Being an entrepreneur is two full-time jobs in one: performing your craft and running a business.
So Many Hats, So Little Time
As a photographer, you have so much to do – photo shoots, edit images, maintain your web presence, promote your business, and garner new clients. Plus, you have to answer emails and phone calls, take care of your billing and accounting, buy office supplies, and take care of the things that normally come with a 9-to-5 job like saving for retirement, health insurance, saving for retirement, planning for time off . . .
Geez. Maybe it’s more like six jobs in one.
Non-entrepreneurs don’t know how much work it is to keep all the cogs in the machine turning.
Best Advice I Received as an Entrepreneur
One of the best pieces of advice I heard when I was just starting out as an entrepreneur was:
When you’re not working in your business, you need to be working on your business.
When you don’t have client work to do, you need to be working on getting the next client in the door, and/or keeping up with the business side of your company.
How You Set Up Your Business Determines Its Success
How you set up your business, not just creating a business entity, will streamline future decisions. You want to know, and communicate, in advance:
- Your policy regarding cancellations,
- Pricing, including rush fees,
- The turnaround time for deliverables, and
- Your terms of licensing your work.
Remember – It’s your business. You make the rules.
You also want to make some in-house rules for yourself, like deciding how you to respond to suspected copyright infringement, how you’ll interact with your clients, and when to invest in more training or new equipment.
Having policies and systems in place will make you a more efficient and effective business owner, which will clear up time and energy to devote to your craft.
Work on the Business Every Week
Each week, you should set aside some time to work on your business. Treat your business like a client and put it on your calendar. I have a standing weekly meeting with myself where I put pen to paper to celebrate victories from the past week, examine what’s working and what’s not in the business, what to try next, and to consider upcoming opportunities. This is also the time I pay bills and reconcile bank statements. I run a profit-and-loss report every month to analyze how money is coming in and going out from the company.
Recently, I learned of a photographer who almost never scheduled shoots on Monday. Instead, they used that time to buy film, return calls, accounts receivable and payable, plan ahead, and send invoices. They give themselves an entire day to step back from the camera and Lightroom to take care of the needs of their business.
What about you? What do you do to take care of the business side of your photography company?
Lights Camera Lawsuit
There’s always a need for quality legal information for photographers. That’s why I created an online course called Lights Camera Lawsuit: The Legal Side of Professional Photography to address photographers’ most important questions. I want you to feel secure in your business, confident in the way you operate day-to-day, knowing that you’ve set yourself up to get paid what your worth without incident.
The course goes live on March 16, 2020 and is $497. That’s less than what I charge for two hours of work and you’ll be getting over ten hours of legal information.
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