I was a professional photographer in London who is now living in Devon. I am very much aware that business people, indeed people in all walks of life, need to have creditable portraits of themselves for publications, business cards, websites, brochures, CVs, dating agencies and so on, and that this need is not being met.

If they want to keep the cost of the portrait down and produce it at short notice, they may visit a photo booth, use a casual picture taken at a party or on holiday or get someone in the office, even a friend perhaps or member of the family, to take it for them.

All of these options will generally produce a low grade, badly lit and unprofessional looking finished portrait which does not flatter them or send out the intended message. However, going to a professional studio doesn’t offer the complete solution either, as the result, price, quality, and time it takes to do it, fluctuate radically.

So I have come up with a solution that I think is workable and solves most of these problems. I am able to produce a well posed studio portrait that is of high quality, fully retouched and downloaded to a CD or printed to take away in fifteen minutes. This service can be offered by appointment (no waiting time) or as a walk-in, walk-out service for just £15 including the sitting.

I have all the necessary equipment and want to trial the idea, but a small high street shop (I need about 30’x 40’ in all) is proving difficult to find and rents have gone through the roof. Therefore, I am asking for suggestions for ways I can overcome this problem and start putting the idea to work. Ideas need legs or they remain nothing but ideas.