What’s your policy on payment? Do you have your clients pay in full at the time in order or a partial payment? With minimum and smaller orders, we suggest payment in in full now. With larger orders, we will ask for at least 50% down. When a client asks, “How would you like me to pay?” I respond, “Whatever you feel comfortable with. Half down or if you want to just take care of it today that would be great too!”
on Wednesday. This type of turnaround will definitely keep the momentum going and the cash flow flowing. Look on the Horizon We are constantly looking on the horizon to see when the next session is, next viewing and when the next order will be arriving. We think of it as a pipeline. We want there to always be cash in the pipeline and flowing continuously. Imagine when I had 6 employees, you can’t just tell them no pay check because of a slow week! You need to treat yourself in the same way, always be booking the next gig… Stay focused What can I do today, or at this very moment to create cash flow? This is what we try and do each and every morning when we come into the studio. Stay focused on the immediate tasks needed to put money in the bank today. It might mean returning a call, following up on a lead or delivering portraits to a client that’s been MIA and nowhere to be found. I know as an artist and photographer this doesn’t sound very sexy but it’s one of those things that we all need to do to run a successful studio in today’s economy. Put down your camera, close down Photoshop for a moment, and focus on what will create consistent cash flow today, and every day.
75% of our clients when I posed this question to will do the latter. It’s all in the way that you ask. Keep the Momentum Going! Try to fill in your gaps of time. Once you’ve done a session, be persistent and book your viewing appointment. Once your client has made their order, try to get it processed as soon as possible. The three or four weeks it used to take to complete an order can now be three or four days with many of the color labs. We have used H&H Color Lab near Kansas City, Missouri for close to 20 years now, and their amazing. We can literally place an order on Monday and have it back
The take away. As you know, many established studios have been dropping like flies over the past few years. It used to be much easier to get the phone to ring and make a substantial living in professional photography. Unfortunately, those days have changed with the new economy, the digital revolution, and with the public’s changed perception of what photography really is. There used to be a huge gap between a professional with a medium format and a hobbyist with the 35mm. That huge gap, is nothing more than a tiny sliver. The playing field has definitely been leveled. Now more than ever as true professionals, we need to be not only be photographic artists but business people that understand the need for consistent cash flow. It’s all about cash flow, and sometimes cash flow sucks.
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