What should I check before buying a photography business?

A photography business can look simple from the outside: a camera, a portfolio and a full calendar. What you are actually buying is a mix of future bookings, past work, equipment and a reputation, and each piece has its own questions. Start with the parts that carry obligations to clients, because those are the ones you will have to honour on day one.

Bookings and retainers already taken

Ask for the full booking calendar and the signed agreement behind each date. Find out which clients have paid a retainer, what they were promised, and how the seller proposes to hand those obligations over. Clients who booked one photographer may not agree to another, so ask how the seller plans to tell them and what happens if someone asks for their money back.

The image archive and client galleries

Past work is an asset and a responsibility. Ask where the files are stored, who can reach them, how long galleries stay online for clients and what the contracts say about who owns the images. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s copyright guide, listed below, is useful background, and your lawyer can tell you what a given contract actually grants.

Gear, studio and lease

Request a list of cameras, lenses, lighting and computers, with proof the seller owns each item outright or what is still financed. Ask for service history on the key items. If the business works from a studio, read the lease early and ask whether the landlord must consent to a new tenant. Compare the lease dates with your plans, not only the seller’s.

Where clients come from

Ask how clients find the business: referrals from planners and venues, search, social media or repeat customers. Ask who controls the website, the social accounts and the email list, and make sure they are part of the sale. Then compare your view of the work with what a photography buyer should ask about owner dependence.