Start a Location Scouting and Permit Service for Photo and Video Shoots

1. 1

   Scout twenty properties worth paying for

   Look for what your market lacks: an intact mid-century house, a working warehouse, a rooftop with skyline, a barn, a neon-lit diner, a stretch of empty road. Photograph each one in the light it looks best in, note power, parking, bathrooms, noise, and load-in, because those practicalities are what a production actually asks about.

2. 2

   Get owners on a written listing agreement

   A simple agreement covering how you present the property, the fee split, minimum booking hours, house rules, and what happens with damage. Owners want to know who will be inside their building; being the person who screens and supervises is why they list with you instead of a free directory.

3. 3

   Learn your jurisdiction's permit rules until you are the local expert

   City film office rules, park and beach authorities, transit and port districts, county roads, private HOA restrictions, and the thresholds where a small shoot becomes a permitted one. Build a plain-language matrix of what triggers a permit, what it costs, and how long it takes. This knowledge is what clients cannot get anywhere else.

4. 4

   Standardize the insurance and agreement package

   Productions typically carry general liability with the property owner named as additional insured. Collect certificates before shoot day, keep templates for the location agreement and any talent or release forms the owner requires, and never let a shoot proceed on a verbal yes.

5. 5

   Price the three things you sell separately

   The location fee (with your percentage), a scouting or sourcing fee when a client wants options you do not already have listed, and a permit and coordination fee for handling paperwork and being on site. Be explicit that scouting time is billable even when the client picks nothing, because clients scout many places and book one.

6. 6

   Sell to the people who book repeatedly

   Commercial photographers, regional ad agencies, production companies, content studios, casting and styling teams, and increasingly brands shooting their own campaigns. One agency that shoots monthly is worth more than fifty one-time inquiries, so build the relationship, not just the listing site.

7. 7

   Grow into shoot-day services

   Once you are on site anyway, the natural add-ons are parking and neighbor management, restroom and power logistics, security, cleanup, and a runner. These are billable hours with no new marketing, and they are the reason productions come back to you instead of the free listing they found once.

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