3 Things you can do to be ready to leave your full time job and start your photography business

For many starting your own business is a dream long before it becomes a reality. For some it even remains a dream as they are unsure of the steps they need to take to make the leap successfully. We all go on our own individual journey’s as we travel along the road to leaving our full time employment behind. Some are ready before others to make the leap, others bridge the gape and go part-time as they like to let go of that safety blanket slowing. That is fine, too. We all move at our own pace. But what is important is that we take certain steps that suit our own needs that keep moving us in the direction of our dreams. So I wanted to let you know the steps I considered in starting my business.

1. Dont get into debt

One thing I was determined not to do when I started my own business was not to get into debt. I really did not want a giant cloud over my head, particularly as I was starting a creative business, where I needed the space to be creative and expand my horizons. I used the time as I prepared to launch to save as much as I could and also to investigate what grants and funding were available to me. Check in your local area whether there is funding for new start-ups. For me, this funding was key to spending in key areas and it allowed me to take out advertising and produce sample albums to highlight my portfolio. A source of funding will allow you then to invest what you have on what you really need, giving your business the best foundation from the outset.

2. Hire professionals and do what you can yourself.

When I started I decided to invest in the help of an account who could properly set up my business and best advise me on how to run a business. I came from the world of education and knew very little about running a business, let alone what needed to be done to set it up! His advice got me off to the correct start, knowing everything had been set in place to grow! My advice would be to know your weaknesses and invest what you have in hiring professionals to turn them into strengths.

3. Start a blog

Long before I had photographed my first wedding, I had started writing about them. I did this for 2 reasons. Firstly I was keen to be found online and knew that blogging was a great way to attract people to my website. I had no weddings to highlight on my blog, so I blogged on lots of other wedding topics such a key trends and wedding fashions. This helped to improve my Google ranking (Google loves fresh content) and it also enabled me to grow a following of people who would return each week to see what I had written. The second reason why I started my blog was because it was a proactive move and showed my commitment to make a real start. It would have been easy to have said that I would wait until I had some really weddings to show on my blog. But for me that would have been just an excuse that would have kept me in my comfort zone and perhaps keep me there and stop me from starting my business. In business you have to be proactive. Nobody else is going to do the work for you. Procrastination becomes easy and every day you will tell yourself that you will “start tomorrow” Let that tomorrow be today. One of my mums favourite sayings was “why put off until tomorrow, what you can do today”. This is so true when you are a start-up. Remember all the positive reasons why you want to be your own boss and take action!