Photography Business Insurance

The single most important thing any smash cake photographer could have is insurance.

Nothing on any shoot matters more than the safety of your clients, especially the safety of your little clients. Anyone who has ever been within 40 feet of one year olds and toddlers can tell you they're not the most stable and when it comes to bonking their head, they make a habit out of it.

It's safe to say that if accidents are going to happen there's a higher chance when the person in question hasn't really figured out the ins and outs of this whole walking thing.

Make no mistake I'm not suggesting that you only need insurance when you are working with little ones. The minute you decide to exchange your services for money that makes you liable for the safety of anyone on your photography set whether you're working in a park or you're in a studio. That means you need insurance.

If you're operating without insurance you're opening yourself up to a lot of potential misery and guilt. If a client gets hurt or injured on your set you are financially responsible to make sure that their medical bills are covered. If you're in America like we are, then those bills could rack up pretty fast. I don't know about you, but I don't keep a few thousand dollars on hand in order to cover somebody's medical bills.

Frankly if the injury is serious enough you could be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars for which you are responsible. This means if a client hurts themselves on your set you may have to sell your home, your car, your dog, a kidney. I have teenagers so I’d totally be willing to sell my firstborn but my dog….never.

Let’s talk about the first time I got down on my knees and thanked God that I had insurance. We moved to our new studio location about four years ago. The first thing we did before we even opened our doors was updated our insurance policy. Not more than two weeks later our client comes to visit us for a sales appointment; trips, falls, and smashes her face on our front door.

She had to go to the emergency room and we were liable. We simply filed an insurance claim with our insurance company, they cut a check and the client’s bill was taken care of. This saved the client's face but it also saved our pocketbook and our relationship.

Not having insurance would have been the end of that relationship. This is a client that spends a lot of money with our studio. Basically for the price of dinner a we were able to successfully navigate a potentially costly situation…

Now this is a cool part, for that same $50 a month we also get insurance on our equipment. For those of you who have ever worked with beginning walkers and toddlers you know that they go ahead and grab the first thing they can while they're falling down.

In a photography studio that's usually going to be something very heavy, very ouchy and something very expensive. Thanks to my handy dandy insurance policy, should the unthinkable happen I simply have to just call my insurance company. It makes replacing any damaged equipment a non-issue.

Soooo, if you are one of those photographers out there operating a photography business without insurance, I'm going to tell you this... do not take another client until you get insurance. Operating without insurance not only says you don't care about your business but it also says you don't care about your client.

Insurance is such a simple thing. You can simply do a Google search for insurance companies in your area and within the day find policy for well under $50 a month. Or, even better, ask your auto insurance company if they offer business insurance.

Now I know somebody out there is going to tell me they can't afford it. To that I say cancel Hulu, cancel Netflix and purchase an insurance policy. You'll sleep better knowing that you are covered in case of an accident and because you're not binge watching Stranger Things until 2 a.m.

I'm Daniel Troutman with The Smash Cake, I want to thank you guys for reading this blog and remind you to get out there and smash it.

PS: While you’re at it, sign up for an additional $15,000 worth of insurance coverage through your PPA membership.