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Note I’ve updated the money counter to show what I need to clear before I can start putting money into PhotoNOW – To explain quickly, I was foolish and the bank was aggressive, for anyone reading this do not get a credit card!

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I soloed most of the week and had a friend help me on the last three days, he was working for free, I had great customers and good turnover.

This weeks excell sheet – Note : £80 to come and I’ve haven’t paid myself or my print bill, I should be looking at around £600-620 for myself, most of which will go towards clearing my debt.

I’ve added a new stand to my studio, it’s a spinning triangle display thingie ma bob.

It’s not fully finished yet, but it will tell more about PhotoNOW, what we offer and will sell Gift Vouchers which will come with a free print depending on what gift voucher they buy.

Once I leave it will be displayed in my fathers camera shop, listed with the dates, I’ll have to give a cut to my father, but this will build brand confidence and a little awareness.

I’ll get a  video together to show you it once I’ve dressed it up.

I’ve been asked non-stop for design work since my stand has been up, so I knocked up a small leaflet offering a design service aimed at Retail / RMU / stand displays. Done a few jobs already, looks promising.

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Phase 1.9.9 – Getting ready for the next booking, further tests

Things to do:

Book space for next year. – Handed in 12 weeks for Waltham Cross, first half of next year, all half terms booked! – Need to check up to make sure they have been booked O.K.

Finish website – It’s nearly ready to go live, just needs a little content and product population.

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Theorizing the value of having a website that people can order reprints from, I’m came to the conclusion that I want it sooner rather then later.

I originally planned to get a really, really, top notch in house developed website, hiring someone full time to work on it. This obviously wouldn’t be possible until i had a few studios running and had some serious income behind me.

I’ve looked and found the middle ground, I don’t want to pay out lots right now as I don’t have the moolah, but I don’t want a cookie cut or a ‘café press’ style website. A friend of a friend of a friend, who is now my web developer, will be building the website.

He built Carspares.co.uk from scratch with a lot of custom database coding, seeing the back end of the website it really is a piece of art. The front end graphically isn’t my cup of tea, but it serves them very well.

The best thing is, which makes me very thankful for him to work with me on this project, is that he is willing to work on a turnover commission based pay. Which makes it very affordable for me and hopefully quite profitable for him once it’s setup.

PhotoNOW website site plan

My website will be based loosely around the Kodak Gallery website.

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Phase 1.9.9 – Getting ready for the next booking, further tests

Things to do:

Book shopping centre space
Research and find a way to offer a faster print service – Just need to check out the leases.
Look for a sales assistant – First week is sorted now, mixture of solo and a friend helping out.

Look at Epos tech and make a paper receipt
Design new displays for the studio

Think about home call setup, the equipment needed, marketing, prices and photographers.

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Dates have been updated to reflect what’s going down for the rest of the year, nine weeks in total booked.

Nine weeks out of the twenty odd which is left, isn’t many, unfortunately this is all they had left in Waltham Cross. Due to me purchasing new equipment and changing the setup around I really want to be close to my fathers camera store just in case it goes tits up.

These nine weeks will be crucial to my future success, seeking the problems and fixing them will be the key.

Making a start to finish product that anyone can run and everyone will love.

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Phase 1.9.9 – Getting ready for the next booking, further tests

22nd of June to the 7th of July, had to be changed by the landlords for the reason of competition, another photography will be in the area.

Things to do:

Book shopping centre space
Research and find a way to offer a faster print service – Just need to check out the leases.
Look for a sales assistant
(note – I’ve robbed a bunch of CV’s of possible people from my dads store, need to give them a call!)
Look at Epos tech and make a paper receipt
Design new displays for the studio