I'm a photographer and a former agent — not a lawyer or accountant. These are the practical starting points; confirm specifics for your state with a professional.
1Sole prop vs. LLC — the plain answer
Day one, revenue zero: operating as a sole proprietor is fine. You don't need an LLC to send your first opener, and forming one early is a $300 way to feel productive without booking a single shoot.
The moment real money shows up — your tenth client, or the first month you clear a few thousand — form the LLC. It's $50–$500 depending on state, an afternoon of paperwork, and it separates your business from your house and savings when something goes wrong at a property. You walk through strangers' homes with equipment for a living. Something eventually goes wrong.
2Where every dollar flows
When the Operations bucket can cover an editor, a VA, or a second shooter, you're not buying an expense — you're buying back your week. That's the whole point of the diagram.
3The contract: you license photos, you don't sell them
The industry standard most beginners don't know: you own the copyright to every image you shoot. The agent buys a license to market that listing. Your one-page agreement covers:
- Scope: what's delivered, when (put your 9 AM promise in writing — it sells).
- Payment: due on delivery. Never net-30 for a solo operator — you're not a vendor financing a brokerage.
- License: agent's marketing of this listing — yes. The builder, the stager, the brokerage's next brochure — those are new licenses, new invoices.
- Reshoot/weather policy: exteriors re-shot within 48 hrs for weather, free; "house wasn't ready" reshoots at half rate.
The other side of the table
As an agent I reused listing photos for years — postcards, my website, listing presentations — and not one photographer ever invoiced me for it, because not one had a license clause. That's real money they wrote off without knowing it. Put the clause in; enforce it politely; most re-uses turn into friendly second invoices.
The friendly reuse invoice — send when you spot your photo somewhere new
Hey Mark — spotted my Oak St photos on the builder's site, they look great there. Those were licensed for the listing, so commercial use is a separate license: $150 for their web use, invoice attached, made out to them not you. Zero problem on my end — just keeping the paperwork straight. And tell them I shoot model homes.
4Insurance: the numbers
| Coverage | Amount | Cost/yr | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| General liability | $1M | $300–$600 | You will eventually scratch a floor or be nearby when something breaks in a $900K house. Many brokerages/builders require a certificate before you're through the door. |
| Not shooting weekly yet? | $1M, per job | from ~$5/shoot | Thimble and similar on-demand insurers sell liability by the job, day, or month. Cover this weekend's shoot for the cost of a coffee, buy the annual policy when the calendar justifies it. Same trick for drone liability: on-demand hourly coverage runs a few dollars per flight. |
| Gear coverage | Replacement value | $150–$400 | Your kit lives in a truck. Trucks get broken into. |
| Drone liability + FAA Part 107 | $500K–$1M / cert | $300–$750 + $175 exam | Commercial flight without Part 107 risks five-figure fines. If you hire out drone work, verify the pilot's cert — takes one email. |
5The setup checklist, with costs
| When | Task | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Separate business bank account | Free |
| Day 1 | Tax sub-account + the 25–30% rule | Free |
| Week 1 | One-page contract (template + one hour of a local attorney's review) | $100–$300 |
| Week 1 | General liability policy | $300–$600/yr |
| Client ~10 | Form the LLC, move the bank account under it | $50–$500 |
| Client ~10 | Bookkeeping app connected to the business account; 20-min monthly review | $0–$30/mo |
| Quarterly | Estimated tax payments from the sub-account | Already saved |
Check yourself
Three questions. One shot each.
1. What's the actual day-one requirement?
2. A builder asks the agent for your photos for their website. Those photos are:
3. A $549 payment just landed. What happens first?
Do this before Lesson 10
One afternoon. Then it runs itself.