Have you ever considered starting a modeling agency? If so, you definitely have an exciting albeit hectic period ahead of you. No matter what business you open, success depends on careful planning and a lot of forethought. There’s no such thing as being too prepared! That said, I begged my girl Jessica here at Alegria’s Muse to let me share this post with her readers so I could share my findings. Then I rounded up the five areas that I personally feel you should place your focus on when starting up your modeling agency.
5 Areas To Focus On
While Starting Up Your
Modeling Agency
The First Area to Focus on Is Research
You need to begin by doing all of your research. Mirror what other agencies are doing. It is not as black and white as simply opening an agency and looking for job opportunities for your models.
You are going to have to deal with talent issues and disruptions. You are also going to have to find avenues for attracting aspiring models to your agency.
There are lots of components which go into making a successful modeling agency and the only way you are going to get the “full flavor” for this is by researching and having an inside look into what others do.
Deciding On the Best Type of Modeling Agency
Next up, you’ll need to decide what type of modeling agency you want to have. The first question that should help you narrow your decision quite a bit is whether or not you plan to cater to women, men, or non-binary? Some agencies decide on the type of agency before deciding on gender exclusivity.
Personally, I feel like selecting the gender first allows you the opportunity to work within different areas of modeling, without having to work in that particular niche. Let’s say you pick women to represent, for the sake of this article.
Do you plan to have a specific age range? And are you going to work with every size model or narrow it down to plus-size or petite models? Perhaps you want to focus on high fashion modeling? The options are vast…
If you have experience in one particular area then it will obviously be beneficial to go down this route. If not, you should look for gaps in the industry. What type of modeling is largely unrepresented in terms of agencies? This is recommended because it means you will have less competition.
Location, Location, Location
The next thing you need to do is decide where you are going to set up shop. This relates to the further point about deciding what type of agency you are going to open. You will need to pick somewhere whereby competition is not too fierce yet demand is high.
Furthermore, you need to take in to account a few factors like the following; Is the area in a safe part of town? If it’s in a warehouse, do you have all the permits for commercial production been signed and sent? What is the parking situation like, large shoots include a bunch of people to a TON of people (and they all came in cars)?
Finally, is it close enough to major transportation stops because those without a car do exist and also, the employees you’ll eventually hire will have to come from somewhere…
Employees (Recruiting, Hiring & Firing!)
It doesn’t matter what sort of business you run, you are only ever going to be as good as the people that you have working for you. This is why you need to spend a good amount of time considering just that.
What are the different roles you to need to fulfill at your company? And who’s going to fill them? You need to perfect your recruitment process, ensuring you have a good approach in place for assessing the worth of anyone that applies to work at your company.
A lot of businesses out there don’t have a good recruitment process but this is where you can put your company at a distinct advantage. However, it is not as simple as hiring the best talent; you need to retain the talent too. New England College has some good information on how you can keep your employees motivated and happy. If this is something you don’t take seriously, your best workers will only end up moving onto a rival modeling agency.
What’s Your Budget Like?
Last but not least, you should, of course, consider whether or not you even have the numbers to do this in the first place. You need to make a list of all of your expenditures. This is imperative!
You don’t want to dive in and start spending money only to find that you don’t have the funds to cover everything. Pre-planning ensures this does not happen. Take into account everything from monthly rent to hiring specialized staff such as photographers (on shoot days), to Internet access.
All things considered, there’s no denying that there is a lot to take into consideration if you’re thinking about starting your own modeling agency. However, I hope that the information that I’ve provided you with here today will assist you!
Guest Post Edited by Jessica Rose Adams
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