S14E02 | Running a profitable part-time pet photography business while working full time
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If you’re interested to know if you can run a profitable pet photography business part-time, today’s guest, Hanako Soncini is sure to inspire. She is Swiss, living in Canada, working full time as a teacher and on top of that, shooting for 30 paying clients a year- mostly only in the Summer break! She spends winter working on her marketing plan and has no intention of ever going full time!
Hanako was truly an open book in this interview, particularly in the members-only extended half we got into financials, pricing structures and lead sources. This is an episode you don’t want to miss so if you’re not yet a member, be sure to join now at the petphotographersclub.com/join so you can hear the entire interview.
WE COVERED:
When Hanako shoots among teaching
How many clients she has per year
Why going full-time isn’t on the cards for Hanako
How knowing your personality can help your business
How the impact of keeping the safety net can differ for certain people
EXTENDED MEMBERS-ONLY EPISODE
Increasing from 17 to 30 clients from 2021 to 2022
When Hanako fits in time for marketing and her best lead sources
Annual revenue, pricing structure & pricing
Automation
MENTION LINKS:
Hanako Soncini
Kiwi's Photography, Ottawa, Canada
“My name is Hanako Soncini and I own Kiwi's Photography, named after my first chihuahua Kiwi.
I grew up in Switzerland surrounded by pets, got into dog shows at a very young age and started breeding chihuahuas with my family. Growing up, I always wanted to work with animals, but I never knew pet photography was a thing. I've always loved taking photos and after moving to Canada and finishing high school, I got my first DSLR.
I then moved to Tokyo for a year to go to pastry school, and most of my photos back then were of food. When I came back to Canada, I kept taking photos, but many were of my dogs' that I was reunited with. I used to blog a lot and switched my food blogging page to a blog page about my pets, and I became obsessed.
I started taking some photos of other people's pets a few years ago, but it's only just a couple of years ago that I decided to pursue pet photography professionally. I teach full-time as well so it's sometimes a challenge, but I wouldn't have it any other way. "
Transcript
Today's guest is sure to inspire. She's Swiss living in Canada, working full-time as a teacher, and on top of that, she shoots for 30 paying clients a year, mostly only in the summer break. She spends winter working on her marketing plan and has absolutely no intention of ever going full-time with her pet photography.
Hanako was truly an open book in this interview, particularly in the members only extended half where we got into financials, pricing structures, and lead sources. This episode, you really don't wanna miss it, so if you're not yet a member, definitely this is the one to join.
Hello and welcome back to the Pet Photographer's Club. I'm Kirstie McConnell, and today I'm chatting to Hanako from Kiwi's Photography. Welcome to the Club Hanako. Thank you so much for having me.
I'm quite excited to talk to you today, and I know that a lot of the listeners will be as well. I did pop a little note into the members' Facebook group letting the members know that I'll be chatting with you which we always do for every interview.
And it was really cool to hear some have some questions come through from the members as well. They were really intrigued about what it is you're doing and how you managed to. Your business with a full-time job. So I know the listeners are going to love this interview as much as I'm excited for it as well.
So let's backpedal a little bit and can you just give a bit of an introduction into like where you're based, what it is that you do with your business, and how you fitted in amongst your full-time. Sure. So I'm based in Ottawa, it's in Canada. It's the capital of Canada, and I moved here from Switzerland about 10 years ago.
And I didn't start with teaching or photography actually. I did a lot of small jobs and trying to figure out what I wanted to do and I ended up teaching full-time. And I've always loved taking photos and especially. Pets, because I've always, I grew up having so many pets. You know, if I look back at my photo albums they're all photos of my pets. So it naturally, I guess I, I naturally evolved into, you know photography and cameras and all that. So I started doing it as a hobby. And a few years ago, not long ago, actually, I think two, two to three years ago, I started doing this professionally. balancing teaching as well and photography. So that's where I am now.
Mm-hmm. . Okay. So give us all a bit of a, an overview of what your typical year looks like. I mean, I did ask you just before we press recording and I was mm-hmm. Yeah. Interested to hear, so, you know, what's the breakdown of, of breakdown of kind of the 12 months? How does that work for you in terms of juggling a full-time teaching job and your photo?
Right. So I teach around 10 months of the year. And you know, during the summer I have two months of I guess vacation or prep time, but I have those two months off. And in the winter as well. I have about two weeks off, but I teach full-time during 10 months. And I take photos usually on the weekends, during the year, and.
also during my summer vacation. That's my biggest, you know, it's the. period during the year where, where I have the most time for my clients. So I use that as much as I, as I can. And yeah, otherwise it's during the weekend. So I usually have only one day off during the week, during the year and all you know, I, on Saturday or on Sunday, depending on the client I'm booked.
So that's basically how I manage my schedule. in the winter. I try not to take any clients, and that's more of a preference thing because I can't manage the cold at all, , and I haven't gotten used to the Canadian winter yet even though I have been here for over 10 years, . So that's more of a preference thing.
But other, other than that, that's usually how I balance my schedule. Okay. Okay, so let's get into that nitty gritty a little bit more. So you said that during winter you typically don't shoot mm-hmm. , then through the rest of the year, other than the two months in summer, you are teaching six days a week and you potentially also have a photography client on the seventh day of the week.
Is that, did I get that? So I teach five days a week, Monday to Friday, and I take a client on Saturday or Sunday, depending on their schedule. So I have one day off. Okay. Oh, well, very lenient interview, giving yourself an entire day off. And do you actually have it off or do you use it for like marketing or something for the business, or do you Well, You take it off.
I usually use that day to edit . So I take photos. If I take photos on Saturday, I'll use my Sunday to edit and do some admin stuff and prep for the next school day and things like that. Can I ask you Hanako, if there is anybody else in your, in your home, or if you live in your. So right now I live on my own, but I'm actually in the process of moving in with my boyfriend.
So yeah, that's part of the reason why I haven't taken any clients this winter because I'm packing boxes right now.
Okay. So would you actually consider yourself like a bit of a workaholic or you just really. Your photography and you don't wanna keep up teaching or like, what's the story there? I think it's both. I think I'm definitely a bit of a workaholic. I've always been, I always have to, you know, be doing something.
I can't just sit there and do nothing. That's just not me. But I ended. These two passions. I love teaching and I love photography as well, so I can't really, you know, people always ask me, do you wanna go full-time or are you ever gonna give up teaching or photography? And I always say, no, I can't give up, you know?
One or the other because I love both so much. So yeah, I guess it makes me a bit of a workaholic. . That's okay. I'm not shaming you on that. I definitely, your workaholic I've changed as my life has. But I can definitely relate. So no judgment. Okay. So. So you are shooting potentially one client a week for like nine months of the year, or No, six or seven months of the year, I guess, and then two months of summer.
How many clients are you shooting in that period? Oh my God, a lot. Usually I try to take. Oh my god. Maybe one or two clients a week. So I was actually looking at my numbers and you know, for the whole year of 2022. So this year I had about 30 paying clients for the whole year. Okay. And most of it was during the summer, cuz that was my, you know, Period of the year where I had the most time.
So yeah, most of it is, was during the summer for sure, but it was, it's about 30 clients for the year, and that's paying clients. So on the side I'm doing you know, maybe some volunteer work for fundraisers and like maybe one giveaway here and there. So those are not paying clients, but you know My goal is to like have, you know, to turn those into paying clients because of products and all that, but I do that as well.
So about 30 clients a year, which actually for, you know, some photographers that might be actually almost a full-time job in itself, depending on, you know, what service level they offer. Mm-hmm. , you know, the average sale and this kind of thing. So, I mean, it's not. One client a month, you know, you are fitting in, you know, three times that almost, and this full-time job.
So before you mentioned that you. You get asked a lot, and that was one of the questions in the group, in the Facebook group of the members, if you, if you actually want to go full-time in your photography and you said no because you don't wanna give up your teaching, are, are you interested in balancing it out a little bit more?
Would you be ever looking to reduce your teaching hours to part-time so that you could do more photography? Or are you really happy with the balance Right now? I've thought about it. Right now I'm happy with how everything is. So, you know, teaching full-time and then doing. Photography, I guess part-time, which is turning into full-time almost, but part-time and you know, I wanna keep it that way for now. Obviously that might change in the future. And, you know, I don't have any kids or, you know, but if that were the case, then. I did think about maybe reducing the teaching part of my life, so teaching part-time maybe, and doing photography full-time. I've thought about, you know, just taking a year off of teaching and see how I could work as a full-time photographer as well. So I'm not eliminating those options. But right now I'm happy the way things are, so I wanna keep them that way.
Okay, that makes sense. And is that because of like lifestyle and workload, or is it mostly because of money? Like is it, you know financially better for you to be teaching full-time or like where does that kind of mix come in?
I'm not a very adventurous person, so I don't really like taking risks. Especially with my life and finances and all that. I do like to have that safety net. So, you know, with the teaching, I do get all the benefits and you know, ass. A regular salary that comes in biweekly and you know, there's all that.
So, because I've only started pet photography like seriously I think about two years ago so I don't want to really. Give up all of the teaching part, and I, I still want to have that safety net just in case anything happens or the business doesn't go well or, but yeah, I did, I did think about all the, the other options as well, for sure.
Mm-hmm. . Okay. You must be quite a motivated person, Hanako, because I know that. Some people like myself, for example, I actually found that I had to remove the safety net of another income to push myself to grow my business for the next level. But it looks to me on the surface at least, , and from what you've just said so far that actually your business is doing quite well.
I mean, especially for a part-time business, 30 clients a year. We haven't gone into your averages yet, but We'll, in the members only second half if you're up for that. But I imagine like myself, if I had this, you know, kind of a. Steady in, or definitely steady income with teaching and kind of the paycheck coming in all the time.
And knowing when my holidays were and everything, I think I would find it hard to be motivated to grow my business unless I was super, you know, aiming to, you know save or, or something, buy a house or something. And I needed to remove the ceiling of my, my income earning, mm-hmm. . So do you consider yourself quite a motivated person?
I think so. I, it's funny because I always, you know, laugh about it with , my friends and family, and I always say that, you know, you said motivated, so, which is very positive, but I always say I'm very hardheaded, . So it worked in my favor because I'm also very competitive and, you know, there's, you know, running a business is not easy and there's more and more pet photographers as well, you know.
Becoming more common, I guess. And, you know, seeing all these other pet photographers who, you know, are also friends, you know, work hard and get clients and produce amazing photos. And I, you know, it's great for them, but I do get competitive as well, . So there's a side of me that's, you know, that's like, I can't, I have to do better because I don't want to you know, Kind of be left behind
So I'm hardheaded in that sense and it does motivate me. So thank God for them as well. But yeah, I guess motivated is is a word I can use? No, I think it's great to know your own personality, you know, I mean, I'm also quite competitive. Mm-hmm. , but you know, That's one aspect that motivates you probably, and there's probably others, and to know your personality and what drives you, I think makes it much easier because, you know, like I said before, I had to remove that safety net.
Complacent in the early years when it, you know, I probably would've given up earlier because it's hard work, you know, whereas you, it's, you know, you know your own personality and you're the opposite. You find comfort in the safety net, but not so much that you don't push yourself to do better in your own business.
So I think that's a, a great takeaway for the listener to just really consider, if you haven't already, like consider. your own personality when it comes to like, how can you push this business to work for you? I mean, that's exactly what you've done Hanako, from what I understand. I mean, you are, you are really building a business that suits you.
You are, you're not taking on winter clients. You're working, you know, More clients like a lot in a two month period and then just a few others on each side of that. And that's exactly what works for you and suits your personality. Ok. I do wanna to dive into how it's working for you in terms of numbers and what it is you, of your clients and and marketing and all of these kind of things. Because you mentioned giveaways before and volunteering. So I wanna get into all of that, but I'm gonna save that for our members only, which is the second half of this interview. So let's wrap up part one now, but before we do do that, how can the listener find you if they wanna check out your work or they wanna connect some way, they've got some questions, where's the best place for them to go?
Yeah, so in terms of social media, I think I'm very active on Instagram, which is my Instagram handle is Kiwi's photography, Ottawa. And I usually. automate everything. So everything that's posted on Instagram is automatically posted on Facebook. So my Facebook handle is the Kiwi photography crew, and my website is kiwis photography.com. Perfect. And I'll add links to all of those in the show notes. So if you miss anything, guys, don't worry. Just jump over to the show notes.
But that's it for part one of this episode. If you're a member, of course you can continue listening to part two in the Member Zone or via your private RSS feed in your favorite podcast player. Just a reminder that if you are a member, you do have that private. . If you can't find it, shoot me through an email and I'll hook you up because that makes it way easier to listen to put your, you know, the extended episodes on the go.
You can listen to it on whatever app you like, you know, listening. So yeah, make sure you hit me up for that. Now, if you're not a member, of course you can join today. It's just $10 a month and membership includes loads of perks, like listening to the end of this. Sign up here: https://thepetphotographersclub.com/join