When you think of services that people are willing to pay for during a cost-of-living crisis, a $10,000 pet photo shoot may not come to mind. But this is exactly the service that earns Belinda Richards her livelihood. Her business, the Melbourne-based photography studio Frog Dog Studios, exclusively photographs pets – and commands big bucks for its services. The average shoot will set a client back around three to five grand. If they commission 12-month progression photos, which document a pet growing up, they’ll pay in excess of $10,000.
It’s a lucrative business, and a service people are still paying for, despite many Australians having tightened their belts these past couple of years. ISB sat down with Belinda to talk about how such a luxury, non-essential service remains profitable amid tight times.
Thriving in a resilient industry
First and foremost, Belinda credits her success to her industry.
“I’m not in the photography industry, I’m in the pet industry, which is a huge industry, and it’s growing exponentially,” she says. “Even through this cost-of-living crisis and interest rate rises and all that sort of stuff, the pet-care industry just keeps going up and up and up. It seems to be somewhat bulletproof.”
Indeed, data from IBISWorld pegs the global pet industry’s worth at US$3.7 billion, with the market having grown 4.8 per cent each year, on average, between 2018 and 2023. A rise in the number of competitors for Belinda has reflected this upwards trajectory. When Belinda started Frog Dog Studios, in 2017, her business was one of the very few dedicated pet photography studios in Melbourne. Today, she notes, the market has become much more saturated.
Yet Belinda has distinguished herself within this competitive space. She’s built a reputation as a leader in her field, with an email signature full of awards and honours and a portfolio of beautiful images to prove her artistic prowess. Which brings us to reason number two for Frog Dog Studios’ success: Belinda’s reputation in her industry.
Building a luxury brand and reputation
Another pillar of Frog Dog Studios’ success is Belinda’s dedication to cultivating a luxury brand image. With 20 years of experience under her belt working closely with animals, a fine arts degree, and a decade of pet photography, the entrepreneur has built a reputation as one of the finest service-providers in her area.
“I’ve worked a lot on brand recognition and putting myself out there as a luxury product,” she explains.
As a result, her clientele has shifted towards an ideal demographic: wealthy DINKs (dual income, no kids).
“My clients, generally, they haven’t got a mortgage yet and they don’t have kids yet, or they don’t want children, or they are older and their kids have flown the nest,” Belinda explains. “They’ve paid for their house and now the dogs are their kids.”
This sort of customer has no problem spending money on luxury items for their pets, Belinda says. And while some enquiries come from people looking below her price range, Belinda says she’s seeing fewer of these, as her branding attracts clients who expect a premium price.
The power of sentimentality
It’s not just that Belinda’s average clients have some extra income at their disposal. She’s also selling a service that taps into people’s emotions, their appreciation of art, and their sentimentality for their furry friends.
“People are realising that photography is something that’s for life,” Belinda says. “Something that you put on your wall or print into a book is something you can go back to for years and years and years to come. That’s something I hear from my clients a lot – that they wish they had photos of their dog from when, you know, they were a kid or whatever.”
With pets increasingly considered family members, Belinda believes this sentimentality will continue to drive demand, making it a valuable advantage for businesses in the pet industry.
This article first appeared in issue 47 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
