I’ve had multiple businesses over the years. It wasn’t until about 14 years ago when I was nudged in the direction of professional photography that I decided I wanted to really have a go at this one. I wanted to make it work and work well. 

So, like any good entrepreneur does, I went to the internet to see what other people in my industry were doing. I wanted to see what it took to be successful in something I loved so much. I learned how to market myself, how to brand myself, how to do social media and network. I learned a lot of the really fun parts of what it takes to run business and didn’t pay as close attention to the “not so fun” parts. 

Years into my photography business I started making good money, but because I hadn’t really talked to a CPA or knew what to hold back for taxes, we owed a lot of money. I was shocked, angry, and discouraged. Sometimes we need a little kick in the pants to get ourselves in order and that’s what I did. 

I was a one-woman show. For years I did everything by myself for my business and as rewarding and fun as it was, it was also really exhausting. I was spending time on things that I personally shouldn’t have been spending my time on. But since we hadn’t planned accordingly, I couldn’t afford to hire anyone. Also, I was afraid to hire people. This was my “baby” and no one would really understand it or help me like I could. So, in my mind, it only made sense to keep doing it all myself. 

I was tired. Keeping up with everything behind the scenes of a business PLUS being the face of the business and running it was exhausting. I started to lose my fire and I hated it so much. All I wanted to do was photograph people but the daunting task of invoicing, customer service, and all the other things that just weren’t “fun” for me overwhelmed me. 

That’s when I finally wised up and started hiring people. Enough was enough and I didn’t need to be the only one doing this. There are experts in all the areas I needed help with my business; all I had to do was hire them. So I did. 

It was really hard at first to let go of control in certain areas of my business. Really hard. But the more I did it, the better I felt and the more I was able to concentrate on what I truly loved to do. 

Take it from me, you don’t need to do it all. You shouldn’t do it all!

Your business needs you to loosen your grip on all of the control and hire out people who can do it better and actually love doing it.

 

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