One of the options for implementing a photo business idea is to organize your own business based on a photo lab. Despite the widespread development of digital photography and the transition of the main volumes of photo storage to digital media, the demand for photo printing does not decrease. This is due to the fact that digital photography is inseparable from the medium, and its paper version is able to exist independently.
Therefore, a photo lab-based business can be profitable for many years to come. Moreover, a photo lab can be connected to a small photo studio and a store selling photographic goods.
A photo studio can be focused on printing photos for documents, but target buyers will come to the store, so its work will be effective.
To open a photo lab in this format, you need to choose a room in a good place, near public transport stops or a shopping center. In principle, one of the options is to rent a space in the mall itself, if the rent is not too high.
In principle, you can do it differently: place the photo lab itself in any room, and the order acceptance point in a crowded place.
But then it will be impossible to open a photo studio or a store, which will drastically reduce the possibilities of your business.
To equip your own photo lab, you need to purchase equipment. A good digital lab costs about $100,000. You can, of course, buy cheaper, not new, but if you count on many years of work, then it is better to buy equipment with a guarantee.
In addition, the amount of initial costs will include the cost of repairing the premises, furniture and lighting equipment, commercial equipment, a primary stock of photographic materials and photo products, computer programs and the cost of installing and adjusting equipment. It is better to entrust the adjustment of the equipment to specialists certified by the manufacturer, since the quality of the products, and, consequently, the creation of a permanent circle of customers, will depend on the results of their work.
The operating costs of a photo lab-based business will consist of rent, utility bills, employee salaries, equipment maintenance, and the purchase of materials and goods.
Income will be brought by the actual photo printing itself, retail trade and photographic services for documents.
In principle, for the provision of photographing services for documents, if the room of the darkroom is small, you can install an automatic machine, then the costs of its purchase must be taken into account in the initial ones.
To accurately calculate the profitability of your own business based on a darkroom, you need to take into account your specific conditions.
Therefore, we recommend ordering on our website a real business plan for opening a darkroom with calculations and recommendations.