Ian Furniss Photography » Blog Archive

Losing Business

If you were to ask most people why they make a living or try to make a living out of photography they’d probably tell you something along the lines of ‘because I love taking photos!’. For most of us there are few things better than being out with a camera, fulfilling that burning desire within us to create great art or recording the world around us in some way. I tend to think of it as a very self-indulgent world where, despite my desire to share my work after, the actual process of going out shooting is something I can only really do alone. I need to become a part of my surroundings and it’s hard to do if i’m chatting to a friend or wondering if they’re getting bored by my obsessing over a spirit level. Sure, I have friends whose passion for my work I sometimes feel surpasses even my own and there are times I feel incredibly humbled that after a long day shooting i’ll sit down and the first thing they’ll ask me is to see what i’ve brought back, but, the post-processing is still a very personal part of the creative process and again i’ll need to shut myself away somewhere and work in isolation. It all makes for a very egocentric experience that sometimes it’s hard to get away from: I create for myself, I refine for myself, I work for myself, and I sell the results for myself in whatever way I see fit. My work is “I”.

Business is different. Business, as much as we’d like it to be all about us, has to find a balance. I’m both fortunate and unfortunate in that I don’t have to jump at every bit of work that comes my way, but still, there are also times when a job lands on your desk that you really fancy. Now there are lots of ways to go about negotiating, none of which i’m going to go into here. What I want to consider is what do you do when you put your quote in for that dream job, and for some reason you don’t get it?

Back in the good old days my first reaction would be to find someone or something to insult. Throw a bit of blame around, tell the dog he’s not having his walk tonight, and wallow in self-pity and misery for a while until i’d convinced myself the whole world was against me and … “it’s all down to an unfavourable alignment of the stars!”. I have to say, it wasn’t a very succesful way of doing things. At some point you have to choose reality and take responsibility for whatever does or doesn’t come your way. Once you’ve done that, then you also have to decide how you’re going to deal with it.

There are any number of ways and some are useful, some are not. Arrogance and ego will tell you “Their loss. I’m a genius and they’ve missed their chance!“, alternatively disapointment may make you think “That was a great opportunity i’ve missed that may never come around again. Woe is me!”. With both, the next step is usually to move on and keep fighting, but that would be missing out on another opportunity. Whilst it’s true that we usually go into business for our own reasons, the reality is that once you take that step, your role is also to provide for others. In short, it’s no longer all about you. If you can come to terms with that, then losing business, not getting a contract you wanted, things like that, they can actually be your best opportunities to grow.

If i’ve quoted for work and not got the gig, whilst in the past I may have moved on, the first thing I do now is to get straight back on the phone or email and find out why. I don’t mean sitting down and composing a lengthy diatribe, nor torturing someone to death by repeatedly saying “Why?!?!” and trying to convince them of the error of their ways. What I mean is, I respect their decision to go elsewhere, thank them for considering my tender, and then simply ask for feedback. “Is there anything I can do to improve my service, which will help me to better provide you with the kind of service you need for the future?”. Sometimes a reply will come back, other times it won’t. Either way, it’s an opportunity to improve and develop yourself in a way which will benefit both your clients and yourself in the future.

I got into photography because I loved taking photos, now i’m here, I still love taking photos, but if nobody wants to buy them I need to know why. It could be the price was too high/low in which case I may or may not need to reconsider my asking price. It could be my archive didn’t contain the kind of shots that were needed in which case that’s something I can look to correct for the future. Whatever the reason, it’s better for everyone if you take the time to find out why. Most of all it’s better for yourself. Don’t let belief in what you’re doing stop you from looking for a better way to do it.