How to Start a Sports Photography Business
When you love photography, it seems natural to make a business out of your hobby. Working in a field that you love can be extremely rewarding if you take the time to plan your work and business before heading out with your camera. A little groundwork in designing your sports photography business will make working and expanding far simpler in the future, so you will spend less time wrangling paperwork and more time behind the lens and on the field doing what you love.
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Instructions
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Decide what type of business you will be running since this will affect how you collect and pay taxes. There are several options, including sole proprietorship, limited-liability corporation, C corporation, and S corporation. Each of these options carries different tax and debt liability obligations, so you may need to speak to an accountant to clarify what these will mean for your business.
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Examine your equipment to see if it is up to the challenge of professional use. Sports photography is a fast-action profession where the closest seat is still alongside the field; this means that long-zoom lenses with wide apertures and camera bodies with fast shutter speeds are essential.
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Purchase backup equipment for any camera equipment you rely upon. This includes camera bodies, flashes, lenses, and accessories. Sports photography can be rough on gear because it involves outdoor settings, contact with weather and tough handling--making sure essential equipment is backed up ensures that your shoot can continue if the worst happens.
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Purchase insurance for yourself, your business and your equipment. Many venues require that you have liability insurance at a minimum; if you plan on working at certain venues such as stadiums or publicly owned fields, call ahead to discuss insurance requirements. Insurance on your equipment can help you replace equipment that is lost, stolen or damaged depending upon the policy you choose.
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Determine your hourly or basic rate. Sports photography is a competitive field, and it is tempting to undercut your competitors in order to secure work, but unless you can meet the needs of your business and still price low, your business will not survive this practice for long. Calculate your expenses--including rent, equipment, insurance, advertising and salary--to see what you will need to make in order to break even. FreelanceSwitch.com offers a rate calculator that will help you organize your figures and determine a fair hourly rate.
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Advertise. Marketing and advertising is a vast and varied process, and what works for one business may not work for another. Visualize your target demographic--your ideal client--and then find out what variety of advertising appeals to it. The answer may be anything from in-person referrals at events to Internet and web marketing. Other options include radio, television and print advertisements. You may need to experiment with your advertising methods before you find a successful combination; if you are stuck, consider hiring a professional marketing or media firm to represent your business.
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