The problem isn’t your photos (even if it hurts to admit it)

Hi,

I see it every week: photographers with spectacular work, a great eye, great gear…
and yet a business that shakes at the first bump.

A bad season, a client dropping out, a personal setback… and the whole castle starts to wobble.

Over time I’ve noticed that the problem often isn’t the photos, but the foundations of the business: processes, client experience, and basics no one ever taught us to take care of.

Let me share three things I see again and again.

 

1. Everything lives in the photographer’s head (and that’s risky)

Many photographers work like this:

• Double bookings and calendar misunderstandings.
  
• Every client comes in through a different channel and replies go out “when there’s time”.
  
• Poor or messy payment management.
  
• Photos delivered late, and sometimes badly.
  

When there isn’t much work, it can kind of work. When things get busy or more complex, chaos shows up.

A healthy business needs simple, repeatable processes: what happens when a client gets in touch, how you book them, how you get paid, what you send after the shoot…

It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to be consistent.

 

2. The client experience doesn’t match the quality of your photos

This one stings.

You can deliver a beautiful job, but if everything around that delivery is confusing, slow or uncomfortable, the feeling that remains is mediocre.

Some signs I see a lot:

• Websites photographers are embarrassed to show.
  
• Galleries that are hard for clients to understand.
  
• Messages that take days to get an answer.
  
• Buying processes that feel like a maze.
  

Your client doesn’t know about technique or editing. What they feel is whether working with you was easy or hard.

Very often, improving a few details in the client experience has more impact on your business than buying another lens.

 

3. The camera is cared for, the numbers aren’t

Another classic: they know their gear inside out, but not what each session really costs them.

And without that, it’s almost impossible to:

• Set prices that truly support your life.
  
• Say “no” to what isn’t worth it.
  
• Plan your year with a bit of peace of mind.
  

A fragile business is often a business that doesn’t know if it’s actually making money or losing it.

You don’t need to become an accountant, but you do need to be clear on four basic numbers: how much comes in, how much goes out, which services are profitable and which aren’t.

 

It’s not about working more, but working better

I see many exhausted photographers trying to “do more”: more social media, more shoots, more hours.
And maybe the next step isn’t doing more, but organising what you already have:

• Writing down your client journey. For example:
  website/social/WhatsApp/phone → form → booking → contract → photos and video → image selection → delivery → invoice → payments → follow-up.
  
• Checking whether the online experience you offer is aligned with the quality of your photos.
  
• Looking honestly at your prices and service offering, even if it feels uncomfortable.
  

Your photos can be the ceiling of your business, but your processes and client experience are the floor that keeps it from collapsing.

I’m not writing this to scare you, but to encourage you. If this email at least gets you to think a bit about how you run your business, it will already be worth it.

I’d love to hear how you see it.

Does your business feel solid, or more like it’s made of glass?

I’m listening.

Best,
Félix Mezcua
CEO at Arcadina