The Business of Food Styling
How owning business ownership changed my world.
The allure is real. Food styling seems to land in a sweet spot. It’s an entrepreneurial dream. Freelance stylists are free from the shackles of a full time job—with corporate ladders to climb, limited vacation days, office politics, gossip and yearly reviews—but don’t bear the burdens of so many new ventures.
There’s no business plan to write, no funding to procure, no HR, inventory or overhead. In fact, the way we all become food stylists is simply to land our first client… and get cooking.
And once we’re up and running, in a perfect world, we’d ride this wave to a steady freelance salary, creative fulfillment, and ownership over our choices and our schedules. But as every stylist knows, things aren’t always as they seem.
For me and many of my peers, I wasn’t truly able to grow and succeed until I set up some simple organization around my business, and more importantly, shifted my mindset to think of myself less as a freelancer and more as a business owner.
This way of thinking alone can help us decide if a project is truly worth our time and it can help us understand when to invest in order to grow.
Here’s what I’ve learned about the business of styling, not just as a food stylist but as a company founder.
Like many stylists, I began as a sole proprietor. A sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business owned and operated by one person. Think: dog walker, private piano teacher, or a graphic designer who freelances as a side hustle.
In a sole proprietorship, there’s no legal separation between business and personal income, and no separate tax return to file.
All income and deductions from a sole proprietorship are reported on the owner’s personal tax return. A sole proprietor is not even required to keep a separate bank account for business.
It’s easy to see how this simple setup is appealing to anyone with a new freelance income. And the initial costs are certainly lower with no corporate return to file and no legal set-up fees. But this model can also have its limitations and lead to a general lack of clarity around money.
It took me about 3 years and some painful tax seasons to decide to take the dive and incorporate.
It’s important to note here that I am not an accountant or financial advisor and this is not to be taken as business or tax advice. You’ll have to decide with your own accountant the best setup for your business. I simply want to offer my own experience and highlight some ways that embracing my role as a business owner has actually simplified my life and helped me grow.
Pay Day
Without a doubt, the single best part of any full-time job is the steady, consistent, and reliable paycheck.
And even if you wished it was bigger (and we always do!), there’s peace in knowing what’s coming in and when, and exactly how much you can spend to live within your means. Incorporating has allowed me to return to this model and pay myself a steady monthly salary. I keep it modest to make sure I can do it consistently, and then, when times are good, I can also take a distribution from the company. Think of that like a bonus.
While the company still bears the burden of chasing down checks from late-paying clients, I’m able to shield my personal life from this bit of chaos. Of course this all requires discipline and I had to work hard to build up enough reserve to start, but the ease and clarity around my personal finances has been worth every bit of effort.
Tax Time
Another benefit of a paying yourself through a corporation is that when tax season rolls around, you have just one source of income, your own company.
This is far simpler than the sole proprietor’s pile of 1099’s to account for. And depending on what kind of corporation you establish, you may be able to pay yourself through a payroll service that withholds taxes. So you won’t even have to save for and file quarterlies.
Re-Invest
The important thing to keep in mind when seeking inspiration via social media is to look for like-minded creators, rather than like-minded food stylists. Keep your eye out for photographers, content creators, editors and prop or set stylists who can broaden your understanding of lighting, composition and color. Doing so will allow you to find inspiration and create better food styling work that remains completely unique to you.
Tipping the Scales
Scalability has always been challenging to stylists who are generally paid for their time.
We can’t be on two shoots at once and so our income is somewhat limited by the number of days on the calendar. This invites us to get creative and drum up new sources of revenue. And with a high-level understanding of our company’s finances, it’s far easier to know what’s possible. In general, large and on-going investments create more overhead for the company, but can also lead to much larger gains. You’ll have to decide what’s worth the risk and how aggressively you want to grow your company. But here are just a few of the ways that financial clarity and the ability to reinvest can open the doors to more money and less work:
1. HELP WANTED
The simplest way to expand is by staffing up, temporarily, with freelance help. Any given job may or may not cover the cost of extra assistant days, but if you’re willing to go out of pocket, a few extra assistant days can allow you to take on more and bigger projects. You and your first assistants can be on set Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for three different clients if you entrust the shopping and prep to another crew. This is a straight forward and low risk way to grow.
You may also realize that it’s worth hiring at least one full-time assistant. You can still bill your clients for assistant fees at the day rate they’ll cover, and if you work consistently, you’ll recuperate most, all, or even more of their salary. The clear advantage here is: full time assistant! Someone who can help even on days you aren’t on set or prepping for a job. (Hello, invoices! Hello, website management! Hello, more free time for you!)
2. THE RENTAL MARKET
Photographers have led the way in showing us all how to invest in equipment that can become a revenue stream. They regularly add a rental fee for cameras, lighting equipment and even studio spaces to their invoices. For stylists, the kit rental might be the most basic of these practices. It’s standard to charge a fee for the use of our own basic equipment and supplies: your knives, your mandolin, your wooden spoons and mixing bowls. Here’s a voyeuristic look inside my kit.
But some jobs require more specialized equipment. If you need a juicer or a sous vide machine for a given shoot, you can add it to your estimate as an expense. In this case, the client will pay the cost in full and will likely want to keep the equipment. Or you can invest in this yourself and bill the client an additional rental fee. You’ll keep the equipment and can rent it out for future projects as well. At some point, the right equipment will generate more than you spent on it. For a round up of some of my favorite tools and equipment, head to my shop page.
If the rental game appeals, you may even consider investing in a studio space with a kitchen. You’ll be able to work out of the space and of course deduct the rent but you can also rent it out for shoots or to other stylists who need the space to prep. Bigger risk, bigger reward.
3. JUST SAY NO
And finally, let’s face it. Some projects just aren’t worthwhile. When we’re in a place of limitation, lack or financial uncertainty, we’re more likely to say yes to these projects. Having a clear understanding of our operational costs lets us work backwards and calculate the minimum we need to bring in for each day we work. We can turn down work with confidence knowing that it’s not enough, making space for bigger and better things.