My best business advice!

I’ve made some really good decisions in my business. I’ve also made some dumbs ones, but lately I’ve been really grateful for the good ones. The decisions + investments that have scaled my business to places I could have only imagined. Most of those decisions have included community, let me share them with you!

  1. Hiring Val Marlene Creative as my business coach!!! Still to this day, three years later, this may be the best business decision I’ve EVER made. Val is the real deal! This woman knows her stuff! When my husband and I were discussing what it would look like for me to quit my other job and pursue photography full-time, while staying at home with our boys, I decided to invest in Val as a coach. She was the encouragement + critique that I needed to make the jump and I’ve never regretted it for a second. If you’re even slightly considering what it may look like make that leap to “full-time” I highly encourage you to contact Val!
  2. Outsourcing. Eventually you’re going to hit a point in your entrepreneurship where you realize you can’t do it all. Which can sometimes be a hard concept to come to terms with when you’re a dreamer + doer. But in order to give your clients the best experience and focus on your passion, you’re going to have to let go of the reigns a little bit and outsource parts of your business to others who excel in those areas. I think this looks different for everyone and for me it meant outsourcing my brand + website to Kyla Studio. These two ladies were so intentional about getting to know me + my “WHY” and created the most beautiful brand. I mean, just take a look around this website, they killed it!
  3. You can choose to invest in a new camera or lens and gear, but I personally believe that before you spend money on the “newest + trendiest” you should invest your time + money in workshops and mentorships. (Guys, both my cameras and the lenses I own have all come from Craigslist/Facebook Swap.) Not only have workshops and mentorships been so helpful, full of wisdom, and where I’ve learned a ton..BUT I’ve created relationships where I can still reach out to these ladies with any questions that I have in the future.
  4. When you work for yourself, in your home + with your kids, it can sometimes become lonely. My co-workers make a mess, I have to bake them chicken nuggets every day, and they are really loud + request to listen to Baby Shark on repeat. So needless to say, there is something really special about being able to connect with other creatives that share your same passions. Some of my closest friends are other photographs I once only knew through Instagram. And ya want to know a secret, it helps with the comparison game we can all play on social media too. When you reach out and connect with each other you realize these people on the other side of the screen are REAL too and probably desire community as much as you do.
  5. And lastly, another big resource is Google Sheets. My AMAZING husband created a spread sheet for me that has transformed the way I work with numbers. If you’re like me, numbers/taxes/percentages, they’re probably your least favorite part of the job. Why can’t I just take photos and everything else will figure itself out? I wish it were that easy, but the Google Sheet does help. Not only did my hubs include formulas to calculate taxes, he also included graphs where I can compare my year-to-year or month-to-month income, see my growth + where I need to improve, and over all just made a visual resource that I’ve found very beneficial for my creative mind. You can download your free copy below! I hope it helps you as much as it’s helped me!

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