Budgeting and Finding Your Cost of Doing Business: A Guide for Photographers

Do you know what your cost of doing business (CODB) is?

Like, actually know it—or are you just making a rough guess?

For many photographers, managing finances can feel overwhelming.

It’s not uncommon to feel anxiety about the money side of things, and there are a lot of reasons why. We all bring our past experiences with money into the businesses we create.

In fact, if you want to talk about money anxiety, I’m the perfect person to chat with 🙂

And let’s face it, most of us didn’t choose photography because we love managing finances...

Photography as a career is compelling because we get to be creative and have fun doing something we love. An amazing thing that can’t be said for many careers out there!

But here’s the truth: understanding your budget and knowing your CODB can be a game-changer for your photography business. It helps you take control of your finances, leading to a stronger, more sustainable business.

At Shoot and Thrive, our goal is to help photographers better understand things like this so they can create businesses that work for them and help them to live better lives spent doing the things they love (instead of just being surrounded by tedious things every day). And maybe, just maybe, you’ll see some art in business things like budgeting…but we’ll work on that together 🙂

So…what is budgeting?

At its core, budgeting is about knowing where your money is going and making a plan for it.

It’s not just about cutting back—it’s about aligning your spending with your goals, whether personal or business-related.

Starting with a Personal Budget

When you start with a personal budget, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of your financial needs outside of the business.

• What does it take to cover your living expenses?
• How much do you need to save for the future?

By figuring this out, you can set a realistic salary for yourself, which will help guide your business budget.

I have personally been making personal budgets for myself (and my family) since a pretty young age, and by creating them (and sticking to ’em!) I’ve been able to achieve some massive personal goals for myself including buying a house, freeing myself up to travel more (and spend money on travel), invest for an early retirement, and more…

Whatever your goals are, we can help you make sense of getting there!

We cover getting clear on your personal budget in depth with walkthroughs and additional resources in our Financial Management for Photographers Course.

Budgeting for Your Photography Business

Once you have your personal budget in place, it’s time to create a business budget!

Your business budget really builds on your personal one, since at the end of the day if you know how much you need to cover your personal spending needs – that sets a real benchmark for your personal salary.

Now, your business budget should account for everything from equipment and marketing costs to taxes and operating expenses.

Basically – any money you are going to be spending in your business should be accounted for so you have clarity on how much it’s going to cost just to operate.

Common things you’ll spend money on as a photographer:

• Photography equipment like camera bodies, lenses, flashes
• Paying contractors to second shoot and assist you
• Travel related costs like gas, airfare, hotels
• Office supplies
• Prints and albums for clients
• Computers
• Software subscriptions to things like CRMs, editing tools, online galleries and more

A key part of managing your photography business is ensuring you’re making enough money to cover these costs—while also paying yourself a fair salary.

We cover getting clear on your business budget in even more detail with walkthroughs and additional resources in our Financial Management for Photographers Course.

With these 2 budgets in hand, we can now shift gears to making sense of our cost of doing business…

Let’s do that now!

Finding Your Cost of Doing Business (CODB)

Your CODB is essentially the amount of money you need to generate in gross revenue each year to cover all your personal and business expenses, including taxes.

By knowing this number, you can confidently set your pricing, ensuring your business is profitable and sustainable.

Special note – it’s important to understand that CODB plays a significant role in your pricing, but is not the only factor that should influence it!

Here’s how to break down your cost of doing business:

• Personal Budget: Determine your “reasonable salary” by assessing how much you need to meet your personal financial goals. Your salary could range from “just making enough” to cover your living expenses (if you want to live lean and mean), to more if you want to set more money aside for “fun” and saving towards things like retirement, a house downpayment, or anything else.
• Business Overhead: Account for things like studio space, gear, software, marketing, and other recurring business costs. This is the things you identified in your business budget!
• Taxes: A good rule of thumb is to estimate 25-30% of your revenue for taxes (including income and self-employment taxes). Everyone’s actual tax liability may vary, but this is a good, simple estimate to get started.

With all of these things accounted for, you will now have more visibility into how much you need to make as a photographer to stay in business and be happy!

We cover finding your CODB in way more detail with walkthroughs and additional resources in our Financial Management for Photographers Course.

Taking Cost of Doing Business even further!

Something unique about CODB that we teach about is that this doesn’t have to be a single figure.

One challenge many photographers have with using their CODB to influence their pricing (in particular) is establishing a CODB that is either too conservative (as low as possible, accounting for the bare minimum personal spending) or too “out there” (really high accounting for the want for an amazing future that sees them traveling for 6 months, shoveling money into a retirement account, and more).

To find a more usable CODB figure, we suggest instead of just looking for “one number” to instead find a CODB range.

To give yourself a solid financial cushion, it’s helpful to calculate two CODB figures:

1. Minimum Viable Earnings (MVE): The bare minimum you need to sustain your current lifestyle and business, even if cost-cutting is required.
2. Ideal Earnings: Your MVE plus an additional amount that would allow you to achieve bigger financial goals, like saving for a home or traveling more.

You can run different budgeting and pricing scenarios using these figures, as well as an average of them both together.

Knowing your CODB helps you make smart decisions about how to price your services, take on the right number of clients, and ultimately build a business that supports your financial goals.

If this sounds tricky, it doesn’t have to be! We go in even more detail in our Financial Management for Photographers Course.

Strengthening Your Business Through Financial Control

Budgeting and understanding your CODB aren’t just “nice-to-haves” for someone running a photography business.

If you want to stop feeling like you are just skirting by and living paycheck-to-paycheck like a starving artist, doing these exercises and implementing them into your business is the right move to facilitate a stronger foundation.

These concepts are essential for building strong, thriving businesses.

When you have a clear picture of your finances, you can make more informed decisions, avoid unnecessary spending, and take steps toward long-term success.

It sets you up to be able to weather any storm, and take calculated risks that can pay off big.

If you’re unsure where to start with budgeting and calculating your CODB, we’ve got you covered. At Shoot and Thrive, our Financial Management Course is designed to help photographers take control of their finances. The course includes custom resources and tools to make budgeting and CODB calculations simple and straightforward—so you can focus on what you love: photography.

Christian Romans

Chris is a business strategist at Shoot and Thrive and co‑owner of Hand and Arrow Photography alongside his wife. With over a decade of professional shooting experience (and a passion for photography since high school), he helps creatives grow through smart websites & SEO, blogging, branding, and sales strategies. When he’s not behind the lens or refining a marketing funnel, you’ll find him playing guitar, skateboarding, or planning his next adventure—his favorite so far was campervanning around Iceland. Chris holds degrees in Psychology and Philosophy, which inform his human‑centered approach to both art and business.

www.shootandthrive.com