Takin' the dive

[Jeff East]

Greetings everyone!
My name is Jeff East , I have been working as a painter and fine art photographer off and on for some time now, working nights as a lab rat. I have been working in photographic labs now for over 10 years and some of that time was spent in the digital imaging department of a large retail photo lab.
Hoping to break free from the comfort of a steady paycheck, I have decided to take a turn at restoration as a business.I have the equipment, software skills and drive, and even an offer of cheap retail space, what advice does anyone out there have for me? I have been doing some research and thoroughly enjoyed discovering this website, I guess I just need a kick in the pants to get going.
Thanks !

[G. Couch]

Welcome to RetouchPro Jeff!

The best advice I can give is to keep posting and reading on this website. There are a lot of people here with considerable experience not only in graphics and photo restoration, but also in running a business. I mainly do photo restoration for fun with only the occasional "real" job...so I can't offer much advice in way of business. Cheap retail space sounds like a good first step though!

I can relate to being a painter/artist. (mostly starving! ) Right now I'm in the middle of finishing a series of paintings and will be submitting slides to galleries soon...making money off a photo business can't be much harder than that!?

[jeaniesa]

Hi Jeff, welcome to RetouchPRO!

I don't know if you've read through any of the threads already in this Work/Jobs forum. They are a wealth of information for anyone wanting to start (or expand) a business in retouching.

If you need a kick in the pants, I would say, "JUST DO IT!" - but first read through these threads to understand all the parameters that go along with "it".

I'm not trying to blow off your question. It's just that I would have to go back through all of the threads myself to remind me of all the good advice (which I should do anyway sometime soon!) So, you might as well read it all first hand.

Good luck - and feel free to start up discussions on any "old" threads. The threads never die and we welcome further discussion/questions on any of them!

Jeanie

[thomasgeorge]

Welcome Jeff! A good start would be to read thru all the posts in the Work/Jobs section plus any of the other areas which catch your attention. From there its a matter of "doing" and not getting discouraged if things seem to start a bit slowly...best advice I could give is not to expect instant success, keep your dealings with clients ethical and honest and never loose the joy and wonder which come with this work. Keep us posted on your progress, questions, advice etc.!! Again, Welcome!! Tom

[Ed_L]

Glad to have you aboard Jeff. Like the others have said, check out the other posts for good info, and don't expect it to be an overnight success. Tom might have given you the best advice when he said to keep it ethical and honest. Running a business almost always requires long hours, so if you're not prepared for that, you might be better off keeping a steady pay check. Once again, welcome.

Ed

[DJ Dubovsky]

Hi Jeff,
Glad you joined the Retouch Pro site. Welcome. If you want to make a real go of it and have some cheap office space, then I would say don't just do restorations. Offer more such as Photo products, ie. albums, frames etc. and maybe photo finishing as well. There are lots of ideas in these forum threads but my main advice is diversify so you have other things drawing them to you.
DJ