Unique idea in this area

fredjclaus · March 11, 2010

I have an idea that has been running through my head and I wanted to see if anyone else has tried it or seen it done before.

The local hotel in my area has a couple office locations next to the lobby available, and I was thinking about talking to them about renting one. These were not former hotel rooms that have been turned into office, they are former sales offices, with all glass walls in the front. My niche idea was to set up a portrait studio on the first floor of the hotel. This way, we could draw people in from the town to have portraits done, and we could have then printed and picked up at the studio. For the hotel guests however we could take the portraits and post them on our SmugMug site. When the guest gets home they can view the session online and order what they want.

I haven't worked out all the logistics yet, but what do you think? Is it worth following through on?

Snowgirl · March 12, 2010

That is a unique idea. How's the lighting there?

Is your concept to allow people passing by the glass walls to observe portrait sessions? That might make your clients a bit nervous being on display.

BUT, if the idea is to have a more private space to shoot in and display prints by the front window - not a bad idea at all.

denisegoldberg · March 12, 2010

I would be concerned about starting something like this without a very good sense of a break even point from a monetary standpoint. Writing a business plan would be important here.

How many photos would you need to sell each month to pay for the space + make a profit?
What type of fee would you charge in order to take the photos in the first place?
Do you have references you can provide to potential customers?
Do you have example photos you might hang on the walls?

--- Denise

Sam · March 12, 2010

My initial thought was, not a bad idea. Worth a try.

Then on second thought..................some show stoppers for me: Who / how are you going to man the studio 6 to 10 hours 5/7 days a week? What happens when you have a photo shoot at an other location? Are you going to move all your camera gear, lighting gear, computers, office furniture, etc. into this space? One man (person

) operations are very difficult and all encompassing.

These are just a few things that popped into my head. I think it might be more of a commitment for time, effort and money than initialy meets the eye.

Sam

Mountainwoman · March 12, 2010

In addition to the other thoughts, you will have to check out insurance.

Karen

Snowgirl · March 13, 2010

Excellent points, Glort. I think there are many potential opportunities here - unless Fred is just planning to use it as a studio location - same as any other.

Unique idea in this area

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