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Friday 10th – £200.00 – Turnover – £185.00 TARGET MISSED

Total for the week – £635.00 // £385.00 to go

Close, but no cigar.

Done a little math, if i had two staff working this entire week on my new pay scheme (wage with a little commission depending on turnover) I would be about £95 down, with printing costs on top, which will be about £50. Ideally over tomorrow and Sunday i would need to turnover another £400-500 if I was going to turn a small profit. (£215 profit @ £500, with wages / printing etc)

When i think like this i get a little depressed “is this actually going to work?” I answer myself with “Of course it is!” Then i remind myself of all the extras which needs to go on top. Good weeks and bad weeks happen, as long i have my best possible and cost effective setup running, I will always eventually come out on top.

Extra dates booked - Next Week, someone cancelled. December (Ohhh yeahh) Extra week prior to the week already booked – Kaching.

Also, being polite and positive goes a long way. I was called into the office of the centre manager and they have agreed to lower my rent to £300+VAT from £350+VAT – on all my new bookings (Sucks about all the stuff i’ve got booked, but I’m now going direct to the centre rather than through a agency)

They have also agreed to give me a big heads up on booking, I can now book a whole year in advance which means i have monopoly on Waltham Cross, the likely hood of another photographer being in there is very low.

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

Things to do:

Design new displays for the studio <— Needs to be better but got some stuff up

Think about home call setup, the equipment needed, marketing, prices and photographers. Most of the homecall stuff is in my head – Just need a photographer! <— Ohhh yeah.

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Alrighty then. I have my shopping list, I still need to do a little research on the backdrop. I know what I want, but I need a backdrop with some display area behind it and around it.

Kinda like these eight panel display stands, as I’m still not 100% sure how I’ll get it all to fit around this will now be my top priority, designing the studio layout!

I went to a few stores today to try and pick some Epson ink for my R1800 to test it out and make sure it was working OK, but could I find anywhere with some in stock? Now I have to wait a few days for the ink to come, very annoying.

Shopping List:
- Canon LBP5050 Laser – £132.25
- FotoSpeed Ink Flow System – £97.85 (If the printer is still working ok – she’s a few years old now)
- Various Frames from Kenro – about £50 worth
- A few custom made shirts – about £40 worth

Things I still need to look at:
- Back drop and display system
- Table and chair
-  Something to sit small children on

I’ve decided to ‘borrow’ some carrier bags and photo holders from my last job to save some money.

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Phase 1.5 – Method Preparation

I just need purchase remaining parts I need, then I really need to get a test run going!

Things to do:
Make a studio layout / floor plan.
Get ready for a test run.
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Other Stuff:

Feels like an unproductive day as I wasted far to long hunting down ink, but I did get my hands on a Kenro catalogue + trade price list, some really nice frames in there!

Also I started scribbling down floor plan ideas.

Trying to make myself feel better, when really I should just be working harder. I hate wasting time on poor planning, I should’ve phoned a few stores before heading out instead of assuming they have things instock.

Grrrrrr!

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The Work Flow is completed, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat reader or  plug-in for your browser to see it!

It’s quite basic, but how complicated does it need to be? Take photos –> Get Money, however I feel a lot more confident after making this. I knew basically what I needed to do and in what order but seeing it on paper made me think of the things I’ll need to look at and work on.

Studio Floor Plan and Equipment list is next on the agenda.

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Phase 1.5 – Method Preparation

Work Flow is done.

Things to do:
Make a studio layout / floor plan.
Make a list of equipment that I need to purchase.

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Other Stuff:

While playing with a calculator:

How much profit I need per day to reach my target: £547.94
How much profit per hour: £22.83
How much profit per minute: £0.38
How much profit per second: £0.006

Looking at it like this makes me die a little inside. It seems almost impossible, but if I look at it like this:

15 Studios per day turning over £300.00 – £4500.00 – even at a low net profit margin of 50% that’s £2250.00 profit per day!

Man, I’m really going have to be on those margins like a hawk.