When I shoot I make about $100 per hour
I run my business on a shoestring and keep the following expenses as low as possible. Fortunately there are other things (like my wife) that take care of things like my health insurance. If you’re single then you’re not in that same boat.
WARNING – WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT MONEY
Money is a touchy subject for a lot of people – and it seems especially so for photographers.
Everyone’s personal circumstances are different, and we have a global audience with drastically different markets and ideas about income levels – so the numbers I am presenting in this article are what I would consider realistic for a typical middle class Canadian – but please feel free to make adjustments to suit your own income goals and local market.
WHAT YOU BILL IS NOT WHAT YOU EARN
Say it with me – what I bill per hour is not what I earn. What I bill per hour is not what I earn. What I bill…OK you get the point – but for some reason this seems to be a particularly hard lesson for photographers to learn – especially those just starting out.
The reality is that all professionals who bill by the hour – such as lawyers, engineers, architects, accountants etc. bill their clients at a minimum two to three times their take home pay rate. For example, if a lawyer earns $60 per hour – they would typically bill at least $120 to $180 per hour.
For photographers who own and operate their own businesses (often as the sole employee), the ratio of billable rate to take home pay is even higher, as we will see.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR TIME WORTH
If you are a recreational photographer and you practice photography purely because you love it and you would do it for free – that is awesome – do us all a favor and just do it for free. Seriously!
There is nothing wrong with working for free – as long as everyone knows you are working for free. The problem is when photographers fall into the trap of working almost for free. Photographers that undervalue their services are not doing themselves any favors, and are in fact contributing to the wholesale undervaluing of the entire industry – but that is an argument for another day.
If you are a part time photographer, you can look at what you earn in your day job to gauge how much your time is worth. If you earn $30 an hour at the office, chances are you’d like to earn at least $30 an hour from your photography.
If you are a full time photographer, you can work backwards from what you need to earn in a year to support your family and your lifestyle. Or, you can figure that if you had to quit photography to put food on the table, you would presumably have a suitable full time job and rate of pay.
For the purpose of providing an example, the average income for a married person with a family in Canada is around $60,000 per year. That’s about equivalent to $30 per hour.
WHAT’S YOUR OVERHEAD
Finally, we have to consider our overhead.
Again, like many of the other factors, overhead varies greatly depending on a photographers personal circumstances and business model.
At a minimum, overhead would include things like: camera upgrades, computer equipment, home maintenance or rent, software, cellphone, internet, advertising, web hosting, transportation, insurance etc.
Most photographers drastically underestimate their overhead, and if you are a recreational or part time photographer, the lines between what is overhead and what you are just buying for your own enjoyment blur together a little.
But, for our example, lets put an overhead budget together:
Camera Upgrades – say maybe a new body and maybe a lens, and some lighting gear every three years – roughly $2400 per year, or $200 per month.
Computer Equipment – say a new computer every three years too – roughly $600 per year, or $50 per month.
Home Maintenance or Rent – this can vary a lot – but lets say a modest $200 per month would cover a home studio.
Software – upgrades, Photoshop CC etc. – $100 per month.
Cellphone & Internet – I pay around $200 per month.
Advertising and Web Hosting – depends on how heavily you advertise – but say $100 per month.
Transportation – again depends on your mode of transportation – but easily $200 per month.
Insurance – say $100 per month.
That all adds up to $1,150 per month in out of pocket expenses (and that is on the very low home studio end). To cover $1,150 per month in overhead, or 23% of your target annual income, you have to add another $13.80 per hour to your billable rate.
That brings our total billable rate up to $93.60 per hour
So what SHOULD YOU be charging for your time?
You can read the entire article over at DIY Photography
Source: DIY Photography
Well said