[PRODIG] Introduction

[Cavendish Studios]

Hi,   My name is Jonathan Coleman.   My wife and I run a successful portrait studio, out of an industrial unit, in Chester, UK.  We have been here for 13 years, open 4 days a week, and have a small team of 8 people, most of which are marketing staff.   We have been fully digitised for about 2 years using Nikon D1X cameras; Photoshop 7 (soon to be CS) and Epson 7600 for output. We are PC based rather than Mac.   Turning to digital has had a profound effect on our profitability, increasing our net profit % from the mid/upper teens to well over 30%.   Additionally, we have seen our averages increase as our customers appreciate the inherantlybespoke nature of our business (most of our images are hand-printed into hand-made frames) and love the fact they can customise their own purchase. The net result of this has been more unsolicited compliments over the last 12 months than we have ever seen before as well as a consistant increase in our average sales.    For us, at least, going digital has meant a really exciting hike in our job satisfaction.   We have not been photographers all our working lives. Eighteen years ago, I was a Bank Manager - I just longed for something different.   Jonathan