As we get ready to watch the ball drop on Times Square and count down the seconds to the new year, it’s time to start wrapping up our business expenses for the year. One great thing about running your boutique portrait photography business is that you can write off your business investments when you file your taxes in the new year.
We are huge proponents of investing in yourself to help your business thrive. Whether you want to squeeze in some investments before the end of the year or you’re planning for next year’s business expansions, here’s your end-of-year guide for the best investments for you and your photography business.
Education
If there’s one thing that delivers a strong return on investment for photography businesses, it’s education. Whether the course or workshop is on running a profitable photography business, improving your photography skills or developing your people skills to have more meaningful interactions with your clients, education can be an invaluable investment for your business.
If you’d like to invest in your education but are unsure where to start, consider investing in a photography business course. This comprehensive training can help you identify areas of your business that need improvement. From there, you can move on to other classes focusing on things like marketing your photography business.
There are several more specialized training opportunities you can look into for your business that you might not have thought about:
- Financial Learning–to better understand your business numbers, accounting, and finances. The more you understand, the better decisions you can make, including better choices on where to spend your money in the future.
- Charitable Marketing Strategies –to learn how to develop partnerships with charitable organizations that can send you clients.
- Display Marketing –to learn how to secure displays of your photography in businesses where your ideal clients shop or frequent.
- How to Get Featured in Your Local Media –to get free publicity in your local press for doing things that are newsworthy and interesting
- Graphic Design Resources–to create beautiful and unique custom books and albums for your clients.
You can also look into photography business conferences, like the annual Go Boutique Live conference for boutique portrait photographers to learn what’s working now. Remember to keep track of not only the pricing of every course or conference, but also the travel expenses, if applicable, which leads us to the next investment.
Travel
We’re not just talking about hotel costs and plane tickets to and from a photography conference. You should keep track of your mileage whenever you travel to and from a photography session or client meeting. You’ll also want to include the portion of car repairs, insurance and other expenses related to your business.
The great thing about writing off travel expenses is that you don’t have to include those times you’re traveling specifically for your business. If you’re going on a vacation, attempt to book a session while you’re there. If you do, you can write off the miles driven or flown! You can’t write off your Disneyland tickets when you book a beachside session, so be wise about the extra expenses you incur.
Equipment and Gear
We’re big proponents of the idea that you don’t have to have the latest model or most expensive photography gear to produce beautiful wall artwork that clients will invest in. But it can be a worthy investment if a new camera, lighting equipment or lens will improve your photos or will allow you to photograph different niches.
Your photography gear also includes everything on the editing and marketing side. A new computer, website and editing software can all make excellent upgrades. You can also include the props you use in studio sessions and any upgrades made to the physical studio itself. Some photographers even rent a storage unit for their props. If that’s you, don’t forget to include the rental fee in your write-off list.
Tips for Tax Write-Offs
Separate Your Finances
As you prepare for the end of the year, it can get tough to weed out all your business expenses from your personal purchases. If you haven’t already, open a separate bank account exclusively for your business. You can even do this through a locally owned bank to get to know the employees, establish a relationship and even create a new source of referrals.
Don’t Get Carried Away
When you invest in your business, going overboard is easy because you’ll get to write it off. Remember that writing something off doesn’t give you a dollar-for-dollar tax return—it just lowers the amount of your taxable income so you can save on your taxes.
A good rule when purchasing investments is to ask yourself two questions:
- Will this help me improve my skills and ultimately increase my profits?
- Do I have the extra money to buy this after paying my bills?
If you answered no to either of those questions, eliminating that purchase is better. Remember that you want to strike a balance between growing and improving your business and managing your expenses.
Most importantly, remember that the boutique photography model gives you the tools to grow a photography business without the newest lenses and luxury equipment. As long as you’re serving your clients and going the extra mile to give them a customized experience, your business will thrive, and you’ll find loyal clients who will continue to book you each year.
