Hey Phil
Good for you mate, nice one..
StudioPlus Software
have a gander at this mate
Dont be too afraid of prices, if you're good, you're worth it and people will travel to see you but dont go venture pricing!
Networking will be your main focus for the first few months so throw yourself into it. for your immediate neighbours just give some freebie PR shots but explain thats what they are, one off's!
surf the net and keep an eye on what goes on in portrait land. thats what i do..
are you doing online proofs? we dont as we want people in the studio making a decision there and then. works 99% of the time. light, atmosphere, presentation are all controlled by us. Lord knows how many home monitors look crap and our shots wont look the best on them..
Price wise? stay away from from small profits. We offer one free(absolutely everything is framed) but we work very hard to make sure our shots live up to expectations..being aware of you area is good but you wont get rich doing it softly softly. take it slowly but firmly. make the product you sell look like its expensive but price it under so you get the, "oh wow, thats good!"
we get our customers by stands in shopping centres then calling people who express and interest therefore no cold calling.
get yourself listed everywhere online that is free. keep googling what customers would put in and see what online directories come up etc then look carefully at spending your money. paper advertising doesnt account for where everyone looks these days
printing wise not sure what you have planned but try to FTP as much as poss to cut down on posting costs
Photo Processing, Exhibition, Display Equipment and Signage
a lab we use. save costs by putting all shots into a 20x16 or 24x20 then trim them yourself
avoid promotions where you work hard for not much return. you'll get everyone taking free offers while you run yourself ragged!
storage wise, backup dvd and this
Drobo
not cheap but bloody good, i want one!
well thats my lunch over so i'm off. hope thats all helpful and i havent taught you to suck eggs!
cheers mate
Best of luck, quite jealous!
ps
Kaleidoscope
more we use!