BetterPhoto Q&A
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Chris Scott		Answer some Questions for College Class? Hi all! My name is Chris Scott and I'm in an Entrepreneurship class at Middle Tenn State Univ. I'm building a business plan around a sports and event photography company and have to interview 5 business owners in my market. If you are a photography business owner, can you take a few minutes to answer these questions? Thanks in advance! Name of Business: Address: Phone: Your Name: How many yrs have you been in business? What is your special niche in the market? In the past few years is business growing, staying the same, or declining? How do you predict market trends? What are the demographic characteristics of your customers? How far do you think your cutomers travel to reach your place of business? Is your business cyclical? If so, what months are busiest? slowest? What is your most effective form of advertisement? Are you a member of your Chamber of Commerce and/or any trade associations? What advice would you give someone starting this business? ------------ Target Market Analysis: Are your customers primarily male or female? What would you say is the age range of customers? The majority of your customers is: Upper Upper Income? Upper Income? Middle Income? Lower Income? What percent of your business would you estimate is bought using credit cards? What do you think is their primary reason for "shopping" with you? Would you mind estimating the dollar figure of an average sale? ---------- I know it's a ton of questions, but it'd be great if I could get at least 5 responses to this - unlike the others in my class, I'm actually starting this company and will truly use this info I gain. Thank you so much! Chris Scott www.betterphoto.com?chrisscott To love this question, log in above September 13, 2005

Wendy M. Mathews		Hello my name is Wendy Mathews and I have had my own photography business for 4 years now. Photography by Wendy in Dunkirk NY (716)410-1975. I own my own studio, and I do Wedding photography. Wedding photography seems to do better for me. My business has grown in form the first year but remains about the same since due to the small area that I work in. I hope to get into sports photos for clubs and schools in the near future. I expect that I will probably do a little better around the holidays but the importatnt part of a studio is location and I don't seem to have that on my side. Most people in the area that I have my studio in are lower class and minority. I do most of the traveling for weddings but as far as the studio my customes usually only travel about 5-10 miles.Summer months are the busiest for weddings here which are May-Sept. only. Mainly June and July usually. Word of mouth and contacting the local wedding and banquet places is the best advertising for this area. I am not a memeber of the chamber. My advise is Start off cheap and build your rep then raise the price each year until you are still a little cheaper than your competition. My customer is almost always the female age 23 or so. Although I just started accepting credit cards all of my business has had no problems paying cash or check. The primary reason for shopping with me is price. Average wedding $800. To love this comment, log in above September 15, 2005

Chris Scott		Wendy, Thank you so much for responding to my questions! Not only will this help me out in my class, but it really gives me an insight that I wouldn't have going into this business fresh. Best of luck with the sports and events photography, that's what I shoot... in fact, I shudder to think of shooting weddings, the mother of the bride scares me! :-) You are a brave soul! Thanks again! To love this comment, log in above September 15, 2005

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