Hey Photographers! It’s been years since I first walked away from my full-time job and entered the world of full-time self-employment. Since then, our photography business has grown, and we began the Hunter and Sarah Photography Apprenticeship, a program where we train newer photographers in their photography and business.

 

After running the program for a couple of years now, several of our Apprentices have made — or are currently making — the transition from successful side-hustle into full-time professional photographer. Not only have we made that transition ourselves, but now that we’ve helped others make it too, we feel like we have a lot of wisdom to share! That’s why, over the next several weeks, we’re going to be writing a blog series all about quitting your day job and becoming a full-time wedding photographer! And even if full-time isn’t the goal (or it isn’t the goal yet), we still think the tips will help you grow your business!

 

 

Make the Leap, Part 5: How to Know If You’re Ready to Quit Your Job

 

Whether you’ve been following along on this series since earlier this Spring, or you’ve just landed on our website for the first time, you probably want to answer the same questions: “How do I know if I’m ready to quit my job? How do I know if I’m ready to be a full-time photographer?!” The entire series has been leading up to help you answer those questions, and this week, we’re diving right in! While there’s no fool-proof way to know, and everyone’s situation is different, we’ve found three signals are a sure sign that you’re moving in the right direction, and may be ready to make the leap!

 

 

Signal #1: Your Personal Finances Are In Order

You are probably tired of hearing Sarah and I talk about getting your personal finances in order, paying off student-loan debt, and buying camera gear without going into credit card debt. But trying to quit whatever job is paying your bills without a plan is a recipe for disaster! If not disaster, at least for a lot of unnecessary stress. Why is this so important? Because in most cases, quitting a full-time job to start your own business involves a reduction in pay that might last for months, or even a year or more. The better-paying your job is right now, the longer it will take for your photography business to “catch up” to what you’re making now.

 

If you’re a part-time worker, the advice is the same, but a bit different. If you’re waiting tables, making coffee, or otherwise trading a few hours of your week for a somewhat-consistent paycheck, you may want to keep your part-time, non-photography job a bit longer. At least until you feel like your personal finances are on strong footing! With part-time work, you may even be at an advantage, since you might have control of your hours. Maybe you can slowly replace a few hours each week of your barista or serving or moving job with photography as your business picks up.

 

But either way, we’d recommend having three things in place financially before you make the leap into working exclusively as a self-employed photographer. The first is a robust emergency fund. If you quit your current job and something crazy happens (like — oh, I don’t know, a once-in-a-century global pandemic), how long could you live off of your savings? Three months is the recommended minimum, but six is ideal. You should also be free of high-interest loans, namely credit cards and student loans if possible. Finally, you should have made as many of your “big purchases” as possible before you have to live off of your photography gear.

 

 

Signal #2: You’re Busier Than You Can Handle, And Making “Enough” Money

We talked a LOT about getting BUSY in the previous segment of this blog series, but here’s a recap: if you need to support yourself (and your family?) from your photography salary, you shouldn’t make the leap until you’re busy. Very busy. Now, the amount of money that counts as “enough” will be different for everyone. A photographer living by himself in a rural county will need to make far less each month than a married photographer who needs to support her entire family in a big city. But whoever you are, there’s a certain amount that you need to make each month to cover your bills, without drawing down on your savings.

 

If you were to quit right now and make the leap, would you be able to make enough this month from your photography business? Do you think you can hustle, and get busy enough next month? What about the month after? It’s okay to draw down on savings for a few months while you transition, but if your entire business model depends on pulling $1,000 or more each month from your savings just to pay your bills, you’re probably not busy enough, or you’re not charging enough. Keep building, and revisit in a few months.

 

The month before I officially made the leap into full-time photography, I was waking up at 6:00 am to shoot sunrise graduation sessions at UVA before going into work a full 9-6 job. Some evenings we were shooting engagement sessions, and some Saturdays we were shooting weddings. This was not a sustainable pace of life, but it helped us launch from a place of strength, with a busy calendar and enough money in the bank to go a few months if things slowed down!

 

 

Signal #3: You Have a Plan

As a portrait and wedding photographer (as opposed to a start-up venture or a brick-and-mortar business), you don’t necessarily need a 10-point business model with a super-specific plan of action in all areas of business. You’ve been doing photography on the side for a while now, and the full-time version probably just looks like a ramped-up version of your current side-hustle. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need a plan.

 

What are your financial goals each month, in order to pay yourself after covering your business expenses, taxes, and benefits? How many weddings and portrait sessions do you need to shoot each month to meet that goal? What types of portrait sessions will you take? How will you interact with your clients in a way that gives them the best experience while using your time most efficiently? Will you work totally from home, or will you get a desk at a coworking space? How will you manage your schedule around the lives of your family and/or your social life? How will you schedule your own days and weeks when you aren’t out on a photoshoot? What things will you do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually to make sure you’re working on your business and not just in your business?

 

These are just a handful of questions that you might want an answer to before you make the leap. While you don’t need a perfect plan, it’s good to have some sort of plan in place so you aren’t walking into a total unknown!

 

 

Thanks for reading this blog series! This is the end of our “Make the Leap” series, but stay tuned for more For-Photographers content soon!

 

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Check out the other segments in this blog series!

• Make the Leap Part 1: Establish Consistency in Your Business
• Make the Leap Part 2: Build a Strong Personal Financial Foundation
• Make the Leap Part 3: Build Your Arsenal of Gear (Debt-Free!)
• Make the Leap Part 4: Get BUSY
• Make the Leap Part 5: How to Know If You’re Ready to Quit Your Job

 

Want More?

 

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