Well once again it has been a long while since I have posted any updates… I have been busy, thats for sure!
One piece of news that you may have already seen on my website is that I have my new logo!
Also, my business cards are finished and they look great thanks to Kathi, my graphics designer and to all of you that I have asked for feedback from!
Another piece of great news is that I currently have a wedding booked next month! It is going to be a great wedding that I am really looking forward to with a chance to do some shooting in the Englischer Garten in the morning. In the evening the reception and dinner will be at the Palmenhaus in the Schloss Nymphenburger grounds, which promises to be great fun!
Finally, here are a few photos (posted from my Flickr account) of things that have been going on over the past month…
It has been a while since I last posted anything, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything! I have finally finished registering with the different bureaucratic offices. I almost have a new logo, which I will reveal very soon, after the logo is done I’ll have business cards made and I’ll start doing some advertising around town!
I have done a few CV photo sessions recently, which has been good. Business is slowly picking up. It is not doing too bad, considering I haven’t really done much advertising, except for word of mouth and Google. Can’t wait to see what will happen after I do some advertising! If you are interested in booking a wedding, please book soon, so I can reserve a date for you! If you are in need of photos for a German CV or you would like to do business photos or have a portrait sitting, I’ll be doing a few coming up in the next few weeks. If you are interested, please send me an email or give me a call to book a time!
I went to the Handwerkskammer this morning… I talked with the clerk, he entered the last details of my information into the system that were not there yet, I paid my trade fee, then chatted with the clerk some more (he gave me some good advice and we talked about the US as his wife is an American) and then I got my trade card! I am now an officially registered photographer!
I am still waiting on paperwork from the Finanzamt that I will have to fill out before I get my tax number. I also found out today that I need to contact the “Berufsgenossenschaft” to see if I am required to get accident insurance from them (I was told they normally should have contacted me already). After those things I should be done with the paperwork side of things. I still have some work to do with getting a logo made and designing business cards and then I can start advertising. I hope to get that stuff done soon! It has definitely not been boring trying to start a new business!
Wow, that was easy! This morning I went in to the local government offices to finally apply for a business licence. I handed over the paperwork and my passport and explained that I was unsure if I had everything I needed and if I was even supposed to go there first or maybe I should have gone somewhere else first. The lady working there took my paperwork while I was explaining this and while listening she started entering my info right away. She then said that I didn’t need to do anything before going there, in fact I don’t even have to go to the Handwerkskammer (Chamber of Trade) because they will be informed as well! The lady was done entering my information within a few minutes and she sent me to the register to pay. I went up, paid the fee and now I have my business license!
So, I am one step closer to being a professional photographer in Germany!!
In fact, by the time I am done with this post, the day will be here! What day you ask? The day that I FINALLY register with the German government to start a photography company (Gewerbeanmeldung)!
I have been researching, fact finding, talking with people, procrastinating, doing more research, and filling out paperwork. Finally I will go in tomorrow morning as early as I can to register for a business license with the German authorities! It has been a confusing process so far, I am hoping to be able to explain what needs to be done after tomorrow morning! One thing I know is that I have to sign up at the “Kreisverwaltungsreferat” (a collection of various offices of the local government) as well as with the “Handwerkskammer” (Chamber of Trade – Photography is a trade so I have to registier with them as well). The registration for the one says I need info from the other and vice-versa. So, tomorrow I’ll find out if I need to go to the chamber of trade first or if I can register then and there.
As you probably have guessed, I’ve been working on a new webpage for a long while now. It took me quite a while just to get some major technical difficulties straightened out with getting my page online. Some of those problems are fixed. Once the last 2 major problems are fixed (the new email address and the blog are not working!!) I will reveal the new page AND I will also open a facebook fanpage to join!
So, I hope to get the problems fixed and post the new site within the next few weeks!
There will be some changes coming soon! The biggest one is that I have a new domain and I’ll soon have a new website! www.hepler.org will be my private website and I will move the blog and my portfolio over to the new website. I have been slowly working on this on and off for the last couple of months, but I have now taken a big step. It will still be a bit before I am completely ready to “go live” with the new site as I have lots of things coming up, including a wedding tomorrow!
I don’t have much news to share on the starting-a-photography-business side of things. I have not yet done anything as I am waiting to see if I can get a few more jobs first and also to see how a few things play out with the day job.
I have done quite a bit of picture taking recently so I have a backlog of photos that I am editing. I have been pretty busy as well so things are only slowly getting done. It is 1:07 in the morning so it is time to finish up and go to bed!
The first step in starting a side business in Germany while continuing to work in another job as a full time employee is inform your company of your intention to take up a side job (Nebentätigkeit). This may not always be necessary, however it is possible that you are required to do this if it is included in your work contract like it was in mine. I found a good example of a letter online at this website: http://www.klicktipps.de/download.php. Take a look towards the bottom of the page under “Sonstiges” and then “Anmeldung Nebentätigkeit” for the word document.
I gave my letter to my boss last week on Tuesday. He said I could have just told him in person and it would have been OK. He wasn’t really surprised or worried about it and it seems that a number of people in my company have a side job or maybe even a side business. It is not a problem to do, just as long as you are not doing something that puts you in direct competition with your company.
