Is this all worth it?

[childleslie]

I am a stay at home mom and a photographer. I recently bought a canon ipf8000 printer and I have been wrapping canvases for photographers for a year now. I enjoy it, however I don't feel like my business is growing. I want to take it to the next step, but I have no direction at all. Is the printing business a growing, profitable business or am I just wasting my time? I would love to start printing on other mediums I just don't have a direction at all. Any advice would be wonderful.
Leslie

[dsphotog]

If digital prints & gallery wraps are your only product, you have to compete with cut-rate, loss-leader giants like Costco.
They have put a lot of small 1 hr labs out of biz.

[John NYC]

FWIW, a very skilled printer here in NYC just called it quits late last year to focus on other parts of his business. In his parting notes, he cited one major factor as being that many photographers are buying high end printers and doing the work themselves these days.

[childleslie]

Thanks for the comments. I am seeing these exact same things every day. It is worth the money to print my own photos so it's worth having the printer, I just wish I could do more with it and make it more lucrative for me.

[Jim Jones]

I'm in the same situation. My Epson 3800 is great for personal use, but print sales aren't enough to make it nearly profitable. However, the advantages of digital editiing over wet darkroom work make it worthwhile.

[coroner12]

Without a direction it's going to be hard for you to grow your business. With direction commitment, and effort I believe you can be successful.

[Nathan Potter]

I notice that I am doing engineering layouts occasionally on my 3880 in color, just for convenience for consulting jobs. I wonder if anyone else does this for various technical fields - things like PC board layout, IC design, architecture, etc. Would it be practical to do this as a service? Is there application in the fashion industry for example? Dunno.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[John NYC]

I notice that I am doing engineering layouts occasionally on my 3880 in color, just for convenience for consulting jobs. I wonder if anyone else does this for various technical fields - things like PC board layout, IC design, architecture, etc. Would it be practical to do this as a service? Is there application in the fashion industry for example? Dunno.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

That's an interesting idea.

There are many small businesses that sometimes need to print something large (for say a presentation) but don't want to invest in all the equipment for just those odd occasions. Perhaps that could be an avenue. Having lots of low volume clients is always a hard thing though.

[Tom Conway]

PM sent.

[John Koehrer]

That's an interesting idea.

Having lots of low volume clients is always a hard thing though.

Having no clients is probably a little worse.
If you can build a reliable small client base You could do OK. Yes it's more difficult but if you can provide the right service as in timely, reliable and good quality, there's a niche for you. Takes a whole lot of hustling though. Cold calls suck and get used to hearing the word "no".

[John NYC]

Having no clients is probably a little worse.
If you can build a reliable small client base You could do OK. Yes it's more difficult but if you can provide the right service as in timely, reliable and good quality, there's a niche for you. Takes a whole lot of hustling though. Cold calls suck and get used to hearing the word "no".

Yes, and the trick then becomes to identify one of those small clients and turn them into a large client.

And you are exactly on about hustle. Hustle is what it is all about, no matter what business you are in. I once had my boss look at me and say "you are a persistent son of a *"... and I took that as a great compliment, though I don't think he meant it that way!

[John NYC]

Slightly paraphrased with speech fillers removed: "It's the kind of persistence they've shown ever since. Nothing stops the Turnleys. They don't take 'no' for an answer."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BLB9bU6f8YM

Are they the best photojournalists of today? Are they the best photographers of the day?

Or does persistence figure centrally in their fate?

[lenicolas]

what about scanning?
Invest in a couple of workshops and a hasselblad scanner and you're in business! :)

I'm planning to buy one myself sometime in 2011 ; i've got half a dozen photographers that i was in school with who say they'd rather deal with me than with the pro labs...

And scanning + printing makes a little more sense than just printing ; were are the files suposed to come from? if a photog wants some images printed big, he'll probably be looking for a professional scan of the images first...

[jp]

I've used my Epson 7600 to make:

Many illustrations for planning board / selectman's meetings for work (permitting to build towers).
Posters for community organizations we are involved in
Photography prints for framing

I was hoping it would be in the opposite order.

[childleslie]

I haven't thought of going in that direction, but it's a good idea. Thanks

[childleslie]

So helpful! Thank you all!!

[Greg Blank]

Really awesome.


Slightly paraphrased with speech fillers removed: "It's the kind of persistence they've shown ever since. Nothing stops the Turnleys. They don't take 'no' for an answer."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BLB9bU6f8YM

Are they the best photojournalists of today? Are they the best photographers of the day?

Or does persistence figure centrally in their fate?