Digital studio What equipment do i need to start a digital photography studio?
A business can be summed up as follows: Market (who are you selling to or in other words, who wants to buy what you want to sell - irrespective of this being a product or a service - where and for how much?) + Product / Service + Revenue Model (financials i.e. how much does it cost you to run the business (your neighborhood bar in this case) and deliver the value you intend to and how much can you charge, to how many people you can serve ==> throw this is in a simple equation on a spreadsheet). This would also give you an idea as to how much start capital you need till you start seeing breakeven...that's where you credit score kicks in and you may want to take a loan...if you have family and friends or investors, go to them...they know you better than what your credit score reflects...see if they can be convinced that their investment in your efforts are not risky and that you can guarantee a certain rate of interest payable in future.
Based on the above understanding, you can now can make a serious decision on whether: 1) you want to be IN THIS "digital photography studio" business or not; 2) it makes financial sense to be in the "digital photography studio" business; 3) it can "breakeven" and make money within a short/relevant period of time before you grow frustrated 4) if this is a full time business opportunity or a sideshow that generates decent "extra" money. 5) Why you are doing this - i.e. starting a digital "photography studio" business - makes sense or does that answer to the question "why?" need a relook? is this because you have expertise in this area, or you have money to invest etc...
That was the first stage of decision making and the most important part. Once you seriously know "Why?" you are in this, rest all is administrative and easy.
Get a relationship with a CPA to help you get a good handle on your costs then you can go and mark up the service fees for your margin.
Starting a business without any prior business or domain knowledge is not a bad thing by itself, just that the chances of failure are many.
What is your financial health and budget for renting or buying an office? Is this going to be a -strategically speaking - real estate play or service business play? What term are you looking to sign up the lease (if renting) with the landlord? Be extra careful on the lease front, business people from Sam Walton (kicked out of his first succesful variety store by landlord who did not renew the contract) to regular johnnys who have had bad locations with long leases slammed on them...This is the key expense where you would need a long term investor partner to be on your team after payroll & inventory.
Buy or lease equipment of such stuff for your business would be based on your specific financial modeling and short/long term plans.
Lease if: Low on cash 2: write the lease of as expense each month 3: you have a short term lease with your landlord
Buy if: You have cash on hand 2: you want to use depreciation on capital investment method for accounting and if this is a large amount 3; long term lease on hand through the break even time required and also if you are confident that your location is the perfect one.
The following points are useful for you to note:
Next, go to the website of your local state government, if you are in the USA, else to a legal counsel or account (CPA) to help with the basic decision making and advise on: 1. Formation of the company: name, capital structure, accounting formats/software, financial year etc. 2. Deciding on sole proprietor, partnership, S Corp, LLC or C Corp 3. Financial health required i.e. cash flow analysis, financial projections, financing needs and loans etc.
Then comes the execution part: 1. Marketing ==> advertising ==> budget and reaching out to your market/audience constantly. This is where you get a website. I know a company www.bizdevsystems.com click on eBusiness that provides great deals for new businesses / start ups with package deals including custom websites onwards, business phone and DSL Internet , credit/debit card and check processing services. 2. Sales ==> Getting big projects ==>cold calling, meetings, deal closures 3. Business Development ==> partnerships, networking, swapping warm leads with other non-competing allies outside of your business / market area for a referral fee / affiliate commission. 4. eCommerce and eBusiness: an online angle to your business, to generate revenues online as well as take your offline business online in some way or the other. This is another level of utilising the web through marketing.
Last comes in HR / Production / Operations: Looks like you are experts in this area already. Just keep these in mind: 1. to grow your company, you HAVE to hire new people, trust them (even if you are burnt multiple times...keep hiring), train them and try to get out of "you" out of the business and let it run on a systematic daily reports oriented effort...i.e most companies that are run by entrepreneurs / founders die when the founder leaves because the founder(s) was/were the company...therefore, on the operations front, put in an IT system in tandem with a Culture in place that can run the show on its own without your interference in the business decision making, revenue generation, order fulfilment and customer support. Also it is absolutely must that you get a T1 or higher internet with VoIP service for communications.
All in all, always remember that the seed you are planting already knows how large it can get, the one who plants may not be so aware of which seed he/she is planting...you have to design this business model /seed before you launch.
Good luck with your venture...nothing ventured, nothing gained...go for it...the learning would be fun after its been learnt...hindsight is 20/20...I can keep advising till the cows come home...having been there done that...for you, just do it
Sanjay Saggere 404-425-3021 sanjay@bizdevsystems.com www.bizdevsystems.com click on eBusiness
Source(s):
1. For eBusiness eSsentials go to www.bizdevsystems.com click on eBusiness or email sales@bizdevsytems.com 2. For eCommerce / offline retail merchant accounts go to www.wynpay.com or email sales@wynpay.com 3. For phone & Internet VoIP services www.ebolo.com
can anybody give some info on how components are connected to each other in a Digital Studio??? a link to an instance of a Wiring Diagram wud be useful..thanks in advance What are VTR players in this context???
I will share the best advice I'd ever been given regarding hardware types and configuration. That is, " You need to focus on YOUR application". There's no shortage of advise out there. Any PMI ( Professional music industry ) sales guy will have his two cents worth. Of course that usually aligns with a product in his warehouse. It may not be in your best interest but it in his to sell the piece of hardware. Now lets consider the advice. A heavy metal band with a 16 piece drum kit will have a different need the the rap guy scratching records. So it becomes obvious there is no one correct layout or method. Additionally, A producer that is going to have their material mastered and broadcast has a different output need then a garage band or solo artist wanting to make a demo. So as opposed to looking for a book titled " How to record music-set up and method", write your own book! I'm not saying you can't get good advise and make use of it. The key is to focus on your needs and what will work best for you. In a few years, you will have written your own book and be sharing knowledge with others. All that said. Here we go with some tech incite. There are several different methods to transmit audio between digital devices. SPDIF- LIGHT PIPE- USB - ANALOG and PCM are the most common. In most cases an analog microphone signal is sent to a preamp ( another analog device ) the preamp in turn can go direct to a recorder or to a mixer that can be either analog or digital. The product of the mixer is variable dependent on the recorder. Most recorders of today are all digital. They record onto a hard drive or a digital tape format. In most cases mutable tracks are recorded at the same or even different times. The result is a unmixed raw recording of all the instruments or voices. The recorded tracks are then sent back into the mixer. Even on the case of a digital studio this is often done with an analog balanced type signal but digital transmission can be used as well. The audio tracks are then mixed by adjusting levels, EQ and effects for the desired sound. Lastly the product of the mixer is sent to a two track recorder ( in the case of surround sound several tracks may be used in the final mix ) The signal from the mixer to the final recorder is again variable. It could be digital or analog. I have found a good formula is to mix old school and new technology. For example a good tube preamp in front of a digital recorder provides a nice rich warm source that is captured by a digital recoding. Best of both worlds!. VTR = Video tape recorder. Happy recording...
