The 16 Shifts You Need to Make to Go From Being a Hobbyist to Becoming a Successful Business Owner
- Price your photography appropriately so you can sustain yourself full time.
- Stop photographing friends and family for free. Instead, charge for your costs and for your time.
- Implement this mindset shift - You are no longer a photographer. You are a business owner who sells photography services and products for profit.
- Establish firm working hours when you are available for clients and stick to them.
- Think twice about giving your clients a USB drive of images, as this lessens the impact of your photography and gives them complete control of how they print and present your images.
- Begin to pay yourself a salary.
- Have a goal of taking home at least 1/4 of your gross income.
- Understand your financial numbers and know what your margins are.
- Take full responsibility for your business, and don't worry about the other (cheaper) photographers in your marketplace. Outwork them and become more marketable.
- Begin to focus on how much money you make, not how many clients you photograph.
- Start investing more money into your business education than your photography equipment. Enroll in three business classes for every photography class.
- Establish a place in your home to meet clients and show/sell your photography or set a goal to find a place soon.
- Find MeetUp groups that have other business owners and start attending those meetings.
- Join your local photography association and/or the PPA and begin building a network of photographers that you can bounce ideas off.
- Reinvest the money you make from photography back into your business.
- Force yourself to take action even when you don't feel like it. Become disciplined and build strong work habits.
Now that you have this list, what will you start working on first? How many of these can you check off as complete?
If you haven't scheduled your "STARTUP DISCOVERY CALL" with me, this would be a great time to do so. We will talk about these 16 shifts and move you forward with your business. CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED - no cost or obligation.
I will see you on the "STARTUP DISCOVERY CALL."
