Believe it or not, outstanding photographic portraits can be crafted with relatively simple equipment. For starters, the camera you have will suffice and in your zoom lenses, there are appropriate focal lengths for a closeup, head and shoulders, 3/4 and full-lenght portraits as well as groups. You may need to augment your lighting inventory although certain basic portraits can be done with one moonlight and a reflector. For a while, however, let's put the gear aside and talk about technique and business planning.
The specialties you aspire to do all come under the heading of general portraiture- nothing outrageous- and can make for a viable business. A solid business plan and marketing approach for each of those categories is important, so much so, that without it, any business is destined for failure, regardless of your skills and talent.
On its very basis, portraiture is "people photography" and nowadays many PEOPLE are simply taking the own pictures- cell phone selfies, many amateur shooters with fancy gear, etc.- you know all about that! This, however, does not negate the roles of the PROFESSIONAL portrait photographer BUT your work has to be a significant cut above what folks are doing DIY and your marketing approach to each of your potential specialties is critical.
The is my 58th year in professional photography and portraiture is still part of my business- so what I'm gonn tell you may be considered "old school" but it has kept my portrait customers returning. ask you self- WAHT AM I SELLING? Clients don't care about cameras and flash gear or f/stops and shutter speeds or pixels. They wanna look great in the portraits! So- how' you ligh skills? Know anythg about facial analysis? It ain't rocket science but folks don't wanna seether flaws- only the best features. Believe it or not- retouching is not the cureall- it has to do with light control. posting and camer angle- image management at the camera! How are your people skills? Not all you customers are gonna be movie stars and models and you have to draw the expressions out and keep the happy and relaxed. At the end of the day, in their portrait, he wanna look like models and movie stars- WHY NOT? Hair, makeup, clothing and colour coordination- notice that much of this has nothing to do with gear!
Location work- Weel- you can set up a portable background or do environmental portraiture which involves using natural light and/ or combing flas and natural light. If the background is part of the theme or a story, you need to know how to expose it, render it in or out of focus and design the composition involving the environment. Nowadays, BUSINESS and executive portraits are oftentimes made in offices, factories, construction job sites OR they may be formal and studio-like.
In the U.S. senior high school portrait has become an industry but the "kids" do not necessarily want the old format cap and gown thing, although that my interest parents. Many are in lifestyle portraits, a bit of glamour and excitement- sports, cars, their favourite activities have to be part of their grad portraits.
STYLE? You have to develop your own style and promote it. The basics, however, still apply!
I don't know what your skill level is but if you have not been involved in portraiture I would advise a basic course in someof the must-have skills. I got to recommend something you can get online at no cost. Again, it's rather "old school" but it illustrates some basic angles of the face- full, 2/3 and profile, important camera position and some rudimentary posing techniques. There are also some basic light forms. It's based on studio work but you will learn to recognize good lighting on the subject wehn occurs in naturally available light situations. There are also some nice ideas for group arrangements. Have a look and let me know what you think. Here's the link:
http://blog.kitfphoto.com/Zeltsman/ Mr. Zeltsman was a grandmaster and my favourite teacher and mentor.
Gear: You may want to invest in some good-quality monolights and create an on-location "studio-like" setup. You may need some collapsable reflectors and gobos, perhaps a soft-focus filter or two or an actual soft-focus lens?
Take it form am an old guy with a gray beard- think about the education and preparation before you write the cheques or flip the credit card!
Wit the pandemic and all the lockdown, the portal business is slow and sometimes non-existent- if no for my commercial work, I would be in trouble. The good news is this a good time for planning, learning, assembling the gear, exploring potential markets and lining up all your ducks.
I can recommend all the gear in the world- lighting by Speedotron, Photogenic, Westcott Godox, Paul C. Buff, and more. Lightstand tripods by Gitzo, Manfrotto, and many others. Put to get a BUDGET! You may need to search the used market for some good stuff.
Sorry- no quick tips today! Look at it this way- planning a photographic business like a long vacation trip- getting there is half the fun- don't rush!