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A BUSINESS PLANby LORI NORDSTROM

www.PHOTOTALKFORUM.com

Write down your goals, dreams and priorities. Don’t miss this very

important first step!! It will be the foundation for your plan for success!

ACTION! Write your goals (immediate, this year, 3 years and 5 years.

Dream a little on paper):

Immediate: _____________________________________________________

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This Year: _______________________________________________________

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Three Years: _____________________________________________________

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Five Years: ______________________________________________________

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HINT: Please don’t consider moving forward with this until you have

completed this step.

EXTRA CREDIT: If you want to take it a bit further, accept these

challenges:

Challenge 1: Write down 100 things you want to do before you die.

Challenge 2: Write your obituary (I know sounds morbid lol, but it will

make a difference in where you see your self going and how you want to

be remembered).

from LORI NORDSTROM’S PHOTO TALK FORUM

BUSINESS PLAN

step one

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BUSINESS PLAN

step one

goals and aspirations

describe your business

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BUSINESS PLAN

step two

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BUSINESS PLAN

step two

ACTION! Write your Goals and objectives: _________________________

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ACTION! Write your Business Philosophy: __________________________

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ACTION! Write your Mission Statement (Why does your business exist?):

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ACTION! Write your Mini-mission statement (from your mission

statement, write one sentence with as few words as possible that

describes your core mission): ______________________________________

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ACTION! Describe your market (population, area, main economic

resources, etc): __________________________________________________

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ACTION! Describe your target client: ______________________________

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ACTION! Describe the industry and how you will take advantage of

growth, changes, etc.: ____________________________________________

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BUSINESS PLANstep two

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BUSINESS PLANstep three

ACTION! Describe your strengths: ________________________________

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ACTION! Why will you succeed?: __________________________________

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ACTION! Describe your background - experience, skills, strength: _____

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ACTION! What is your legal form of ownership? [Sole proprietor,

Partnership, Corporation, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC): _________

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ACTION! Describe your products. Describe each product line

(maternity/baby, first year plan, children/families, seniors, etc) and then

the products within each product line.: _____________________________

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ACTION! What will be your competitive advantages: ________________

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products and services

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BUSINESS PLAN

step three

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BUSINESS PLAN

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ACTION! What are your disadvantages? ___________________________

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ACTION! What product lines will you be growing/changing/adding in

the next 3 years? ________________________________________________

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ACTION! What is the pricing structure of each of your products: ______

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ACTION! Describe your services and how they are unique. (Once this

description of your uniquenesses is complete, make a list and keep it by

your phone. these are great things to be able to talk about with potential

clients): ________________________________________________________

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ACTION! Who is your target client (expanded): _____________________

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ACTION! Characteristics, buying habits, geographic location, etc.: ____

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market research

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BUSINESS PLANstep four

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ACTION! List everything you possibly can about your target client. If you

have more than one very defined product line (i.e. babies, seniors) Then

you may want to make two client profiles. __________________________

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ACTION! What does your market look like? ________________________

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ACTION! Research your market {Here’s a helpful link http://quickfacts.

census.gov/qfd/index.html – very surprising to look up info on your area.

You’ll find out things you had no idea of! ____________________________

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ACTION! Look into where your target client is spending her time and

money. Everything from mommy/baby playgroups and forums to Art in

the Park for baby/family photographers ____________________________

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ACTION! Check out all engagement and all things wedding if you are a

wedding photographer, etc.

ACTION! Check out your chamber, special sections of the newspaper,

local publications.

HINT: This is a never ending research, but start. Be on a mission to

find out three things about your market that you didn’t know and three

like-minded vendors that you didn’t know about. If you have a good

client base, this might be a good time to conduct an interview and

give a portrait credit for answers to a few questions about preferences,

expectations, product possibilities, etc.

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BUSINESS PLANstep five

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BUSINESS PLANstep five

ACTION! Write about direct competitors offering similar services and

write about how you will be different, better, etc. ____________________

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ACTION! List your major competitors, name, studio name, website,

location, specialties, etc. _________________________________________

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ACTION! How does your product and service compare with each? ____

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ACTION! What are client advantages for using your studio over

another? ________________________________________________________

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identify competitors

ACTION! List your indirect competitors. For a newborn specialist, this

might be scrap booking or even a high end furniture store. What might

your client be saving for or spending on that could keep them from

spending with you? These are indirect competitors. __________________

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HINT: Compare and contrast your business with the 2 businesses

you feel are your biggest competitors. Compare products, price,

quality, service, experience, the timeline from session to final product,

availability, location, reputation, appearance, skill/years in business/

education/expertise, sales process, payment process (do you/they take

credit cards, offer payment plans, money back guarantee, etc), how you

advertise, and overall image. ______________________________________

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BUSINESS PLANstep five

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Doing this exercise is a real eye-opener. For instance, if you have a home

studio and your two greatest competitors have a retail location, you may

think of that as one of your obstacles. You may list it here as you compare

businesses. However, if you can begin to think about marketing to the

new mommy who would love coming into your comfortable home, not

having to fight for a parking space, knowing you are ready and waiting

just for her, you have all of the amenities to take care of her new little

one, etc. You can turn this “obstacle” into a “benefit”. ________________

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economics

ACTION! Describe total size of your market _________________________

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ACTION! Describe current demand in target market ________________

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ACTION! Describe trends in your market ___________________________

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ACTION! Describe growth potential and opportunity ________________

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BUSINESS PLANstep six

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HINT: What are your obstacles? (start up costs, marketing costs,

employees, one man show, skill, recognition, started pricing all wrong

, location... name anything you feel is holding you back any of what I

call your “big buts”!! what are your excuses when it comes to moving

forward? How will you overcome these obstacles? ___________________

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ACTION! Describe your products from your customers point of view. __

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HINT: You’ve already listed all of your products and services. Now list

features of each product and the benefit to owning these products. What

is special about each, and why would someone want to have it?

products

ACTION! What are your main objectives when it comes to customer

service? ________________________________________________________

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ACTION! How do you expect each client to be treated, and how will

they feel about the service received? _______________________________

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ACTION! What are your guarantees? (This is a good place for policies

and procedures. Clients need to be shown, not told.) ________________

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ACTION! Describe what you want to be known for? _________________

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HINT: Don’t be all things to all people. It doesn’t mean that you can’t do

everything, but what do you want to be known for? If you say “I do a little

of everything”, I have nothing to be excited about! Define your niche

and describe your uniqueness. There is a uniqueness to each one of your

situations.

Example 1: If you are a home studio, and you love photographing

children: I specialize in portraits of kids being kids in an environment that

makes them feel comfortable and carefree.

Example 2: If you have a studio and have been in business for years

and love photographing “tweens”: I specialize in “tweens”, those in-

between years that many see as awkward or rush through. I will help your

child see what’s special about them right now, and help you remember

it always. I have studied lighting and will flatter your child’s best features

and have special props and backgrounds just for this age!

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BUSINESS PLANstep eight

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customer service

define your niche

ACTION! How will your clients find you? ___________________________

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ACTION! Who will you partner with? ______________________________

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ACTION! How will you advertise? _________________________________

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HINT: New businesses should plan on spending 6-10% on marketing,

businesses over 3 years 4-7%)

HINT: Do you have the right “image” projected in your logo and

design pieces? If not, now is the time to hire someone to get a logo and

marketing pieces together for you. The person doing your logo should

be finding out a lot about you before proceeding with your logo. Make

sure that your logo and design says something about who YOU are and

what you want your studio image to be.

HINT: How do you track clients, how much they are spending, how they

are finding you, and how often they are coming back? If you don’t have

software that does this, develop a system so that you are logging the

information with every client.

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BUSINESS PLANstep ten

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BUSINESS PLANstep ten

marketing strategy

ACTION! Plan each of your special events for the year (special events

don’t have to mean discounted pricing! It could mean something that

you don’t normally offer that is a high-ticket item) ____________________

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Example 1: If you need to raise your prices, but are feeling really badly

about how your clients/friends will react, then right now plan 2 friends

and family weekends, or maybe even one day or weekend a month for a

year that you can offer to “friends and family” when you have someone

freak out over your new pricing. (don’t worry, this will not happen as

much as it is happening in your own head! lol)

Example 2: When you present your new pricing (product menu) to your

client and they say “wow, you really raised your prices!”, you can say

“Yes, I had to in order to keep my business open... I do have 2 dates on

the calendar for friends and family when I’ll be doing mini-sessions with

special pricing, close to what you’re used to. Would you be interested in

scheduling something on one of those dates?” Decide in advance when

those dates will be and stick to your plan. you’ve now said “yes” to your

client AND “yes” to making money in your business.

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BUSINESS PLANstep eleven

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special events

marketing budget

pricing

ACTION! How much will you spend on the marketing listed above? ___

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HINT: If you haven’t watched Sarah Petty’s Promotional Planning

Webinar yet, please do it now. Here is the promotional planning

information: https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/s...7/acctId:11781

ACTION! Describe how you came up with your pricing and compare

it to what you’ve talked about when discussing competitors. Are you

priced comparatively? lower? higher? why? __________________________

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ACTION! How does your pricing method help you reach your goals? __

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ACTION! List your guarantee here. ________________________________

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BUSINESS PLANstep fourteen

HINT: If you are just starting out, it’s best to set your prices higher

than you’re comfortable with and then give clients added value as you

get better and reach your potential. Starting out low gives you a low

perceived value as well, and it’s hard to move up from there. (Plus, you

can never beat chain store pricing. They are going to beat you out

anyway! At least place value on your time and the experience you are

giving to your client, even if you can’t yet place the value on your work).

HINT: Will your customers choose you because of price? If not (we hope

not!!), discuss the added value your client will receive by choosing you.

HINT: It is easy to justify pricing when you list the value, customer service

and experience your client will get only from you. [When you write these

things down, it will help you to discuss these things with your client, as

well as believe in it yourself!!].

ACTION! How will you conduct your sales? _________________________

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ACTION! Discuss your sales process, who will do your sales, and what

you expect averages to be in each of your product lines. ______________

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sales

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BUSINESS PLAN

step fifteen

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BUSINESS PLANstep fifteen

sales projections

ACTION! Using your total gross goal, make a list, by month and how

much you need to bring in each month. Using your sales averages for

each product line, estimate what types of sessions you’ll be doing each

month, how many, and what the average is to bring you to your total for

each month and finally to year end.

ACTION! If you’ve been in business for more than a year, you’ll be able

to use last years sales as a base for this. You’ll want to raise revenue, so

do that and use this plan to make sure you reach those goals.

ACTION! If you are brand new to business, you’ll have to make an

estimate on the number of sessions you can do per week and how much

you expect to generate from each sale. Write down what a typical client

would buy, and what that totals to. _________________________________

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ACTION! If you are new to business or have just raised prices, changing

locations, etc, you may want to plan projections based on what you

would like to see happen, and a second set based on the lowest you

would expect to make sure that you are at least a break-even. (make sure

that you can pay all bills and overhead). _____________________________

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HINT: If you are not currently doing in-person design appointments/

sales, you are hurting your business! This has been proven time and

again. Last Thursday I had a couple in my studio who has been in

business about 3 years. The finally switched to Pro Select and said the

increase on their very first sale in person paid for their investment! I’ve

heard this over and over.

When you’re a member, you gain access to detailed how-to’s just like

this...let’s SHOOT, SHARE and LEARN! See you inside the forum!