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    How engineer Pranesh Padmanabhan built a photography firm worth Rs 46-lakh

    Synopsis

    Pranesh Padmanabhan’s pursuit of his passion has grown his photography firm into a Rs 46-lakh venture.

    ET Bureau
    Passions often get waylaid in the pursuit of an occupation. Pranesh Padmanabhan, however, refused to give up on photography throughout his tryst with engineering.

    “I took up engineering because I did not want to upset my family even though I was not the least bit interested in pursuing it,” says the 26-year-old Padmanabhan.

    In fact, college proved to be a good honing ground for his photography skills and he started taking up assignments at 17.

    “I used to carry a camera everywhere while doing my engineering course in Chennai. I used to volunteer covering college events and soon I started getting professional assignments. I was also appointed the official photographer for college events,” he says.

    After finishing his undergraduate studies, Padmanabhan enrolled in a one-year programme in advertisement and customer behaviour.

    “I thought it would be helpful in case I decided to follow a career in photography,” he says.

    Even while doing the master’s programme, Padmanabhan continued to take on photography assignments.

    “It was mostly birthdays or engagement parties, for which I was paid Rs 8,000-10,000. I would rarely make a profit, but would take them up because they helped build confidence and I got leads for more assignments,” he says.

    After completing his studies, Padmanabhan founded Pranesh Photography in May 2010. However, he also took up a job at an IT firm to meet his expenses. It was not long before he started getting assignments to cover weddings.

    “I did not have the money to buy expensive cameras, so I took them on lease,” he says. Once work started flowing in, Padmanabhan decided to quit his job in October the same year and took to photography fulltime.

    In the first year, his studio registered a turnover of a little over Rs 1 lakh. Along with photography, Padmanabhan started offering videography solutions and the studio started specialising in wedding shoots.

    “I used my post graduate learning to promote my venture. The revenue was invested back in the business,” he says. He still doesn’t own any photography equipment.

    “I was mocked all along for not owning a single camera and calling myself a photographer. However, the advantage of leasing equipment is that you get the best and the latest quality at reasonable rates. You don’t block your funds by investing in equipment purchase and maintenance,” he says.

    From the second year onwards, Padmanabhan started hiring freelancers for assignments. “Today, there are nine full-time and 16 part-time photographers working for us. We charge Rs 1.25-1.5 lakh per wedding. We can cover up to seven weddings a day,” he says.

    From just a couple of assignments a month, the studio now handles an average of 35 a month.

    “We have invested Rs 3 lakh in a commercial studio for photo shoots by other photographers. The facility, started in February, generates between Rs 75,000 and Rs 80,000 a month,” he says.

    The studio, through its freelancers, has a presence in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kerala and Assam. It recorded a turnover of around Rs 46 lakh in 2013-14 with a net profit of around Rs 18 lakh.

    “We have expanded our operations and expect to bring in Rs 1.2 crore by 2015-16,” says Padmanabhan.
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    The Economic Times

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