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Funding to start a business
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hello, i just joined this site and i need some information. I am Irish guy currently living in Germany. i am hoping to start a photography business i.e do weddings, events, portraiture, application photographs and also some personal projects of my own which i hope to exhibit.
The problem is that I have reached a point where I know that I need a better camera, lens, equipment, insurance etc etc So, basically, I need to buy a better camera and lens to offer a better service to potential clients. But I do not yet have the money to make such big purchases and also I fear getting a bank loan of 4k or 5k and struggling to pay it back if something goes horribly wrong.
Does anybody know of any governmental funding that I could possibly obtain to help start a business for irish nationals living abroad?
Hope somebody can guide me a little bit in the right direction.
My new website is nearly complete but for now i have my blog if anybody wants to have a look http://www.steeboy.blogspot.com
Cheers,
StevenI doubt if any funding exists but if you have been unemployed here for more than a year there may be some small funding available from social welfare but its really a few hundred euro and you will need it show receipts for how it was spent and the spend should have been done with registered business (I think that is true of all grants now). There are the county enterprise boards but their brief is to fund ideas which are not already in existence in the area in which you will be trading. They also prefer manufacturing ideas and employment creation but have been known to help the service industry so it could be worth a try.
I’d imagine that you’d find it hard to get Irish government funding when you’re living in Germany.
Is there no local funding that you can avail of over there? If there is, you might find that you’ll need to match
what they’re offering, i.e. already have a certain amount in your bank account. You may also find that you need
to purchase first and then submit receipts.Best of luck no matter what. Keep us up to date on how you get on and of course keep posting here :)
There’s no way the Irish govt will give you funding to start a business in a foreign country.
But, you should consult with your local service or govt agencies in Germany and see if they will fund you.
Otherwise, you’d be better off just getting a loan.
Anyone based in Ireland could look at a back to work enterprise allowance once they are receiving job-seekers welfare. there is also additional funding available to cover such things as insurance, training, assoc fees……
i would suggest you would check if there is something similar available in Germany.
Personally I disagree with taking out a back loan for starting a business where possible. to be honest the fact that Irish businesses are giving out about a lack of credit shows their over reliance on it. Many start ups borrow to finance an idea which they only had research to suggest there was a market rather than hard facts from experience. a more organic way of growing a business would be to re invest when you earn, that way by the time you buy the really expensive stuff and all the kit you need, you know there is a market for your service, you have built up confidence and experience and a set of loyal customers.
For example I started a photography business with a Canon 400D and a sigma lens, when I earned enough I re invested in equipment now much of my work is shot using a 5D mk II and a 17mm TS-e or a 16-35mm F2.8 mkII to male one image, I can be easily using €6-7k of camera gear and of course my Mac Book Pro and PS CS4. The fact is my work is much better now than it was when I started, but this is not because of the equipment, If I had the kit I now use back then, I would not know what to do with it. anyway, this is a bit off in a tangent but it is how I feel,
Thanks for the replies everybody. Okay it seems that it is how I expected. Applying for this type of thing is a long process full of paper work and paper work so I will look into it more here then. But I work at the moment and guess that it would be difficult for me to receive such benefits to start a business when not in such financial difficulty. So i will do some research and see from there.
Also Brian, I’m not sure what you are getting at. If you are saying I should just use the equipment that I have at the moment and buy new gear with my earnings, I’m not prepared to do that because i want to offer top quality images and not be restricted by my equipments capabilities. I’ve had a d80 for over 3 years now and know its limitations in bad light, how good high iso looks as well as the lens that I use so I’m not prepared to just get myself in debt to buy better cameras and lenses thinking that I will automatically turn into a better photographer :)
Cheers!
steeboy wrote:
I’m not prepared to just get myself in debt to buy better cameras and lenses
In business you typically have to invest money in order to make money.
Another guy looking to take ALL the risks with other peoples money!!!
Somethings never change :lol:
John17 wrote:
Another guy looking to take ALL the risks with other peoples money!!!
Somethings never change :lol:
:lol:
Guys, all i was askin for is a way to get some cash to get some new equipment to start taking photographs without taking a huge risk by getting a bank loan. As I haven’t been employed as a photographer before i am not sure if the earning I make will pay for the equipment I need. I want to offer great quality images so i need the better equipment.
The quote ” I’m not prepared to just get myself in debt to buy better cameras and lenses ” was meant as a response to Brian after i felt that he was suggesting that i want a better camera so that I will (naively) think that i will be a better photographer. Although I might have misinterpreted it.
So Tmmy and John, i dont know what you are talking about when you say i want to take all the risks with other peoples money. I enquired about government funding and bank loans which i think is normal when somebody searches for money to try and better their lives and do something that they want to do. I said that I fear getting a bank loan and failing to pay it back, so just asked for another safer option. If i dont have the money and dont forsee myself managing to save such amounts, please tell me, where else should I look?
please tell me, where else should I look?
You could just start saving.
You could try getting yourself a second job and expedite the saving process.
You could rent the relevant equipment.
You could start a company and take out a company loan.
You could ask a friend or relative for an interest free loan.
You could look at selling something(s) you already own to make some money.
You could look at pawning something(s) you already own.
You could downgrade your car.
You could re-mortgage your house.
You could beg on the streets.
You could rob a bank.
I think you misunderstood my point, it is not about photography, but rather business, many of Japans strongest businesses grew best with little or no credit, the reinvestment of earnings created a more natural growth rate, furthermore it meant that the market was tried and tested before diving in at full pace.
Better glass and cameras make a job easier and help justify a better rate but I just think that borrowing to invest in kit can be a bad move in some cases. If you get a grant, great, if you have someone invest or find some savings that is cool too. but I know I was able to start my business with a 400d and a sigma lens and once I made enough money I traded up.
I mean what’s wrong with applying for a bank loan and then in the event of financial difficulty selling the equipment in order to assist with the repayment of the loan?
okay you buy a 5d mkII and a 17mm TS-E? you make no money what are they now worth? but that is not all you put in, there was the fliers you got printed, web site you got designed…..
but the problem is more about the poor business model that irish businesses became accustomed too
I know a good few photographers who started their business with the camera they had. They bought what they could afford, and as they made money, they re-invested in new gear.
You can’t expect someone else to fund your risk.
If you really think you have a good business model, and can make money, then a bank will have no problems giving you a loan.
However, I assume you haven’t fully done your business plan, and are only assuming that you can make money from your photography. So, it would be a major risk, which is why you don’t want to take out a loan.
If you can’t get good enough photos with what you have, then maybe you need to reconsider your plans, or else you need to take that risk, and fund your own way.
Sorry to be blunt, but it’s hard out there to make money from photography, and you just can’t expect others to fund your gamble.
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