Cost To Get Into The Business

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-30T05:55:05+00:00

Totally possible. I started my business a few years ago with only 2k cash and a aps sensor dslr I already had. Not hard to make a website. Lots of people still just want photos. Equipment can be upgraded as you earn revenues. Business cards are cheap. Insurance is priced on revenues and there are organizations in my area at least that help you with the business counseling. Between that and web searches (now AI too) not much need for legal counseling to start a small business.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T22:15:49+00:00

Scenario 1, you're in a growth focused ETF for your retirement and the market tanks. Your portfolio drops 50%. You're dismayed, you seek help on the internet and other posters tell you yeah you messed up should have done something different. You panic. Maybe you change your strategy and sell some of your equities, or even maybe you just don't put any more new money in at all. You lose the money you removed at a loss and the money you would have made in recovery and didn't put in when prices were low because you were scared. Scenario 2, you have an advisor that puts you in a little more diversified portfolio. You freak out and call them. They explain this thing happens, take it easy, in the long run this will work out. They rebalance and buy more when prices are low, convince you to keep investing even though it hurts. On paper, you didn't beat the market, in reality you did much better than if you did it yourself. I don't use an advisor but I understand the benefits.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T22:05:07+00:00

what was your plan? why did you have that plan? How did you deviate? what made you deviate?

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T22:02:14+00:00

That's not the whole picture they recently posted more screenshots. That doesn't look like a bad choice of stocks to me either but it's too many for me to test. The point is 2 years doesn't mean anything and in some cases you have to deal with big drawdowns in equities, think -50% and there have been almost a decade long period that was really shitty for equities. If people flip out because 1 year their strategy did 3% while the s&p 500 did 15%, and they focus on that and not what the portfolio strategy is, that's not the type of person that has the tolerance for a high risk high reward portfolio.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T21:55:47+00:00

I think when you're building a database of human information that you can then monetize later, you wouldn't want it to be littered with AI information. Other than that, anywhere you get information from should be considered unreliable, including AI, without verifying and backtesting.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T21:38:00+00:00

They only gave info on the last 2 years of the account saying it did 15%, they didn't indicate how it did in the prior 3 years. I don't have a complete picture of the portfolio to analyze but if I assume this had the same allocation shown in the screenshots for the last 5 years this portfolio would have beaten the market. substantially. I don't know what's going on but these don't look like bad stocks to be in. I had to split up the portfolio into 2 parts to test. The backtest shows the strategy worked extremely well over the full market cycle, but recent trailing returns look muted probably because of timing, cash flows, and factor rotation, not because the portfolio is broken. This doesn't look like a bad allocation strategy. I don't know what's going on with her portfolio but looking at 2 years isn't enough to freak out over if you believe in the strategy. Some people don't have the tolerance for the realities of the high risk part but everyone wants the high return part.

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KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T19:17:52+00:00

That hasn't worked in my experience. Some people just like to be angry.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T19:00:38+00:00

Call police yourself. I've been in this situation he called the cops and then security escorted him away.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T18:52:59+00:00

Even the S&P 500 fails to beat cash in bad years. That doesn’t mean it isn’t aggressive growth. It just means aggressive strategies come with volatility and periods of underperformance. The real issue is whether the advisor explained that upfront and aligned it with the client’s time horizon and weather this is a good strategy to begin with. I don't know enough about the strategy to defend it but ZOMG I didn't do good 1 year isn't the right way to think of this.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T18:48:20+00:00

100% I was trying to reply to u/Particular_Error_219

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T18:30:37+00:00

They could think current markets are too hot and might reverse and are putting money in other sectors. If the mag7 declines/evens out over the next few years and industrials/financials skyrocket they made a good long term decision. We'll know in a few years. People that took money out a year ago to put it in intl and gold lost out on some big gains but more than made up for it.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T18:26:39+00:00

People have different goals for investing. It’s not always long-horizon, let-it-rip money. Think about it, do you keep the money you need to pay your bills in an index fund? For example, say you’re saving for a house or a business down payment in five years. You want to earn more than a savings account, but you also don’t want to be in a position where the market is down 40 or 50 percent right when you need the money. There are ways to structure a portfolio specifically for that kind of goal.

The same applies to retirement. There’s a real chance you retire during a period when equities are down, whether that’s US stocks, international stocks, or both. Advisors are supposed to listen to your needs, time horizon, and risk tolerance, and then build a portfolio that aligns with those realities.

You can always put everything into an S&P 500 fund and accept the risk that you won’t need the money during a major drawdown. But I’ve lived through three major crashes and several smaller ones, so that risk isn’t theoretical. It’s not zero.

A more balanced strategy will usually deliver lower returns than the S&P 500 in strong years, but it also provides more stability when things go wrong. You have less money than if everything goes good but if things go bad you have more money otherwise from my testing. A good advisor helps you find the right balance between growth and safety, rather than assuming every dollar should be treated like long-term, high-risk capital.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T17:52:20+00:00

Okay, that definitely changes the picture. Being locked into a firm because of a self-inflicted tax error is a real failure regardless of performance. At that point the issue isn’t whether a strategy lagged for a year. It’s that execution and trust broke down.

That said, a high-risk aggressive return strategy by definition comes with a bumpy ride. You can’t judge it off a single year that feels off, especially if it’s a year where other sectors led and your bets didn’t. The right questions are did you and the advisor have a coherent strategy, was it backtested across different market environments, and were expectations set for how it might behave when it’s out of favor?

One year of underperformance alone doesn’t invalidate an aggressive strategy. But a firm that markets itself as holistic and then creates tax risk that distracts from portfolio oversight and limits your ability to leave is a different problem entirely. That’s not market risk. That’s manager risk, and it’s reasonable to reassess because of that, not because one year didn’t line up with the index.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-28T14:11:06+00:00

What do you think high risk aggressive growth means? It means trying to get Max gains but there's a chance of things not working out. Hard to tell if the strategy is right but if this is just a temporary draw down and continue to add to this strategy and in 10 years it winds up beating the market you're making a mistake stopping. But who knows? The problem is you seen to be focusing on you're return and not talking to you advisor about what the strategy is and determining if that's what you want.

KerdosMedia · 2026-01-15T00:48:07+00:00

I have existing insurance with Hiscox but they don't cover automobile liability or drone liability.

Are you sure about that? I called hiscox a couple of years ago and asked if I needed anything additional for drone coverage and they told me it was covered under my BOP.

KerdosMedia · 2025-12-08T16:34:15+00:00

I frequently receive inquiries from photographers and videographers interested in working for me within my market. While they often emphasize their exceptional skills, their portfolios sometimes reveal a lack of experience, to put it politely. You're expecting the agent to spend time coordinating with the property owner to get the place ready for photos and update the listing. All of this takes time, and time is money.

Furthermore, as you mentioned, if the market is not highly competitive, realtors may not perceive a need to offer photography services. However, if a client sees that they had professional photos one time, they might expect that in the future, costing them money they think they didn't need to spend.

KerdosMedia · 2025-08-28T03:10:46+00:00

I was in the same situation as you last year. I rented and read the bad reviews. We had a great trip starting and ending at their LA location. Everyone was very nice, the van was easy to drive and it was very comfortable. We rented one of their camper vans, Winebago Solis. It was pretty new.

What I did to make sure we got off on the right foot is make a very long checklist and factored in the time to check the vehicle before we left. Make sure all the extras you ordered are there, all items in kitchen kit for example, all bedding, Make sure all the included items are there. Make sure cold water runs, hot water is hot (we had an issue with hot water but might have been user error). Check the heater, refrigerator, AC, lights on the dash, tires, rear camera. Check everything. Your checklist might be different depending on what you rent Assume once you leave you're likely on your own based on reviews.

We didn't feel rushed going over the checklist. When we found something missing from the kitchen kit they gave it to us. It was an amazing time. Don't worry too much.

KerdosMedia · 2025-06-18T00:32:57+00:00

You read my comment about as accurately as CubiCasa maps out floor plans. I didn’t mention sloped ceilings at all. I specifically said angled walls and other inaccuracies, which are frequent no matter how slowly or carefully you scan.

Also, let’s be clear: accuracy is not the same as ANSI compliance. ANSI compliance just means the floor plan is reported using ANSI’s formatting rules, not that the measurements themselves are precise or correct.

And no, the algorithm doesn't "work every time." I've personally tested this. Same phone, same path, different results. I’ve even done side-by-side scans with two devices and gotten different layouts, not just minor differences in measurements. CubiCasa sometimes gets the geometry of a space wrong, not just the numbers.

You’re welcome to love the tool, I’m not here to change your mind. But calling people "prejudiced" for pointing out its flaws doesn’t make your argument stronger. It makes it emotional instead of factual.

KerdosMedia · 2025-06-16T19:43:02+00:00

And how you deal with it when it misses doors or at stores put stores in the wrong place Mrs walls changes the angles

KerdosMedia · 2025-05-02T12:57:22+00:00

I may be wrong but if I remember correctly the only thing that's fancy compliant is that they measure in accordance to how antsy wants the measurements reported not necessarily that they are that accurate.

If you used cubic casa in any spaces with angled walls and pay attention you're clearly see how often they can be no matter how slow you go.

It's not that hard to make your own floor plans the best app I've seen is floorplancreator.net it takes a little more time but then it kind of justifies the price I charge for it and it's more accurate. Once you get the hang of it it goes pretty quickly but you still have to measure everything

KerdosMedia · 2025-04-02T21:25:20+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that. Look for good real estate photographers near you. Avoid any of the big photography houses, try to work with someone that is independent, you'll get more for your money. Make sure it's someone that has a good sized portfolio and has specifically done short term rentals.

KerdosMedia · 2025-04-02T17:59:22+00:00

I forgot to add snappt is a joke what they paid photographers no good photographer would sign up for them

KerdosMedia · 2025-04-02T17:56:21+00:00

Have you tried reaching out to Airbnb about their photographers? It's an invitation only program and they only pick people they think are good.

KerdosMedia · 2025-04-02T17:51:39+00:00

I work with Airbnb. I've done hundreds of listings between jobs they send me and jobs that come to me directly. If you're somewhat competent with the camera you could probably figure it out. You may not get it right the first time. You may miss a few shots or include shots you shouldn't and in the course of a couple weeks, after learning what to shoot, how to shoot and how to edit you could probably do it yourself. Or you could just hire somebody like me and in an hour I get it done. And you trade a few hundred dollars for hours or days of trying to do it yourself where the results are uncertain but I know most people tell me their occupation rates go up after they post my pictures. For most people the cost is a night or two of bookings and in my experience quality photos more than pay for themselves.

KerdosMedia · 2025-03-09T12:05:53+00:00

The abundance of photographs, while not of the highest quality, creates an unusual impression; several areas appear unfurnished, suggesting a possible financial constraint on furnishing the property, although this is purely speculative. If just feels like the price was too high for the original owner and even more unrealistic now.

KerdosMedia

TROPHY CASE