Trying to Land that High School Contract

[OrcaBob]

This summer, a coach from a local high school that I do some shooting for, called me to say the school was renegotiating its contract with a local photography business and would consider giving the contract to someone else. The coach put in a word for me. ;D

However, I'm a one-person operation and this is a major school in the area. Private, independent of the public school district. Actually, this would be an easier job than contracting with the public school district, as the public SD contract would require supporting a whole bunch of schools. This contract would be for one high school, but it would cover ALL photography for the school: yearbook student photos, student ID cards, all sports and club photos, including game photos for all sports, proms, graduation, student photo packages, and every photo used in the yearbook. It would also give me an easy inside track to senior portrait packages to the entire senior class.

This would be huge money but it would also be a huge job. Before I even talked again to the coach, I called contacts and was assured of having at least five other local photographers/PhotoShop people available to handle the workload. I'd need a physical location for an office and a studio, but in this economy rent is fairly cheap (there's an BIG old high-ceiling furniture store available for $0.25 per square foot per month that would make an incredible studio).

The only problem? I have no idea what I'd be bidding on. I don't know how many shoots this would involve: games, dances, proms, awards events, cattlecall-type shoots for yearbook pics, etc. I'm not sure what the student photo packages consist of or how much the parents pay for them.

I can't give a coherent bid on a job about which I know next to nothing.

Since school's already started, the school renewed the contract with the business they were so unhappy with, but the contract is a year-by-year deal. I finally managed to meet with the school officials key in the selection, in order to introduce myself and see what info I could get for next year.

I also realized how darned far I am from being able to handle this type of job.

Where's your studio located? I don't have one. I'm portable. I can lease a studio on short notice.

How many people in your company? Just myself. I'll hire more if I get the contract. I just need some info from him so I know how many to hire.

Do you have the systems needed to print barcoded photo-ID cards? No, but I can buy the equipment. And I used to operate, troubleshoot and maintain those ID-card printers in a previous job. I know the equipment better than the guy who's currently got the school contract.

What other schools have you done this type of job for? None. (He beat me to the punch by saying "Well, everyone has to start somewhere." That was kind of him.)

The guy gave me some long, pitying looks, but he was totally kind and said he'd be glad to provide me the info I needed to submit a bid for next school year.

[jimhobson]

Orcabob,
I would be curious to know why they are unhappy with the company they are using. Price, service? A few years ago I was going to bid on a contract with the NY/NJ Port Authority. The demands they presented were not equal with the money they were willing to pay.
Also keep in mind most large corps. and gov't agencies have a 90 day billing cycle. You will need to pay everything for the first 90 days until their payments start coming in. That's all expenses of work that is already done, including your overhead (salary, insurance, equipment, bookkeeping). They are also tax exempt, but you still have to report it. It's something to find out about. Good luck.
And you're right, it is a huge undertaking.

[OrcaBob]

The coaches, students and parents were all very open with me about their dissatisfaction with the current contractee. Slow service and bad attitude.

Many athletes didn't get their pictures until months after the promised delivery date. I'm not sure if that holds true for all other students, but it wouldn't surprise me.

But what really flabbergasted me was the way they reportedly treated kids getting their pictures taken. I'm told the photographer was frequently short-tempered. One kid claimed he was tossed out of his senior portrait shoot for adjusting his tie just before a shot and chuckling about having to adjust it.

My area is ripe for a new photography business. We've got some fantastic studios but we've also got some that are really showing their owners' age. The problem for the schools is that there are very few outfits capable of handling jobs on that scale, so the schools have to compromise and the studios with poor customer service don't suffer for their conduct.

Problem for me is that it costs a BUNDLE to get to the point that I could handle such a job.

[OrcaBob]

The catch about the big studios that get the school contracts is that they have the inside track on the senior portrait package work, even if they shouldn't be doing senior portraits.

When the kids come in for yearbook pics, often the seniors will just get their senior portraits done in the same session. The photographer has the boy slap on an ill-fitting tuxedo jacket or the girl a faux strapless gown and they just continue snapping. But the current trend in senior portraits is capturing the personality and individuality of the student.

Kids are free to get their senior portraits done elsewhere, but the majority just get them done with the yearbook photographer, even if the portraits are trite and totally uninspired.

How to break into that market? I'm able to advertise in most student newspapers.

Problem 1: One school shut down its student paper due to budget problems. But one student club, to raise badly needed funds, is going to post 11"x17" ads around campus for a small donation. Small enough that I'll donate additional funds for each paying customer the ads bring me.

Problem 2: The prime private school doesn't allow any advertising in its student paper. They have very reasonable ad space in the yearbook, but that won't help me this year. They offer ad space around their football field, but it's semi-pricey. I can advertise in their sporting event game programs (the mini-magazines sold at football and basketball games to list the players), but the football season's already booked.

I've been using guerilla tactics so far: I shoot sports to make my presence known (and make a few sports sales along the way) and some of the athletes get portraits done to show off to other students. The kids get a birddog fee for each paying customer referred to me. Problem: teenagers generally aren't very reliable.

[musicman5]

It's a very similar setup where I live Bob. Our school district uses 1 company to do their student ID's, yearbook and sports group photos. (Game photography is done by the booster organization.)

So with 2 highschools (soon to be 3), 4 middle schools and lots of elementary schools this company gets lots of work. The get some of the senior trade too.

Both of my kids had their senior photos taken by this same company. (I was there both times and the photographers were very good in my opinion.)

I know a number of people in my community that have tried to get their foot in the door in this area but failed. When it's a school district that is in charge its even more difficult. The studio that they contract is based out of Chicago and doesn't hire photographers from this area (I asked!), so that makes it even tougher.

I can feel your pain Bob.

[jimhobson]

Bob,
It seems you have all your ducks in a row already. The timing is just off. The bright side is you have until next year to be completely ready. You know the problems that exist; you know how to fix them. I think that you already do sports photography there is a big plus. Make your presence well known.
You will need studio space in the future or you may find yourself constantly re-scheduling shoots.
For this year maybe you can offer a reduced rate for any senior who is not happy with the photos the other studio did. All you need to do is re-shoot one or two and the word will get around. Parents talk to each other. Deal with the parents; they are the ones with the money. Word of mouth works well. Advertisements in local newspaper may also help.
I don't know anything about the I.D. machines. Are they expensive? Maybe you can work a deal with another studio, in another town, that has one to do your I.D.s.
In my photo lab we outsourced E-6 processing for years until we could afford our own machine.

It seems you are on the right track, its just such a big undertaking for one person. However, when the school sends a bid package you'll have half your foot in the door already.

BTW, our school system uses School Craft. They hire local photog's.

[OrcaBob]

The aggravating thing about that ID card printing requirement is that the printer costs a few thousands of dollars and I saw one in perfect condition at the State of California Great Garage Sale a few weekends ago for something in the neighborhood of $25-50!!! If I'd known that this high school in question issued student ID cards, I'd have grabbed it in a heartbeat.

And the two or the three senior portrait jobs I had this summer? One paid in advance in cash. The other two bailed completely after the shoot. Even with a 50% discount in exchange for letting me use the pics in advertising (plus I just needed the work), they dragged their feet. Times are hard.

I tried to build a fire under those two by giving the 50% discount a termination date and I gave them a month's warning on that. They both promised they'd order and that's the last I heard from either family. I tend to write them off totally at this point, because if they're not taking the 50% discount they're not likely to buy the packages at full price.

This week I'll be composing a new tabloid-sized poster for posting on campus. The posters will have little "tear-offs" with contact info on them. Hopefully that will generate enough business to pay for further advertising.