'The photo imaging industry increasingly requires a workforce with a wide ranging skill set, combining technical proficiency with creativity, visual awareness and business acumen.' [Skillset 2011]
According to BIPP sourced statistics, the majority of photographers work within a ‘freelance’ or a self employed framework.
Module Learning Outcomes Assessed -
•Understand business opportunities available to the self-operator and small business person.
• Identify skill acquisition within the programme with eventual commercial utilisation.
• Be aware of financial factors affecting photographers in terms of necessary outlay and income.
• Establish a marketing strategy in order to generate work.
• Understand importance of effective communication throughout a variety of methods.
The outcomes on this brief are a summary of the outcomes outlined in the programme validation document and
summarised for reasons of practicality and space. Students should refer to their programme handbooks for a more detailed breakdown of the learning outcomes for this unit.
Module Content
The unit is divided into four main study areas; accounting, advertising/design ‘business start-up’ and resources. This assignment provides an introduction to professional business practices. It is intended to develop an understanding in business operations and procedures, marketing strategies and other relevant subject areas specific to the photography industry. The emphasis on this project will be on information acquisition and although the tasks may seem theoretical, it is assumed that the work developed in response to the tasks is revisited both throughout the remainder of the programme and beyond graduation. This assignment will involve working in a small group. This in itself may seem daunting; relying on others and potentially working with those unfamiliar to you are things that sometimes make a job harder than it needs to be! However, working with several people on a common task can also be more productive and creative; being able to frequently discuss progress with your team and assigning tasks suitable to the individual are some of the benefits.
You must produce a detailed business plan for a photography company, working with a specialism (such as sports, weddings etc.) and forecasting for the first 6 months of business.
You must work in a team of 4 people for this project.
Your first challenge, once your group is formed, is to assign a ‘manager’ to each of the following key areas of the business plan:
• Business Start-up
• Advertising and Design
• Accounting
• Equipment and Resources
It will be important for the entire group to be involved in major decision making (such as the name of the company) although each manager will need to show independence in order to complete their particular tasks.
You must produce the following work:
Task 1 – Business Start-up
1. A company or sole trader name
2. A written rationale for your business (at least 600 words)
3. A monthly financial forecast for the first 6 months of trading (this may mean obtaining information from all other managers in your group)
4. A list of professional bodies that will be able to support you during your time in business (The AoP, BAPLA etc.)
Task 2 – Equipment and Resources
1. A list of required camera/lens equipment, enabling your company to
operate professionally in your chosen specialist area.
2. A breakdown of your companies ‘workflow’ – including software,
accessories and image-delivery methods (FTP, for example)
3. An insurance quote for your stated photography equipment (include
examples of companies that specialise in photography insurance)
Task 3 – Advertising and Design
1. A logo or chosen font for you ‘sole-trader’ name
2. A letterhead that uses your logo/chosen font
3. A list of places your company would advertise, with examples
4. A ‘Model Release’ form, tailored for you companies specialism
Task 4 - Accounting
1. A ‘license to use’ form*
2. An estimate template*
3. An invoice template*
4. A book-keeping template*
Assessment Criteria
Understand and demonstrate the range of business opportunities and support available within the industry of photography.
Identify and demonstrate how well-prepared business systems offer opportunities for success.
Produce marketing, workflow, design and accounting systems conducive to a sole trader business.
Work effectively within a group to communicate the range of work produced during the project timescale.
Presentation and Assessment of Project Work
In order to have you work assessed fairly and objectively, you should follow the guidelines listed below:
• A blogsite, website or course folder can be used for the presentation of your material, but all members of the group should have ownership of the information (in other words, if you are going to build a paper-based folder, all members of the group should have one).
• The final submission should include the minutes (a detailed written summary) of at least 5 team meetings, spread throughout the project timescale. These meetings will be used by the team to assess progress, task completion, ongoing issues and team-member concern.
• Each team member will be assessed individually, but part of the overall grading includes assessment of students’ ability to work in a group.
• A UCBC cover sheet must be attached to your project work, if it is paper-based, or portfolio based.
• Copies of the group’s team meetings should be included in your project submission (either in a folder or on your web/blog site)
• Your project work should be accompanied by research evidence where appropriate.
• You will be required to present you work both as a group and as an individual during the week commencing 24th May 2011 – appointed times for these assessments will be emailed and posted 2 weeks before the due date.
Module Tutor - Richard Peregrine with visiting lecturers
Tuesday 3rd January 2012
The module was introduced by Richard, we will be working in groups of four and will be considering the following points before a team meeting on 24th January 2012.
The new company we will be building is called Ambient Lights.
Our roles were shared out as follows:
Business Start up - Liv Fox
Advertising and Design - Simon Needham
Accounting - Michael Holt
Equipment and Resources - Me
Our business is about delivering workshops in schools, community centres, prisons, old peoples homes etc anywhere that might benefit from photography. We decided that the use of a photography workshop tailored to the demographics of the group could be interesting and therapeutic.
Working with groups maximum 10 using a range of cameras both inside and outside generates the following equipment requirements:
On location
12 simple point and click digital compact cameras
12 basic dslrs with a variety of lenses
1 laptop
1 printer (supply of paper and inks)
Other equipment
3 further laptops for company/ employee use
1 company car - on lease
Software
Open office software (free)
Picasa image editing software (free)
To keep the initial costs down we will be using secondhand cameras. The advantage is the price and the range of equipment available. Cameras are readily available secondhand in good condition at this level as amateurs tend to look after their gear better than pros, keeping instructions, cases, leads etc with the camera for resale.
Compacts
A review of the London Camera Exchange website http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/ revealed the following list of suitable cameras:
The compact cameras budget would need to be £35 each - £420
The dslr budget would need to be £150 each - £1800
Memory cards, we dont anticipate needing high capacity cards 2 and 4GB cards should suffice, the below examples would give a total cost of around £160
Two card readers which are tough and support all formats
In order to keep the equipment safe in transit we need hard cases.
Below is an example of a case which will hold 6 DSLR or 12 compacts. we will need 3.
The printer needs to be a simple printer which can print large numbers of 6x4 pictures
A suitable one may be:
This would give the initial cost of the printer £112 with further paper and ink purchases at £28 each The ink and paper is purchased together £28 buys 108 sheets of 6x4.
A suitable case may be
The initial thought was for each employee to use our own laptop while we set up and when funds are generated we will buy more equipment. This may cause privacy problems so I will budget for a single laptop for purely business use. There will be no personal items or records on this machine.
A basic laptop will cost around £320
Professional insurance covering the equipment, public liability and professional indemnity.
Lease car
The above is a typical example of a lease car. Initial deposit of £1000 and a monthly payment of £170.
Initial costings so far:
From other team members
Rationale (Liv)
Logo (Simon)
Presentation Slideshow (Mick)
According to BIPP sourced statistics, the majority of photographers work within a ‘freelance’ or a self employed framework.
Module Learning Outcomes Assessed -
•Understand business opportunities available to the self-operator and small business person.
• Identify skill acquisition within the programme with eventual commercial utilisation.
• Be aware of financial factors affecting photographers in terms of necessary outlay and income.
• Establish a marketing strategy in order to generate work.
• Understand importance of effective communication throughout a variety of methods.
The outcomes on this brief are a summary of the outcomes outlined in the programme validation document and
summarised for reasons of practicality and space. Students should refer to their programme handbooks for a more detailed breakdown of the learning outcomes for this unit.
Module Content
The unit is divided into four main study areas; accounting, advertising/design ‘business start-up’ and resources. This assignment provides an introduction to professional business practices. It is intended to develop an understanding in business operations and procedures, marketing strategies and other relevant subject areas specific to the photography industry. The emphasis on this project will be on information acquisition and although the tasks may seem theoretical, it is assumed that the work developed in response to the tasks is revisited both throughout the remainder of the programme and beyond graduation. This assignment will involve working in a small group. This in itself may seem daunting; relying on others and potentially working with those unfamiliar to you are things that sometimes make a job harder than it needs to be! However, working with several people on a common task can also be more productive and creative; being able to frequently discuss progress with your team and assigning tasks suitable to the individual are some of the benefits.
You must produce a detailed business plan for a photography company, working with a specialism (such as sports, weddings etc.) and forecasting for the first 6 months of business.
You must work in a team of 4 people for this project.
Your first challenge, once your group is formed, is to assign a ‘manager’ to each of the following key areas of the business plan:
• Business Start-up
• Advertising and Design
• Accounting
• Equipment and Resources
It will be important for the entire group to be involved in major decision making (such as the name of the company) although each manager will need to show independence in order to complete their particular tasks.
You must produce the following work:
Task 1 – Business Start-up
1. A company or sole trader name
2. A written rationale for your business (at least 600 words)
3. A monthly financial forecast for the first 6 months of trading (this may mean obtaining information from all other managers in your group)
4. A list of professional bodies that will be able to support you during your time in business (The AoP, BAPLA etc.)
Task 2 – Equipment and Resources
1. A list of required camera/lens equipment, enabling your company to
operate professionally in your chosen specialist area.
2. A breakdown of your companies ‘workflow’ – including software,
accessories and image-delivery methods (FTP, for example)
3. An insurance quote for your stated photography equipment (include
examples of companies that specialise in photography insurance)
Task 3 – Advertising and Design
1. A logo or chosen font for you ‘sole-trader’ name
2. A letterhead that uses your logo/chosen font
3. A list of places your company would advertise, with examples
4. A ‘Model Release’ form, tailored for you companies specialism
Task 4 - Accounting
1. A ‘license to use’ form*
2. An estimate template*
3. An invoice template*
4. A book-keeping template*
Assessment Criteria
Understand and demonstrate the range of business opportunities and support available within the industry of photography.
Identify and demonstrate how well-prepared business systems offer opportunities for success.
Produce marketing, workflow, design and accounting systems conducive to a sole trader business.
Work effectively within a group to communicate the range of work produced during the project timescale.
Presentation and Assessment of Project Work
In order to have you work assessed fairly and objectively, you should follow the guidelines listed below:
• A blogsite, website or course folder can be used for the presentation of your material, but all members of the group should have ownership of the information (in other words, if you are going to build a paper-based folder, all members of the group should have one).
• The final submission should include the minutes (a detailed written summary) of at least 5 team meetings, spread throughout the project timescale. These meetings will be used by the team to assess progress, task completion, ongoing issues and team-member concern.
• Each team member will be assessed individually, but part of the overall grading includes assessment of students’ ability to work in a group.
• A UCBC cover sheet must be attached to your project work, if it is paper-based, or portfolio based.
• Copies of the group’s team meetings should be included in your project submission (either in a folder or on your web/blog site)
• Your project work should be accompanied by research evidence where appropriate.
• You will be required to present you work both as a group and as an individual during the week commencing 24th May 2011 – appointed times for these assessments will be emailed and posted 2 weeks before the due date.
Module Tutor - Richard Peregrine with visiting lecturers
Tuesday 3rd January 2012
The module was introduced by Richard, we will be working in groups of four and will be considering the following points before a team meeting on 24th January 2012.
- working in a team
- network and build contacts
- problem solving
- creative idea that people will want
- learning about business basics
The new company we will be building is called Ambient Lights.
Our roles were shared out as follows:
Business Start up - Liv Fox
Advertising and Design - Simon Needham
Accounting - Michael Holt
Equipment and Resources - Me
Our business is about delivering workshops in schools, community centres, prisons, old peoples homes etc anywhere that might benefit from photography. We decided that the use of a photography workshop tailored to the demographics of the group could be interesting and therapeutic.
Working with groups maximum 10 using a range of cameras both inside and outside generates the following equipment requirements:
On location
12 simple point and click digital compact cameras
12 basic dslrs with a variety of lenses
1 laptop
1 printer (supply of paper and inks)
Other equipment
3 further laptops for company/ employee use
1 company car - on lease
Software
Open office software (free)
Picasa image editing software (free)
To keep the initial costs down we will be using secondhand cameras. The advantage is the price and the range of equipment available. Cameras are readily available secondhand in good condition at this level as amateurs tend to look after their gear better than pros, keeping instructions, cases, leads etc with the camera for resale.
Compacts
A review of the London Camera Exchange website http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/ revealed the following list of suitable cameras:
 |
The compact cameras budget would need to be £35 each - £420
The dslr budget would need to be £150 each - £1800
Memory cards, we dont anticipate needing high capacity cards 2 and 4GB cards should suffice, the below examples would give a total cost of around £160
Two card readers which are tough and support all formats
In order to keep the equipment safe in transit we need hard cases.
Below is an example of a case which will hold 6 DSLR or 12 compacts. we will need 3.
The printer needs to be a simple printer which can print large numbers of 6x4 pictures
A suitable one may be:
This would give the initial cost of the printer £112 with further paper and ink purchases at £28 each The ink and paper is purchased together £28 buys 108 sheets of 6x4.
A suitable case may be
The initial thought was for each employee to use our own laptop while we set up and when funds are generated we will buy more equipment. This may cause privacy problems so I will budget for a single laptop for purely business use. There will be no personal items or records on this machine.
A basic laptop will cost around £320
Professional insurance covering the equipment, public liability and professional indemnity.
Lease car
The above is a typical example of a lease car. Initial deposit of £1000 and a monthly payment of £170.
Initial costings so far:
- Vehicle deposit £1000
- Laptop £320
- Printer £112
- DSLR £1800
- Compact cameras £420
- memory cards £160
- card readers £10
- kit bags £350
- Business insurance £212
- misc paper, pens, glue etc for use in class based projects £100
Monthly costings:
- Vehicle rental £170
- printer consumables (£28 per 100sheets)
Rationale (Liv)
Logo (Simon)
Presentation Slideshow (Mick)
