4 Comments on How to start your own small modeling agency?

Kittysue on Sun, 7th Mar 2010 3:53 am


You need to do a lot of research before you open any agency. When Wilhelmina was forced to sell to private equity then go public in order to stay in business, Gilla Roos closed after 30 years, Take2 closed after 25 years, and other agencies like Ford and Elite are dropping less profitable affiliates, now is not the time to start an agency, especially in a small town. As an agency, you only make money AFTER you book your talent on jobs and get your commission.

The first thing to do is to research talent/modeling agency licensing requirements in your state. A business license can easily cost over $10,000 a year. Then you need to figure out how many potential jobs are in your town - how many magazines are published there and how many models do they use per issue, how many advertising agencies are in your town that use models, how many fashion designers are in your town that use models for fashion shows/look books/ads, how many major corporations are in your town that use models in ads? Then you have to figure out how much people are willing to pay for models in your town. Remember - as an agency you are only making 10-20% of the model’s fee. If the only modeling jobs are things like fashion shows in local malls paying $100/day, you are only making $10-20 off each model. That’s not even enough to cover your administrative costs - rent, insurance, taxes, utilities, website, phone, staffing - to get that model the job in the first place.

I would suggest working in an agency, even unpaid, for a few months to see how tough it is even for the major established agencies like Ford and Elite in this economy when bookings across the board are down more than 50%. The road is littered with former agents from top agencies who thought they could start their own agency - and most close within a year in serious debt

Healthy Eating Made Fun on Sun, 7th Mar 2010 3:53 am


I am sure you will agree, it is all about awareness and getting people to know you. You might want to start by having a website that ‘promotes’ what it is you are offering. Get people interested, start by getting commitment, get people involved.

I started a company called Healthy Eating Made Fun and now and you can imagine how difficult it was to generate interest in this field. £ months later I have 47 regular visitors to my site each day.

I can only thank SBI (site build it!) for their help with this. It might be worth you checking it out at p://www.healthy-eating-made-fun.com/SBI.html

Good luck
Dave

Milagro on Sun, 7th Mar 2010 3:53 am


Here there are good sites on business http://sitefinance3.notlong.com/2AANhVr

Pat Yuen on Sun, 7th Mar 2010 3:53 am


You will make more money flipping burgers or making coffee. Modeling agencies are closing down left and right. Bookings are down 50-95%. If you have too much money, I will gladly take it off your hands without you going through the grief of losing it slowly in a modeling agency.

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