Chapter 31 Business is booming

"This is Ronald Portrait Photography Studio. May I ask... Okay, I've got your name and phone number. Your appointment time is 02:30 pm.

"See, it's straightforward, isn't it?" Ronald looked at the neighbor girl, today's temporary operator.

"Ring, ring, ring..." The phone rang again a few seconds later. Ronald:

"This is Ronald Photography Studio. May I ask... OK, OK, what is your appointment time..."

"Ring, ring, ring..." The phone that I had just put down rang again.

"This is Ronald. Could you please tell me... tomorrow afternoon, is it possible..."

"Ring, ring, ring…"

"Ahem... please speak."

"This is Ronald Portrait Photography. Would you like to make an appointment for a photo shoot?" Fortunately, Miss Weber took over immediately.

From 10 am, Ronald's phone started to ring non-stop, and the list of appointments became longer and longer. Soon, the appointments for the photo shoots were full, and Ronald had to arrange for the evening.

There were so many people that there was no place to change clothes or wait, and the customers were chattering at once, making the place a mess.

There were more people in the afternoon than in the morning, and taking photos was not completed until 8 pm. Ronald felt that the momentum was great. The effect of the advertisement was far beyond his expectations. Today was Christmas, and there would be even more people tomorrow.

After thinking for a long time at home, Ronald decided to expand his business immediately. He took out a pen and paper and started planning.

Ronald first found his neighbor, Mrs. Weber, and immediately raised her daughter's daily wage from $5 to $20 a day. He also paid a little rent to Mrs. Weber and asked her to temporarily use the living room and bedroom of her apartment as the waiting room and dressing room for the portrait studio.

In the next few days, Miss Weber was promoted from a receptionist to a secretary, responsible for making appointments and recording the number of people who came to take photos every day, issuing numbers to each customer, and arranging customers to line up next door, put on makeup, and then call their numbers when it was their turn.

Her mother, Mrs. Weber, was also hired by Ronald to archive each customer's film, send it to Kodak's photo processing shop twice a day, and then take back the printed photos.

To prevent mistakes, Ronald also bought a Polaroid instant camera, took pictures of customers, and asked Mrs. Weber to archive them together with the film to prevent wrong deliveries.

Ronald no longer accepts outdoor photo shoots and only shoots in his apartment. After taking portraits every day, he files them in the evening after developing them and mails them to clients the next day.

Working non-stop from morning till night, Ronald earned more than $14,000 after a week's vacation. After deducting the cost of hiring Mrs. Weber and his daughter, the cost of film, and the cost of printing, he made a net profit of more than $12,000.

Looking at the cash in the drawer, Ronald counted them one by one. These were real green bills that he had earned.

The strategy of celebrity endorsement was very successful. As soon as customers saw the two audition photos of Demi, they would have an illusion that they could also take such photos.

This is because Ronald's customers are mainly young people in their teens and early twenties, more than 80% of whom are women, most of whom have never appeared in movies or TV series.

They are similar to the two dancers in "Rock n Roll High School". They are at the age when they think they are the best in the world and are full of dreams for the future. Their minds are full of thoughts like "I will definitely succeed, all I need is a photo".

As long as they take good audition photos, they can become the next Olivia Newton-John (the leading lady of "Grease"), dance on the screen with John Travolta, and become the idol of thousands of fans.

Relying on his experience in the crew, Ronald briefly explained to them the purpose of the audition photos and how to take them, and also shared some gossip.

Then they showed them the audition photos of Demi Moore and Nastassja Kinski and casually mentioned that director Roman Polanski had chosen them, and the customers couldn't wait to pay and take the photos.

Ronald didn't say that the dwarf director was impressed by his audition photos. That was all the customer's imagination.

As a result, the nearby Kodak photo processing shop also made a lot of money. The manager was surprised and asked tentatively whether the shop wanted to send someone to serve him, hoping to take over this big client with a stable business.

Ronald's advertising was well done, and with Demi Moore's advert, the number of visitors during this holiday season was beyond his expectations. This business seems to be working.

In theory, if Ronald's goal was just to make money and find a career, then this would be a very good start.

Next, you should register a company, rent a place, hire staff, and sign a contract with Kodak Photo Studio to guarantee the time and quality of printing. Once the business is stable, you can start hiring photography assistants and expand the scale step by step.

Then, he can try a higher-level photography business, such as shooting covers for fashion magazines and being a model for print advertisements.

However, Ronald's dream is to be a film director and do something great. As a portrait photographer, no matter how successful he is, he cannot have the same influence as a fledgling film director. After all, the scale of the audience for his work, the amount of money he makes, and the satisfaction he gets are not at the same level.

'Should I take advantage of this wave of popularity and do another advertisement? I should make as much money as I can in a short period of time, at least enough to pay for my 4-year tuition and the graduation short film.'

Ronald hesitated.

The constant flow of people into the apartment day and night has aroused the curiosity of many people. Ronald feels that if this continues, it will attract the attention of the IRS, and they will send people to check the accounts.

In addition, Ronald was also worried about theft and robbery. Venice was relatively safe, but there were people from other communities wandering around.

Too much cash at one time, and he was afraid of attracting people's covetousness and being targeted by the IRS. Ronald had inquired when he was taking pictures on Staten Island, and now the tax rate for individual freelancers is high, and those who earn more than $400 a year through photography must pay taxes.

In addition to the tax filing season in April every year, freelancers also need to estimate their tax payments for the next quarter and prepay their income tax for the next quarter in advance.

California's state tax is not friendly to freelancers. In short, in addition to the high tax rate, the tax payment procedures are also cumbersome. If you pay a few dollars less or a few days late, you will be fined heavily by the IRS.

Everyone tries to avoid it, so small business owners and freelancers try to use cash transactions to avoid being caught by the IRS. However, the IRS will also conduct surprise inspections based on reports or clues in the news.

Cash transactions can avoid taxes, but keeping so much money at home is not safe.

If the one-time cash deposit is too high, it will arouse the bank's vigilance and report it to the IRS.

It would be great if I had an acquaintance whom I could ask for advice on this matter.

Ronald called Aunt Karen to wish her a happy new year and asked her advice on how to deal with such things.

Ronald said vaguely that he worked part-time as a portrait photographer and made some money, but he didn't know whether he should continue doing business to earn tuition or continue working in a company to gain experience.

Aunt Karen comforted him and told him not to be afraid, God would guide him:

"If you don't have an answer, then follow your intuition, which is the guidance God gives you. You will have smooth sailing every time you follow your intuition to determine the direction. If you don't follow God's guidance, but think about it over and over again, you will often be frustrated."

After drinking a bowl of typical American chicken soup, Ronald decided to... listen to Aunt Karen.

'I am indeed quite hesitant about the idea of ​​expanding my business, and subconsciously, I may not want to continue, so I'd better proceed with caution.'

Ronald went to the Los Angeles Times advertising agency again and published another notice of closure in the Times. From then on, he only accepted orders recommended by old customers on weekends to avoid attracting thieves and the IRS.

Then I broke it down into smaller amounts and went to the post office and Western Union to buy some money orders for $300-500. This type of money order is purchased with cash and is more reliable than a check, and will not bounce.

Therefore, the reputation is good and can be redeemed at any time in major department stores and supermarkets.

Ronald felt a little relieved when he divided the remaining cash and promissory notes into two parts, one to carry with him and the other to be put in a plastic bag and hidden in the refrigerator.

He planned to go to the bank every one or two weeks at different times to deposit some money into his bank account, laying low and avoiding the IRS's radar.

After doing all these things, Ronald's thinking became clearer. The current business volume was undoubtedly brought by the holidays and advertising. After the holidays, if we don't continue to advertise, we won't be able to maintain this scale of customer flow.

Rather than trying to expand the business, it is better to close it and return to a semi-underground state. After all, I am not sure where I will go to school in half a year, and if I go to New York, it will be very troublesome to manage the business here.

For fear of scaring Aunt Karen, Ronald only sent $500 home this time, and planned to give her more money when he returned to New York to make her life easier.

In a blink of an eye, the Christmas and New Year holidays passed, and it was time for Ronald to go to New World Productions to work as an editing assistant.