Too young?

[RedGoblinz]

Im about to be 15 in 3 weeks time, and i wanna ask all you guys out there, those either working full time or part time as a (portrait) photographer (interested in portraits) a few things:

1. Is there such a thing as 'too young'? Im having this mindset stuck in my mind, thinking im too young to sell services or such.
2. How did you guys start out?
3. I've thought of selling prints to friends taken from their birthdays or such, but no luck yet, how much would you guys think a 4R print would be worth?
4. I have an extremely tight budget, if that matters, it takes me almost a year to get 330$.
I think thats all i have to ask, maybe ill remember more later on. I dont have a really large portfolio of portraits as well, so maybe id work on that before anything.

Thanks for input.

[Tzetsin]

This isn't as simple a question as you might think.

Are you too young to sell a service...

This is a difficult question because of how you might define this. Yes, you are too young to sell a service. And no, you are NOT too young to sell "images" To sell a "service" you have to have a business license, and insurance. You are not old enough to get either of those, so I would have to say, Yes, you are too young.

But its not so simple as that. You, even at 13/14 are the copyright owner of a piece of imagery. If you have a buyer for that imagery then you have a right to the proceeds. However, in most countries (not sure where your from) You can't legally sign a legal document untill your 18, so, If you have any work done with contracts, you would have to get a legal gaurdian to sign it for you.

You see, its not so much that your age prevents you from trying to run a business, its just that the legal preceedings involved with a business will be harder for you because of your age.

Simply saying. "hey guy, pay me x amount and I'll do your portrait." isnt really running a "business" so something like that isn't a problem, but as soon as you have a business number, now you are liable for many things. If the customer comes to your residence/place of business and hurts them self. your liable for damages, if they're not happy with prints, your liable, if you dont show up, your liable, the list goes on. Insurance is the only way to save your butt when this kind of stuff happens. and it DOES happen.

You will also have to keep books/accounts because as soon as you have a business license you have to pay tax. Even if you dont actually "pay" any taxes because you dont make enough, you still have to "do" your taxes because your a business. That means paying a chartered accountant. and believe you me, those greedy basTE#@$@#$@ aren't cheap.

Another thing thats going to seriously handicap your success is that "most" people dont take folks your age seriously. If I called your number for a portrait, and you answered and said you were the photographer, it would take some SERIOUS convincing for me to give you the job.

I guess what I'm getting at is that someone of your age going into business for himself is probably doable, but a lot of work for someone who should be more worried about their school marks and girls./boys

Enjoy that time of your life, you have so much coming your way in the next 6 years that I seriously doubt you will have time for something this huge. And even if you make time, work will come soon enough. An if you think schools bad.........

Anyhoo... knowing what you want to do for a living when your that age is good. Take this time in your life to develop your skill and style, when you graduate, you'll have 5 or 6 years of experience under your belt already and be in much better shape for trying something like this out.

[RedGoblinz]

Its not that Im thinking of quitting school and stuff like that, but i just think i can earn an itsy bitsy amount of $ from all this, other than stock, which is the most doable now.
Thanks for your reply and effort put in, i really appreciate that.

[highlightstudio]

Have to say, I like the first reply (Tzetsin). All very true. I do know a photographer who shot his first solo wedding when he was about 17 I think (around 25 years ago). OK, not quite solo, he showed up to their door on the weeding day with his 14 year old assistant. He had however been working/assisting in a studio for a few years at that point so I would say that he is the exception. And, being that he was working for a studio, and not for himself, all of the liabilities previously mentioned were well covered.

1. Too young - if you know what you are doing, and your 'client' knows what they are getting then I don't see an issue (other than the legal already mentioned)

2. Start out, I'm still starting out you could say. I have had a camera since I was about 9 and until about 1996 only did nature. Since '96 I have done work on a word of mouth basis only. Since recently moving to our new town I have decided to put some effort into advertising and potentially/eventually quit my day job......I'm not holding my breath though. I can remember once prior to doing many weddings being asked to shoot a wedding (for free) that was happening that day. At the time I said no as I figured my time was worth money, which it was. In hindsight though, I passed up an opportunity to shoot a wedding in a stress free environment with no expectations or liability. Don't pass up opportunities for self improvement - they can also make for free advertising.

3. I have always struggled with pricing. Essentially, an image is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I know, thats not very helpful at all. But if you have the right image in the right market at the right time it is worth a lot. In your case, without any 'bills' at the moment, even if you could sell for enough to cover your costs (or better) then you are laughing. You learn, you get better, you charge more and so on and so on.

4. A portfolo is extremely important. Not only does it give you something to show potential clients, it also provides you with valuable practice. And friends can be a great help with that. On a tight budget (you are not alone there!) you could look at producing a digital portfolio to save on the print costs.

[Tzetsin]

Originally Posted by RedGoblinz

Its not that Im thinking of quitting school and stuff like that, but i just think i can earn an itsy bitsy amount of $ from all this, other than stock, which is the most doable now.
Thanks for your reply and effort put in, i really appreciate that.

Ah no, I didnt read that you were planning on quitting school at all, I was just saying you should enjoy the freedom you have right now and pay attention to school.

Also, I wasn't saying you shouldn't make a buck when you can. If you find someone willing to pay you for portraits, do it. Just dont make it "official" As soon as you are "official" then you have all these obligations that actually cost you money. License, accountants, insurance, and thats before you even get into buying all the tools you need. If you keep it on the down low, then you get the funds, they get the portrait and what the tax man doesnt know wont hurt him.

Also, dont put yourself out there as a "business" when your not set up as one. They have a word for that, its called "Fraud" and the men in blue look down on that.

[Vincent_G]

Hi RedGoblinz, I noticed an emu and a rainbow lorikeet on your flickr (great images) are you in Australia?
If you are downunder here's a couple of sites that may be of interest to you.

Planning - Child Entrepreneurs: Is Australia?s Start-up Space Getting Younger?
Club Kidpreneur Foundation

I can recall an episode on one of the current affair type programs with a story about two teens (15-17) who operated their own business. Both businesses operated on weekends, one was a surf shop and the other was DJ'ing at parties.

My daughter at 15 raised $5000 for a World Challenge Expedition and because it was below the taxable income threshold she didn't have to pay any tax. follow your dreams, best wishes on your entrepreneurship.

[RedGoblinz]

Thank you all for your great replies!

Vincent - No im not from Australia, im Malaysian