How do I tell if a photography business depends on the owner behind the camera?

In most small businesses the owner matters. In photography the owner can be the product. A couple choosing a portrait style is choosing a person’s eye, and they may leave if that person does. Before you go further with a listing, test how much of the business could keep running with someone else behind the camera, and find out early rather than after closing.

Who shoots, who edits, who answers

Ask for a list of recent sessions and who shot each one. Then look at editing, client emails and sales conversations. A studio where associates shoot and a manager books clients is a different purchase from one where the owner does everything. Ask to speak with any associates, and ask what they do when the owner is away.

Whose name is on the brand

Read the website, the reviews and the social accounts. If every review names the owner, or the business is called by the owner’s own name, a new person will start without that goodwill. Ask whether the seller would allow the brand name to keep being used, and whether the portfolio images can stay online after the sale.

Staying on through a transition

Many owners offer to stay for a period to introduce clients and shoot booked sessions. Ask what the period covers, what the seller will actually do, and what happens if it ends early. Your lawyer can tell you how to record the handover and whether a restriction on the seller starting a competing studio is appropriate. BDC’s succession planning material, listed below, shows how transitions are usually framed.

Questions to put to the seller

• Which clients have booked the owner by name, and which came through the studio?
• How many sessions in the last year were shot by someone else?
• Would the seller introduce you to repeat clients and referral partners?