Welcome. Today. I want to reemphasize the must know and must do's of having a solid foundation for your business. But before we begin, I want to mention that we've created a free video training called Bright Momentum. This training is designed to help you start creating the momentum you need in your business in order to attract more of the right clients and make more money.
We are coming up on the end of the year and it is so important to close the year on a high. If you do the exercises in each module, you will definitely start seeing your momentum shift. The link to join us is in the show notes below.
Welcome. We're Keith and Melissa, photography business owners for more than 25 years. And our mission is to help you find the success you want. And we know firsthand the role that mindset plays in figuring it all out. Now, today's episode.
Okay. Back to business and episode number 18. We spoke about the six things you need to do to professionalize your business. If you haven't listened already, definitely check it out. The link is in the show notes below
But in this episode, I may repeat a little bit of what I discussed in that episode, but what I really want to cover today is the foundational elements you need when just starting out, you've already started your business, but you want to get it on the right path.
It's never too early or too late to make sure you set things up, right. And it is so important if you want to earn consistent money, grow or scale your business and have your business working for you for the long term. First, let's start with defining what who your business serves. It is so important to know who you serve and what you do or how you help them.
If you know already, then skip to number two. If you aren't sure, then let's begin with defining who our ideal client is, what they need and what you provide.
Why is this important? Because everything you write, everything you show, everything you communicate, all of your messaging revolves around who you serve, what you do, and how you do it. For example, I'm a wedding stationer that provides couples with handmade, eco sourced invitations. Or, like us, we're wedding photographers that specialize in candid, moment driven photography for couples that don't want their photos to look like their friends.
Or one of my favorite DJs to work with, describes themselves like this. Desert House Productions keeps dance floors full with an arsenal of song styles and seasoned musical sensibility. Harnessing the power of music and an impressive skill set, we inject an energetic and modern twist
into your event. I would love for you to answer this question.
Do you know who you serve and how you serve them? I've attached a free download that will help you discover who your ideal client is. Check it out in the show notes below. Number two, create a business plan. Don't get nervous here. I am not a big fan of massive business plans that you would submit to a bank if you were looking for some ginormous amount of funding.
But what I am a huge fan of is having an audacious outcome that you want for your business and for your life. Grab a piece of paper and write out what you want for the next year, then the next five years. For you to define an outcome you want, you will need to know some basics here.
How much are you charging for what you offer? What will your projected average wedding be? How many weddings will you do in one year? For easy math, let's say I'm a florist and I want to gross 50, 000 a year. I charge an average of 5, 000 per wedding, Now let's break down here what you charge for each product offering.
Now we can divide the desired 50, 000 income by the average wedding of 5, 000 and see that this florist needs to do 10 weddings per year to reach that gross income. But we also need to understand how much money this florist keeps from this 50, 000. So now we know her potential income,
but what are her expenses? I'm going to go into pricing for profit in much greater detail in another episode, but for now, we're assuming that her expenses are including her labor, her product, the flowers, her design fee, delivery, inventory items like vases and other miscellaneous items like rentals.
So for the year, she'll keep 50 cents of every dollar she earns. This is the most important number you need to know. How much is your net profit? I'm throwing a lot out right now hypothetically, but what you charge versus what you keep are two very different numbers.
Net profit is what you brought in versus what your expenses are. Knowing and understanding the number you keep is instrumental in knowing if you are running a nonprofit business, not by choice, of course, or are running a business that can support your lifestyle and what you need to change in order to make it work for you.
And then once you have that number for the next year, then project for the next five years, I'm assuming you will want to grow in that time period. Write this number down and do the same sort of math. But here you're going to add in variables. Maybe you've increased your prices.
Maybe you're perfectly happy with 10 weddings a year, but you want to net 100, 000 a year versus the 25, 000 a year you're netting now. Where would changes need to be made? Increasing your prices would be the first place to start if you want to stick with 10 weddings, but maybe you want to double your weddings and double your income.
It all comes down to math, very simple math that can change the trajectory of your business. But one thing for sure is that without a vision for what you want, generally speaking, your business may stagnate, grow by tiny increases or not support the life you truly want. So be very clear, not only about the vision, but also about what money.
You need to create. And a further reminder why knowing your numbers is so important.
Number three, you need to be a legit business. Yes, you may have started because a friend of a friend referred you for a wedding and you said yes to making that cake and all the other wedding favors. You just jumped right in, threw out a number without giving it too much thought.
Then you started getting referrals and before you know it, you have a few jobs on the books and you have a legit side hustle or you're running a real business. or maybe you've been doing this for years, but not in a professionalized way. So where do you start becoming legit? First, you name your business.
What are you calling yourself? Then after that very important step, you will eventually choose a business structure, but only after you reached out to a CPA to help you figure this out. If you remain a sole proprietor and want to just continue as an individual until you decide otherwise, you can then register with the federal and state governments and use your social security number.
If not, you can apply for an EIN with the IRS and use this number, which is basically the social security number for your business, which means you are now ready to open your business bank account, which you can't do without either the EIN number or your social security number. Opening this bank account makes it easier for you to charge your clients and they can easily pay you because with your new business social security number, you can now get a merchant processor like Stripe.
Having this business account is a necessity to keep a clean set of books and really understand how your business is doing. You can of course use the bank you use personally, or you can use an online bank and make it super easy. I recommend found. com. It is an all in one platform that includes banking, bookkeeping,
and the online financial tools you might need. And it's free. I put a link in the show notes below. Which brings me to the next step. Number four, having a basic bookkeeping system.
For me, this is what helps me sleep at night knowing what is going on in my business. Numbers don't lie. But I know many fellow wedding pros that are either afraid to look at what's going on or afraid of money. Please make sure you stay on top of your business finances.
You will see how it helps the trajectory of your business pretty quickly. Just the feeling of being organized will help change your business for the better.
If you already have a bank that you're loyal to, then another app that should cover everything you need is wave. I have the link in the show notes below and their own words. Wave says create beautiful invoices, accept online payments and make accounting easy.
Now you're officially official. You have a bank account and you have a bookkeeping system. Number five, create an incredible customer experience. This starts with the website. Yes, I know Instagram can be an important part of your client's journey, but a website, even if it's only one page is the calling card for your business.
It is the online storefront to showcase who you are, what you do, and why your potential clients need to work with you and only you I'm a huge fan of Squarespace because you can do just about anything from their platform. Super easy to set up and they offer a newsletter and e commerce solutions.
It is one stop shopping and great for creatives in the wedding industry. You can register for your domain name as well, and you can get your email address. If you've listened to me before, talk about professionalizing your business, having a real email address is super important. I will repeat this on a loop forever.
When wedding clients are out there looking for someone to work with, and you don't look as professional as your competitor, they may disqualify you over something as simple as your email address or what you feature or don't feature on the front page of your website.
You have to look the part. You have to wave your hand above everyone else's. This is a super competitive industry, and if you don't look the part, someone else will.
And don't forget to be uniquely you. Showcase who you are, how you do it differently, better, prettier, and don't forget, to include your incredible backstory. The point of all of this is to stand out. But you can't stand out if you don't have a presence. All the little things and big things matter when you are building a business and creating your brand.
Which leads me to preview my next episode, how to use simple marketing strategies to attract more clients that you want to work with.
On a side note, any of the companies I mentioned, I do so because we believe in them and the value they offer creative businesses like ours.
We're not sponsored. We're just fans. Thank you so much. And I'll see you in the next episode, ready to jump into marketing strategies. See you then.
It would mean the world to us if you'd give us a follow, share this episode with someone, or be so kind as to leave us a review. Thank you.
