Hmmm.
I'm a little skeptical of, "Ok, so I've got my camera now, and figured out how to put film in, But one thing I can't seem to figure out is where does the money come out?" type posts.
Now I'm not saying that this is where you are coming from, I want to be clear, but there are some really hard questions to ask yourself before putting out your shingle.
Have you really got the experience to take money for this service? Don't get me wrong, I'm always rooting for the little guy, but a post I'd like to read would say something like...
"So, I've been shooting a great deal of large format colour for the past couple years and I find I really enjoy the darkroom part of photography, I just hate how little printing I really get to do, as Idaho doesn't offer me a great variety of Vistas that do justice to LF colour print and trannies.
Also, I've run a few small businesses/have taken a local community college course in small business, and it seems like something I'd like to try. I know it's alot of hard work running the business, and it usually takes at least a year to start breaking even, and dealing with people can sometimes be a chore.
But what can I say? I just like darkroom work and I wish I could have a small army of assistants running around shooting my stuff so I could spend time doing what I really like to do, which is being alone, either with a radio in the background, crafting quality images.
So, do you think there are enough other LF's in my area to support a small lab?"
That's the kind of post I'd like to read from a guy contemplating commercial printing.
I've switched from a chem major to a business major in Univ. this year and we talk alot about core competencies. A business has to be able to completely master it's core competencies to be able to function. 99% success rate is a complete failure. Do you ever see those sigma/ISO9001 ratings on products/companies? Those companies that attain that standard have kept up an error/failure/faulty product deficiency rate of something like 7 or less errors PER MILLION processes/products.
I don't want to say that it's not possible for someone without business experience to succeed in business, it's just that those people that have done so, often have a core group of people who know them and hate them because of the start-up failures and mistakes they made in the businesses formative years. In say....carpentry, or housepainting....that a non-issue, the market is big, and the customers don't form a vocal and tight knit group. The LF photography world IS a close and vocal and tight knit group. If you make honest mistakes as a printer it could follow you around for years after you close up shop, and take away from your enjoyment of photography.
Also, financing is an issue, sometimes business cost more than they make for the first year or two (and by sometimes I mean usually). Trying to recoup investment too fast can result in an entrepreneur pricing themselves out of their target market before they even have a chance to get off the ground. If a person has small children they might not want to risk ANY money on a small business.
Here's what I'd suggest to a person. Start printing friends work for BELOW COST, so cheap that they don't even care if sometimes you make the occasional mistake. Print other peoples work at a loss for several months, and see how you like it. Be very clear to these people that you are beta testing the business idea, not running a proper business, but secretly try to act like a pro-printing shop, managing accounts, costs, shipping, working to deadlines....etc..etc.. Think of it as paying for a free education.If you don't like it, and you close up shop, you can deduct the losses you took off your taxes. If you do like it, you can roll those losses forward and pay no tax on future business profits until you break even.
P.S. Learn proper double entry bookeeping. Confusing at first, but essential.
