3 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask Themselves

For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of running a business. When I was in grade school I would transform our family coat closet into a stylish nook that I would invite my sisters to come hang out in (for the hefty price of a piece of candy). In middle school I handed out flyers to my neighborhood advertising “Abby’s Curb Appeal”. I had my Dad drive me the nearest hardware store to invest in my own business supplies (a rake and leaf bags) to give my customers the best service. In high school and into college I spent time making personalized signs for peoples homes, and eventually ended up participating in local markets and even making signage for restaurants and businesses. And now, I am a photographer.

Some might hear my track record and think that I am searching for something and just haven’t found it, others would think I will do anything for a buck, but the truth is I just love business. I love what I discover about myself when I find a passion or something that I am good at, I love the techniques of communicating that passion to people and giving my passion value, and feeling the reward of my hard work when someone trusts me enough to pay me for a service. It’s extremely rewarding to me. But something clicked in me when I started wanting to make my photography a business. I didn’t want it to be like all of the others where the rush that I got was in making money, I wanted it to be deeper than that.

When I started working on my website and starting strategizing my social media accounts, I had to decide a couple things. The first question I had to ask was: “what do I want out of this?”, the next question was “what do I want to communicate?”, and lastly, “How do I want to communicate it?”. Answering these questions helped me do something that is VERY hard to do, especially in this day and age. It helped me decide what I wanted for MY business without comparing or being dependent on trying to replicate the HUNDREDS of accounts that I follow of other girl boss’s that are killing it in their industry. Why? Because I am different than them. And if I let myself get discouraged that I don’t have as many sessions booked, as many followers, or make as much money then I will hold myself back from doing what I am capable of.

What do I want out of this?

I want to continue to feed my creativity and my passion for photography. By staying true to myself and continuing to feed my own passion and style, I want my photography to be something that someone (not everyone) can identify with and be inspired by. I want someone to see my photos and think, “I want that.” then shoot me a message so we can have a kick butt photoshoot.

What do I want to communicate?

I want to communicate joy, love, faith, confidence, and support. I don’t just want my clients feeling that during a session, but I want my brand to communicate those things on every platform. My brand is going to be more than “authentically documented photos” (even though that is a HUGE part of it), I want it to be something that people can relate to. Because my photography isn’t just about photos, it’s about who is in them and what those photos represent (cue the key words).

How do I want to communicate it?

I want to be myself. I want people to feel like they know who is behind the camera before they even meet me. I want them to know about my husband, my bunny, my iced latte obsession, etc. Why? Because I want to CONNECT with the people that decide they want to hire me. I want to have a new friend or two after couples sessions and weddings, and for them to feel like they can be confident in who they hired as a person AND as a creative.

As time goes on, I want to be able to look back on my decisions as a business owner and be proud of what my brand communicates. I want to reach people, and not just so that they can empty their wallets, but so that they hear Abby Kate Photography and love me (my brand) for all of the reasons that I am different from the others. For that reason, you will find that not all of my posts whether on my blog or Instagram are going to be an advertisement. It’s going to be my life, my trips, my thoughts, and most importantly, my bunny, husband and lattes. Because photography hits pretty much every part of my life! It’s not about the sessions I book, it’s more important to me to continue feeding my passion, because that makes me a better photographer than I was the day before.