Establishing Myself as a Business Owner - Creative Entrepreneur - Seattle Wedding Photographer

I am celebrating my businessversary. Thats not a thing, but I'm going to call it that. It has been one year since starting my business! Lately, I have been reflecting on the past year and how far I have come, and how much I have learned. I am also a couple months into being a full-time photographer, my own business manager & creative entrepreneur. I say all three of those things because they all take on different roles within owning a business. It’s not only important to recognize what roles those are in your own business but how much do you give to each one.

Sure, 33.3% across the board seems ideal, but maybe not. These percentages can change as you move forward with your business and what goals you may have at different times of your career. For example, I am about 1 year into starting my business and I finally have found my style, and I see in the big picture of where I want my business to go. I decided as a photographer I am going to focus on one category, weddings & couples.

What do you do?

Is there a more specific category you love more than others in your industry?

Ok so having that in mind, how are you going to split the roles to further yourself in that category, or what role do you need to set a higher percentage of energy toward?

What items on the to do list are prerequisites and what role do they fall under?

For me, my first year of business was 80% photographer, 10% manager, 10% entrepreneur. I knew I had to get behind the camera as much as possible, but also have some sort of system (sort of), and owning my part in this business as an entrepreneur was an important part of the overall package. All in all, I just needed to take photos, learn my camera, settings, editing, etc. etc. Now, I am officially full-time and my roles have changed, I know my camera, my settings and how I edit etc. I am now digging deep creatively, in photography and business management. My to do list is basically one BIG thing, get established as a business owner, a professional photographer and a creative. I asked myself the questions listed above, I figured out what role is taking a little bit more priority now then others, or if they are all an even playing field. It’s going to be different for every business owner, depending on where you are in your business and what goals you want to achieve.

Your product, in my case, photography, should always be consistent, right? Without your product, you don’t have a business. Like I said when I started out, my photography had taken over my roles because I had to learn a lot, now I need to keep it consistent while still learning in a creative entrepreneur role, what is next or where is it going. Then, being my own manager, the business to dos are only going to grow.

So, find out what your roles are and where they stand in line. And keep in mind, as your entrepreneurial self, goals and ideas are going to come arise so when they do, reassess your roles, tackle and conquer!