[Note: Part one can be read here]

2) Will I potentially loose at least 2-3x more if I don’t make this investment?

This can be a “gray” area question, and therefore, needs a bit critical thought.  Potential future profit shouldn’t be confused with present potential loss. There isn’t any money to be lost if it hasn’t been gained.  So this question of loss shouldn’t have correlating thoughts of, “if I don’t buy this camera, then I will loose the $35,000 that I know will be profited this year.  This question pertains more to the present or near future business liability and insurance losses, the “cover your butt” type of losses.  On a basic level this means having backup equipment (bodies, lenses, memory cards,  batteries, etc.) for assignments in case of those unfortunate situations of equipment of failures. Trust me, as I have had more then my share; failures will happen to every photographer on some level. On a more complex level this means maintaining your business and professional reputation.

Dreadful real life example of when I didn’t ask myself this question:
Back in the day, I followed the advice from the pros about backing up my files.  I had a 320 GB primary hard drive and a 250 GB secondary backup hard drive.  A couple days before I had session with a client, the 250 GB capacity maxed out.  I didn’t think much of it other then buying another drive when I had the chance.  The photo shoot arrives, it one of those ‘only get one chance’ type as there wouldn’t be any rescheduling for a re-shoot.    The session went well and I upload the pictures to my 320 GB drive without being able to the backup on full secondary drive.

Fast forward a few days later, I open up Bridge in Photoshop  to continue processing the photos. Photos not there.  Drive not reading.  Heart not beating.  My 320 GB drive died.  So frantically, with unstable emotions and thoughts of my business crumbling,  I scoured Google for hard drive recovery services. After researching and calling several companies, I picked one that I felt most “comfortable” with.  A terrifying week later I receive a call from the recovery disk doctors with great news, 93-96% percent of the drive was recovered (only one file from the shoot was corrupt) and my business wouldn‘t crumble.  Bad news, it would cost two grand worth of labor and service.  Ouch.  Hard lesson in the cost of doing business.

Had I made it a priority and purchased a $100-200 replacement hard drive the day it maxed out, I would have saved myself 10-20x in recovery costs.  It was a hard but important lesson,  I was naïve  with a thoughts of “what could possibly happen in the next couple of days.”  Today, I have 6 hard drives, I don’t fool around.  So do yourself a favor and ask yourself, “will I potentially loose at least 2-3x more if I don’t make this  investment?”

Grace and Peace