Photography Business - The 5 Biggest Business Lessons I Learned From 2008

1# Be true to who you are - often we tend to focus exclusively on going after the money and there will be times when you will do things out of necessity for the money. But never forget to be true to your vision and who are 'really' are. Your customers will appreciate you more for it and you'll feel better about yourself because you're doing what you truly love.

2# Don't waste time waiting to be perfect - we all want to put out the best possible product and you should. But many of us suffer from perfection paralysis. We wait and wait and wait until we "feel" we are perfect. Notice I said 'feel' we are perfect, not until we "are" perfect. But remember this: Practice makes perfect. You should always strive to do your best but at some point you must release your vision out into the world. You can always tweak, adjust and perfect your business and then re-release it back into the world.

3# Don't rely on your customers to dictate your worth - I practically ruined my business doing that, mainly because I didn't feel confident in my abilities. I allowed my customers to dictate my worth. But remember it's your business and you determine your worth. You should focus your energies on providing value and then follow through with excellent customer service. By doing that you will demonstrate your worth to your customer, but it starts with you making the decision to determine your value first.

4# Be open to new ideas - often we think that there is only 'one' way to do something, or we rely on things that worked in the past that now no longer work and we paralyze ourselves with fear and indecision about moving forward. The road toward becoming a successful entrepreneur is always about re-invention. How are you reinventing yourself and your business?

5# Have faith - Faith really means having a belief in something when there is no evidence to support that belief. To be faithful really means believing in yourself, your ideas or even another person. Your faith will be especially tested when others don't share in your belief or vision to have your own successful photography business.

You obviously want and need the support of others to get your ideas off the ground but I suggest that you be very selective about the people you elect to surround yourself with. It's very important that you build a support system to help your ideas take shape. As a matter of fact if take nothing else from this article, take that.

I recall a quote that said: "You're only as good as the people you choose to surround yourself with". I agree, but remember you have to hold the vision for your photography business first.