Starter guide

Phone Photography

You already own the camera. Get paid for what you can see.

Around $50
Medium

You already own the camera. That's the whole reason this business is possible. Families want photos and don't want to pay a studio. Dog owners want a good picture of their dog. Local businesses need pictures of what they sell. A modern phone in good light with someone who knows how to compose a shot beats an expensive camera in the wrong hands.

Start for free

Shoot three sessions for free

You cannot sell photos nobody has seen. So build the proof first.

Offer three free mini sessions: a friend's family, someone's dog, a neighbor's small business. Twenty minutes each. Give them the best ten photos.

Then show those photos to five more people and say:

"I do mini sessions, about twenty minutes, and you get ten edited photos. It's [your price]. Want to book one?"

Free work that builds a portfolio isn't free. It's how you get paid later.

The plan

Your simple plan

  1. Pick one thing to be known for. Pets, or kids, or products for local shops. One is easier to sell than all of them.
  2. Shoot in the good light. The hour after sunrise or before sunset. Same phone, dramatically better photos, zero extra cost.
  3. Sell the session, not the hour. A set price for a mini session and ten edited photos. Simple to say, simple to buy.
  4. Deliver fast. Photos in their hands within two days, in a shared folder. Speed gets you referred.
The gear

What you need, and what you can skip

Your phone plus a few things that make it steadier and better lit.

Get these
  • A small tripod with a phone mount. Shop this
  • A clip-on lens set if your phone doesn't have a wide lens. Shop this
  • A reflector to bounce light onto faces. Shop this
  • A ring light or small LED panel for indoor and product work. Shop this
  • A cleaning cloth for your lens, which is the cheapest upgrade in photography. Shop this
Skip these for now
  • A real camera. Learn to see first. The camera won't fix composition.
  • Paid editing software. The free apps are genuinely good.
  • Backdrops and studio lights. Outdoors in nice light costs nothing.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We only list gear the guide actually calls for, and the skip list is there because most of it you do not need yet.

The lesson from the book

Andre gave away the first detail he ever did, and that free car is what got him his first paying customer. Same move here. Giving away three sessions feels like working for nothing. It's actually buying the one thing you can't fake: proof that you're good. Give the work away on purpose, early, to the right people, and it comes back with money attached.

The full program

Ready to build the whole thing?

The full Young Founder kit walks you through everything Andre and Sophie learned: how to build proof, price a package, and turn a first client into a steady stream. The book, the workbook, the videos, and more.

See what is inside the kit

Questions about this idea

What should a kid charge to walk a dog?

A kid walking dogs in their own neighborhood usually starts between $10 and $18 for a thirty minute walk. Professional walkers average about $21 for the same walk.

Read the answer

How much money does a kid need to start a business?

Less than almost anyone expects, and for a lot of these ideas the honest answer is nothing until somebody has already said yes to a price.

Read the answer

How does a kid find their first customer?

Ten people who already know them, one prepared sentence, and an easy way for each of them to say no.

Read the answer

What do I do when my kid wants to quit?

Find out whether this is not working or just not fun right now. Those look identical from outside and they need opposite responses.

Read the answer

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Young Founder

A program from Founder's Best Friend. Built for kids 8 to 18 who want something of their own.

Young Founder, 2026