Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Oh, no... the Olive Garden of photography.


If there is one thing I enjoy more than photography, it's photographers. Regardless of their level of experience, different styles or photographic POV; they share an excitement and passion in what they do.

This morning I ran across an article in the on-line version of the Bend Bulletin.Franchising family photos. Bend couple is expanding on their boutique portraiture business“ I thought, “cool, a couple of young photographers have dialed-in the process and now they want to offer a franchise”.

Reading farther I realized neither of the owners were photographers . She has experience in marketing. He was a “paper planner” at the Bulletin. OK, well, maybe they are talented hobbyists that made the jump to Pro.

Nope. He is quoted in the article, “We’re not photographers or passionate about photography, but we are passionate about a family-run business”. That's a shocking statement. Suppose a restaurant owner is being interviewed and he states he has no interest in food or wine but always wanted to be a Restaurateur. That tells me the table will look pretty but what about the food?

I'm scrambling here, trying to find a silver lining, Let's try this: Good photographers are notoriously bad business people. Perhaps this couple are great on the business end and they looked long and hard for a good photographer to partner and leverage their strengths. This could work.

Nope, again. Reading the Franchise FAQ. the couple addresses the silly concern franchisees may have about studio experience. And I quote:
But, I'm not a photographer...
Not to worry, neither is our founder! Remember that with a franchise, you are buying a system. And, our model works quite well for business people with strong marketing, networking and/or sales skills. We'll teach you how to hire, train, and manage photographers (believe it or not, that's the easiest position in the studio to fill)
.”

That's scary, but in a pinch you could hire part timers that have experience at the DMV...those folks take hundreds of portraits a day and you have the benefit of their advanced people skills. Filling the photographer position will be a piece of cake.

So if you don't have a passion for photography, but you do want to be in the business, here is your opportunity to be the Olive Garden of Studio Photography. Best of luck. No... really.

The article is here.

The franchise FAQ is here.


1 comment:

Tambi Lane said...

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