Phil.Art.Photography snaps shot of dreams and success
by Venu Puthankattil. Posted on February 6, 2012, Monday
KUCHING: Following one’s dreams while maintaining practical business sensibility is logical and valid, provided that one is committed and diligent.
PROFESSIONAL: Bong poses with one of his digital cameras at his studio. He has a 90 per cent of my customer satisfaction rate while treating the other 10 per cent as challenges and incentive to learn from the snags as well as to improve his profession and business strategies.
This was a lesson learned the hard way by entrepreneur Phillip Bong, a professional photographer with 15 years of experience who operates Phil.Art.Photography studio here.
Bong said that his passion for photography started at an early age when he was asked to choose between a Yashica camera and a video game as a present for his 12th birthday. He chose the camera.
“I was fascinated with the camera and I spent so much time with it that I practised taking blank shots because it was costly to buy film and develop it.
“My passion for this art continued throughout my school days as I was further inspired by beautiful photographs and when I bought an Olympus single lens reflex (SLR) camera at age 18, on the condition that the camera shop owner teach me how to operate it,” he reminisced.
Bong noted that he was willing to learn and work hard to improve himself, starting out as a janitor in a renowned photo studio here and slowly working his way up to take on more relevant tasks such as colour processing and development.
Determined to stay in the profession, he took on jobs in several studios here and in Ipoh, often working for less than what he could have earned in other fields, with salaries as low as RM350 per month.
The upside from the low earnings was that he was blessed with mentors who taught him well and provided valuable professional secrets such as colour management, lighting set-up and printing.
“Nowadays, it is easy to get the knowledge from the Internet but that is only theory. Working practical knowledge can only by gained from experience.
“Most important of all is a teacher or mentor who will guide and prepare you for the real world,” he emphasised.
Having learned the craft, Bong started his first business with a distant relative eight years ago with no practical knowledge of marketing, advertising, operations management, accounting or public relations.
Bong further elaborated, “The business premises were large, taking up an area equivalent to three shop lots and the operating costs were high. As such, the first four to five years of running the business were very difficult, mainly due to lack of business experience and stiff competition.
“Consequently, I was stressed out and unhappy with the way things were going. This lasted until we closed down the shop and I was given the opportunity to start another business.”
The new venture came in the form of the currently operating Phil.Art.Photography which is located in a shop lot measuring 80 by 20 feet. Presented with a smaller work space in comparison with the previous premises, he came up with a new business model.
Working with two assistants, he came up with a three-in-one approach where the reception area, gowns and prep area as well as the studio were incorporated into the space.
As a result, the operating expenses were reduced, allowing him to pass on the savings to the customers with charges as low as 50 per cent of current market prices.
The initial capital for the business was about RM150,000 to which he added another RM150,000 over the years since opening in June 2009.
Naturally, a significant amount of the capital went into equipment, costing up to RM80,000 for cameras. Highly advanced equipment is only part of the equation as Bong said that the recipe for successful photography involved other components namely experience and good skills.
“I can get up to 80 per cent success rate in taking shots from prediction skills, based on experience in the field. This translates to more efficient work flow and faster turnaround time in the studio.
“In terms of customer satisfaction, 90 per cent of my customers are satisfied with the work and products.
“I treat the other 10 per cent as challenges and incentive to learn from the snags as well as to improve my profession and business strategies.
“When dealing with customers, I tend to work with their need and not to haggle prices as there is a hidden cost in doing that. I consider the minor discounts as investment in goodwill and improving customer relations,” he said.
