Welcome to Week 1 of 9 of Develop you Business. I am honored to have you on this journey. When I first started my business I received a lot of advice some well-meaning but I found some of it not just didn’t fit me and the direction I wanted to take. So after a few years of business and lots of education, training and questions, I found that I had LOTS of notebooks filled with tidbits of business insights that I needed to do something with. I figured writing it out in a clear format would be the best way to gain clarity and archive it for future reference. I also want this information to meet you where you are. If you have questions please leave them in the comments or shoot me an email. If you’re looking for a more personal approach to feel free to book a one on one session where we can work together. Please feel free to share this information
- write out a business plan It does not have to be elaborate a simple one page detailing who your target client will be, what your marketing efforts will be, and how much you want to make and a how you plan to reach that goal is enough.
- set aside capital You need money to start a business it’s that simple. I don’t care if you want to be a blogger or a photographer. Some businesses require more some less. But you need to look at your field of interest and decide how much you will need.
- Name your business I named my business MadCris Images, it’s the combined name of my kids Madeline and Cristian. There are a lot a of reasons why I didn’t name my business Wanda Thomas Photography and one was I wanted something different.
- Create a LLC if necessary I did not file my LLC right away, I was a student first and as I got closer to my degree date and I saw that my income was growing I looked for an attorney and an accountant that I felt comfortable with and took the steps needed to legitimize my business
- Get any licenses or permits you need I only needed my EIN and if I shoot commercially I need a permit for that but if you are a food vendor outside you’ll need a special licence for that . Check with the city for their requirements.
- Choose a location I primarily work from my home office, I like it. I have tried to utilize coworking space for office time but it’s not me. I am the type of person that occasionally likes loud latin music when I edit and that just doesn’t bode well in a shared space. But for studio space I do like to use shared space where I can connect with others and meet the needs of my clients. You’ll want to think about this when you are planning for your businesses needs as well.
- Buy any equipment For me this was photography equipment such as lights, flashes, a new camera bag, tripod, batteries and chargers just to name a few. I also shoot film so I had film equipment to get as well. Think about what you will need to run your business and purchase it. You may want a mac but a PC will be fine in the beginning. As you grow and start earning more you can save towards an upgrade. Think about what you will need to effectively run your business and serve your clients today. Remember needs and wants are 2 different things.
Next week, week 2 we will talk all about designing your marketing and branding pieces.
