted to explain that in another post. Going Pro is my way of saying that I want to "go pro" with my hobby. Make it legit.
Just before Christmas I sent a modified version of this image out to some friends and bike industry contacts. Minutes after I sent this image out, one of the folks responded and asked if they could buy this image. I gotta say it was a nice way to start the holiday and a nice way to get me fired up to pursue my hobby in a new way. However, I couldn't really sell it YET as I don't have things set up yet.
So...Going Pro is setting up my own small hobby business around photography. I have a vision for building this part of my hobby. I am not looking to make it my career. Rather, I am looking to make enough money to pay for my equipment, hardware and software.
My first step is to set up my own business. Anyone like to offer up advice on what type of business to set up? I've done some research on an LLC and S-corp. Any other options, recommendations or ideas?
Additionally, I plan to use this part of my Gnat Likes site to share what I have learned and some of the challenges and obstacles to overcome for those other photographers out there like me.
So...If you have any advice, comments or recommendations, please let me know either in comments or with a submission form found on my About Gnat page. Any and all advice is appreciated.
Reader Comments (4)
Take a look at the Nolo web page and books for general info, http://www.nolo.com/index.html . I have had good luck with them in the past, the format and layout suits the way I think more than some of the for dummies books and such.
Example search:
http://www.nolo.com/nolo/search.html?searchBox=photography+hobby+business
I am kind of running down a similar path at the moment, and will share what I find. I know it is easier than you think. I have had friends that did it in the past basing all sales off of a couple of coffee house showings per year.
Thanks Rob. I will look into it and I will share here as well.
Hey Jason!
I had my photography business set up as an LLC. It was cheaper, easier to set up and gave me protection like an S-corp would. I took the advice of my accountant at the time and it seemed to work out good. Now what to do with the Adventure Monkey?
Thanks Eric. Good to know.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. Still haven't talked with our acct.