Hi! It has been a week! My kids were on Spring break last week and I have learned that I am a closeted Type A person where I find enjoyment in working because that whole vacation and down time was just too much for me. I am so glad to be back in the office and while I miss the noise and fighting I think the kids looked forward to going back to school this week.
So here we are week 3 of the #Developyourbusiness blog series I want to talk about how you choose your supply vendors. As a pro-photographer I send my print and canvas orders out to a professional printing lab. I have 2 that I love. The coloring is perfect, the customer service is impeccable, and the shipping times and fees are very reasonable. I narrowed it down to 2 labs because one has speciality sizes that the other does not and location, one is located closer to me then the other. I ALWAYS advise having a Plan B and if possible a Plan C when it comes to choosing vendors, especially if the business is a small business. You want to plan for EVERY POSSIBLE EVENT, Snow, rain, power outages, a death in the business or family that may cause the business to shut down or even the Flu. You never know how these things may affect what you need and how the business provides its service to you. While I hate to think that a service provider can’t keep up some things are just inevitable.
I am writing this post geared to photographers this week because that’s what I am, and what I know I know best. If you are a butcher, baker or even candlestick maker you’re going to want to have vendors to provide quality services in your niche but don’t think that you can’t apply these same philosophies to your search.
Vendors for Equipment–I purchased my first camera locally that way the shop owner knew who I was and I had a relationship if and when I needed to have it serviced. Now that may not always be possible but I recommend that you find vendors in your area that you can purchase some things from even it they may be a a bit more pricy, the relationship and connections they may send your way is always worth it.
- Camera equipment – I live in Philadelphia so heading to B&H in NYC is nothing for me but there is also Webcam in center city and a few other places that will allow me to walk in and check out equipment and lighting supplies before I buy, so if the stores price is not within my budget I can feel comfortable purchasing it on Amazon because I have an idea of how it works.
- Lighting Supplies-See above
- Backdrop and prop supplies Now if you are purchasing these from an online supplier I must advise that you check with them as to what their return policy is. What you see online and what you get may not always match up color wise. CHECK, if you don’t see anything contact customer service and speak to a person you don’t want to spend money on something and it’s just wrong, and worse yet you can’t return it! There are lots of tutorials on YouTube that will teach you how to make your own backdrop if you are so inclined.
- Framing supplies For frames and albums you’ll want to check with the lab, some offer studio discounts and months where you can get these items on sales really inexpensively. My labs, Whitehouse Custom Color and Simply Color are great for studio sales.
- Albums
- Packaging for order presentation-I love Design Aglow for this
- Professional Photo labs(ask for samples) many printing labs will allow you to upload images and will send you a few test print so you know what you are getting before committing to them, DO THIS you don’t want any surprises when it comes to your images. It also helps to know how and if you need to calibrate your computer screen.
- Printers for marketing material
The 4 service vendors listed below are personal, with these people you will share your business vision, finances and goals. Pick them carefully because they are truly an investment and an investment well worth every single dime you spend on them. When I had my first logo and website designed I hated it, but I don’t want to blame her I wasn’t educated in this area when I started out, I had no idea what to tell her, I said green she gave me green…ARMY Green YUCK! It took me years to trust someone again but that was after learning web design for myself and helping clients through this process.
My account God Bless her soul she has earned her place in heaven. Again I interviewed many, MANY accountants because my last accountant passed away and we absolutely loved him, it wasn’t the job, it was me, I had to be certain that they could handle me! As far as a coach, well I’ve had 2 so far and again I feel like learning about coaching and mentoring will help me choose the best one. My last 2 were great but and we worked together for a while but I felt like i had to move on.
- Web designers
- Accountant/bookkeepers
- Small Business Mentors and/or Coach
- Copywriter
Whatever your business speciality is you are going to want tp find vendors that meet and exceed your expectations, Interview them, ask for recommendations, check out their work and keep open lines of communication so they know what you want and need, they can only grow if they receive feedback
