I could write all marshmallow fluffy and talk of dreams of fairy-bearing unicorns, but that’s not realistic and is actually a supreme waste of my time. And yours.
Instead, let’s cut to the chase and take a hard look at ourselves, our work, our business practices and any other facet related to our business.
Run your numbers. We just wrapped up October, so within the first few days of the month, you should be finalizing your numbers for the month. Are you on track with other months? Are you showing a progressive increase in sales each year? Were October 2011 numbers better than October 2010?
Review your schedule. Are you sticking to it? Or are you wedging in some social media time that is uneccesary?
I’ve recently done an honest evaluation of my studio business and it’s time to do some serious revamping. My studio has been closed most of the time since Mid-May. I have been staying with my inlaws’ every week day and by the time I get home, there’s not that many hours left in the day to take care of my own home, let alone a business.
Wootness is staying very viable because I use the time that I’m at my inlaws’ to do all the writing and upkeep of the website with my laptop, but I’m unable to process photos and do retouching on it, so my photography time is limited.
It looks like my crazy schedule is going to stay crazy for awhile, so I’m totally revamping my schedule, offerings and pricing in order to adapt to this new situation.
It’s all fine and good to follow the basic Wootness advice and philosophies, but when life throws you a curve ball or two – you gotta have a backup plan. And I didn’t have one. And now I’m gonna have to don the Super Photographer cloak of invisibility and put my nose to the grindstone for awhile in order to turn things around and get back on level ground.
So,in being honest with myself, I admitted a few things:
I let my business go unguided for awhile.
I broke my own rule about trying to raise a family and own my own business. I’m not exactly raising a family, but I let family matters really change my ability to manage my business. That’s actually okay – but I didn’t take the time and care to revamp my business back when the changes began taking place. I need to be more proactive.
The minimal savings account I had was not enough to get me through an extended crisis.
So – after a little honesty with myself, I have set a course of action and will be making changes to bring things back into line.
Try it, it can only result in good. 🙂