Beginning the Business - Part 1

I started this blog to talk about the roller coaster ride I've been on for the past two years.  The "own-your-own-business-and-take-it-seriously" ride.  Maybe you've been on it, or maybe you're thinking about hopping on and taking a ride.  It's crazy, full of amazing highs and treacherous lows, but I absolutely love it and hope to keep riding it for many years.  I'll tell you how it all began for me....

In February of 2008, I attended a FABULOUS workshop in Huntsville, Alabama, hosted by a truly gifted photographer named Heather Bookout.  I randomly found her website one day while Googling "child photographers" and was struck by how different and beautiful her work was.  She spoke openly about her faith and beliefs, which made her and her work even more spectacular to me. After the workshop and spending two days with her and many other talented photographers, I came home and told my husband that I was tired of just taking pictures for friends and a few paying clients...it was time for me to take it seriously and invest everything...my time, talent, money and energy into opening a real studio.   I was certain I could do it.  I needed a passion for photography...check.  I needed a good business background...check.  I needed a business plan and a creative vision for what I wanted my studio to be like...check.  Surely, if others had done it, so could I.  I actually believed it wouldn't be too hard to get my successful studio up and running.  Ah, I was so naive and innocent!

I started the process:  Finishing an upstairs garage loft on our 10-acre property, coming up with a company name, designing a logo, building a website, setting up pricing, securing financing, creating mailers and marketing pieces...the list goes on and on.  There was a ton of work to do, but it didn't feel like work at all.  I LOVED every minute of it.  One of my best friends found a quote that fit me perfectly:

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.  He hardly knows which is which.  He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.  To him, he is always doing both."

This quote by James Michener spoke to me...I feel deep in my heart that I'm doing what I'm meant to do when I pick up my camera.  What if I could actually earn a living at this?

I worked through the winter and spring and by summer, I was ready for my big studio launch.  I sent out beautiful mailers, announced my grand opening and waited for the phone to ring.  And waited.  Sure, there were a few phone calls, but how come my calendar wasn't filled up instantly? What was I doing wrong?  And oh, by the way, did I mention that the economy tanked in August of 2008?

After the glorious, creative high of bringing this business to life...MY business, MY baby...I was starting to get my first taste of reality.  I had poured my heart into this concept.  I did it largely by myself, with the help of some amazing friends who listened while I worked through this beginning stage.  This business is an extension of ME and only me.  It's MY vision, MY hopes, MY work, MY dream. No one else, just me. Unless you've been through the process before, it's tough to understand.  Those of you who have been through it, know it can be lonely and scary and thrilling and exciting.  I'm telling ya', it's a roller coaster.

In those first months, I learned that it takes a lot of work, with many long days and nights, to establish a business.  But I was still so naive.  I still thought it was just as simple as a good business plan and some good photography.  But it's way more than that....so much more.

To be continued next week...

P.S.  I want to hear from you!  Tell us your stories because I know others that are in the same position want to hear too.  Tell me what inspired you to start your business?  How did you feel when you opened your doors and had your first clients?  Did your phone ring right away or were you, too, left wondering what else needed to be done?  Did you scour other websites for knowledge, read books, etc. in search of answers?  I know I did.  Tell me...