I totally understand what he's trying to say(about his chosen industry) and that it's not as easy as people think it is....
It's just the inane arguments put forward(by his simple mindedness).
What he's trying to infer is that he was better off at his $10/hour job at the copy shop, which is clearly rubbish.
@ 10/hr, on an average 40hr/week.. gives him $400/wk. Basically just a bit more than $1600/month. even taking into consideration holidays and other employee benefits when 'working for the man'... compared to his $5k/month as a band photographer.. there's no way he'd be spending over $3k in expenses as a band photographer.. and if he was, then he's an idiot!
The alternative to charging more for your services and making more money in business is reduce costs where you can. This is what I'm having to grapple with as I can't charge more. My only option is to reduce how much money I can spend.
Once again.. it;s all about the lifestyle you choose to live and if spending up big to look more professional is what he wants, then he has to be pepared to suffer the consequences.
it's the way he's put forward his arguments that annoys me... and (because I can be a cynical grumpy ol man sometimes) to me his article is more about scaring others off/out of the industry, using distorted accounting logic rather than points of interest that actually make sense.
i know how to lose money.. trust me! My previous financial(08-09) year was much worse for me than he'd ever see as a band photographer... going by his figures.
For me, analysing his figures, and having a rough idea on how business costs actually work.. I'm at least $20/year better off doing what he does... as opposed to losing any more money doing what I do(this past year hasn't been bad for me tho).
if his point was to educate prospective photographers on how the industry actually works.. with the view to scare them off(or alter their expectations) then form where I'm sitting, it not only hasn't worked.. but now I'm seriously considering taking up the challenge(and hopefully make a bit of money too!
as for cost of kids/month.. it all depends on the lifestyle you want to lead... I choose a more frugal lifestyle, out of current necessity.
(having said that, he was based in the USA and their basic costs may be a lot different, with respect to education/health and so forth)
anyhow.. he may well be a well respected photographer in photographer circles.. but as business person(or accountant) his ability is severely lacking.
In the same vein as KR(as a gear reviewer), I now have no respect for his(Zack's) opinion as a pro photographer trying to run a photography business, going by that article.