What is the nature of your business?
Professional Portrait Photography
How long have you been in business?
6 Years
What inspired you to go into your particular field?
Photography had been a hobby for a few years. When I had my first child, I felt isolated and restless because my husband travelled for his job Monday through Friday and was only home on weekends. My husband surprised me with a gift of a photography class from the New York Institute of Photography. It's a correspondence course where the school sends books, tapes (probably CD's now), and some equipment and gives tests and assignments. The teacher then sends critiques of your work and grades your tests. The course covered all types of photography and required that I photograph and send in samples of fashion, portrait, photojournalism, commercial, landscape, and wedding photography. It took two years to earn the diploma and in that time I discovered I like portrait photography best.
How do you/did you finance your business?
This is an excellent question because I encountered some aggression among some male photographers when I joined my first professional association. They were under the impression that my husband financed my business. He did provide the $50 I used to open the checking account for the business, but beyond that, everything I purchased for the business I purchased with money I earned. As a result, in the beginning years I made alot of my own backgrounds, purchased used cameras (in fact, I just bought my very first new camera in January), and had to save up for any piece of new equipment I needed (and just did without until I had the funds). So my husband did start me out, but it was financed with funds earned by the business. Luckily, I didn't need anything large like a vehicle or a building.
What has been your greatest busines challenge?
Just getting started! When I planned my first holiday session, I chose a place to host it, chose a date for it, wrote an e-mail to announce it, and sent the e-mail out on, of all days, September 10, 2001. We all know what happened the next morning, and suddenly the business didn't seem important anymore. Needless to say, it took a while before I went back to work and got things rolling.
What has been your greatest business success?
Earning my certification was huge. To get the Certified Professional Photographer credential, which was my goal when I first started the business, I took a 100-question test on technical knowledge and submited 20 images of 20 different subjects to a panel of well-known professional photographers for review. The CPP credential says that professionals in the field have viewed my work and regard it to be of superior quality, which is great news for my clients. I was told by the proctor who administered the exam that half the people who take the test fail it, and there are currently only 34 CPP's in Maryland. Another success came the day I realized I am the boss of my business. When I began, I was still in the mindset of an employee and I tended to let my clients at the time dictate what I did and didn't do. One day I realized that I'm the person in charge and I know best how I should run my business. If we take ourselves seriously, our clients will too.
How do you balance work/family/ personal time?
This is a constant struggle. I try very hard to work only when the kids are in school. To accomplish this, I don't begin work (look at e-mail, make calls, anything like that) until they leave for school. Then when they get home, I try not to work, but sometimes do because the kids are doing homework anyway. The computer and phone go off at 5:00 each day. I also try not to schedule weekend appointments, but in my profession that's difficult. So when I do have to work on a Saturday I make the appointment for early morning so I'll still have the rest of the day with my family. Sundays are off limits for photography appointments.
Where do you see yourself and your business in the next 5 years?
I hope to have a studio space and someone working with me to do administrative tasks like invoicing, balancing the accounts, ordering supplies, and other things that take me away from photographing.
Thank you, Maureen.
For more information about MoCo Photo please contact Maureen at:
mcogan@verizon.net
or at 410-599-5024 and visit her website http://www.mocophoto.com/
