When we first started out in photography, we worked full time jobs, and part time in our photography business on nights and weekends. We knew we wanted to run our own business together, but at that point we still depended on our full time income sources to survive.
Then Andrew lost three jobs in three years to “corporate downsizing”, and we decided to take the plunge. He worked in the studio full time, while I continued in corporate during the week.
That was our turning point when we knew we could do this. With focus, we could build this up to where we could sustain our lifestyle by working completely for ourselves. It took me a couple of years to take the plunge too, but that set us on the path towards entrepreneur success.
Our first goal was to specialize our business, and really focus in on “getting known” in one niche. I found our first wedding brochure this past month, (shown over on the right – its from the early 90’s so the images really made me smile) and it reminded me of how much dedication we put towards building a successful business. Our prices were great for our beginning wedding business – even though I look at them now and laugh.
What made the difference, and turned us from doubt to confidence is immediately after we created this brochure, we booked our top package. That was our “pie in the sky” package; something we created that really excited us, yet we had doubts whether anyone would purchase it.
Then we booked another. And another.
It taught us to have confidence in our skills, and to price our photography accordingly. The more confidence we had, the better we could sell. And the higher we could raise our prices.
That first “top package” sale put us on the track to success. We knew we could do it. We knew we could achieve more. And that’s exactly what we did, building a six figure business in under two years.
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What was your “doubt to confidence” moment? When did you know you were on the right path, and photography was in your future? When did you know you would turn professional? When did you know you would find success?