Stop the Glorification of “Busy”

Earlier today on my personal Facebook account, I posted this ::

Over the last few years, I have seen so many photographers and other small business owners up to their eye balls in edits, behind on blogging, overwhelmed with clients and venting their frustrations out on social media. I will say I have been among them at one point or another, we all feel pressure to perform and deliver.

But apparently I hit a nerve this morning despite so many positive responses, and I thought this concept of glorifying “busy” would make an excellent blog post. My beef isn’t with people who edit at night – some people are naturally nocturnal and that’s fine – not everyone is an early bird like I am. And my beef definitely isn’t with anyone who has consistent business – to you, I say cheers and offer a high five. You’re obviously doing something right, and that is awesome.

My beef is the ones who don’t take time off. The ones who slave away 18 hour days on a consistent basis. The ones who miss out on movie nights with their spouses and tea parties and baseball games with their kids. The ones who inevitably miss out on life, because they are too busy working. The ones who are posting how they are in tears because they are so stressed out and far behind. The ones who are physically sick as a result of their stress.

I am not judging. I know how hard it is to be an entrepreneur. I have worked hard, stressed, shed tears and missed out on life because I have been busting my backside to be successful. But I am going to dispel this awful rumor : being “busy” does not equate being a “success.”

I guess you could question what my definition of “success” as a business person is – and the answer is pretty simple. It is meeting or exceeding the goals I have set for myself on a personal level, that we have set for our businesses and that I have set for myself as an artist. Each year I take a look at my records over the last year – sales, sessions, output costs, return client rate, referral rate, inquiry vs booking trends – I look at it all. And then I decide a course of action to improve, and each year I have worked very hard to meet or exceed the goals I set for myself. In other words, i make a business plan. And guess what? It’s been pretty darn successful.

My goal is to be a wife and mom, and to be able to live comfortably enough that I can provide for my family and not miss the little moments. I knew from the get-go that I didn’t want to work 80 hours a week – if I did, I would have gone after the law degree my parents always teased me about getting as an argumentative teenager. I knew that I wanted to work 2 weekends a month, and maybe do 2-3 sessions a week. Not because I am lazy or unmotivated – but because my priority belongs to my family. I knew that I didn’t want to spend 12 hours editing sessions. I knew I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget to take some “me time” on occasion.

So that is why I raised my prices a couple years ago. I would rather “work smarter, not harder” … And more importantly, I wanted to devote 100% of my attention to clients when given the opportunity to work with a family or whoever, in the time I allotted to “work.” I quickly realized that I could either work with three families for $125 each or I could work (and take my time with) one family for $375. The number of bookings dropped – of course – but that’s okay because instead of doing three sessions, I did one and made the same amount. My dad taught me the very valuable lesson in gauging my value as a business person – and the value of something as simple as my time. I learned to ask myself “is doing what I am doing right now worth missing out spending time with Randy and the kids?” … And I quickly realized making a couple bucks an hour and working 60+ hours a week shooting, editing, blogging and doing other “business stuff” was not worth it. And I decided I needed to change.

I took college courses and workshops to help my workflow. In my business plan, I set aside a certain number of hours per session – which meant learning how to be more efficient with photoshop and eventually learn how to rock Lightroom. Even better, I spent a lot of my free time working on getting the shot I wanted “right” straight out of the camera, which cut down on editing/desk time even further. My current workflow system is very efficient, low output cost and works very well for *me* because my workflow flows with my life-flow. You won’t ever see me up at 2am stressing out because I have a dozen sessions staring at me with a deadline looming on the horizon.

I figure life is too short to be so incredibly stressed out that all the joy of being a business owner has been sucked out of it. My kids will only be little for so long – and I am all too aware of how fast they are growing up. If I can’t work the hours I want to work and love my job – what would be the point of being a business owner?

So this is my unsolicited sage advice – and a challenge to anyone who owns a business. Take a look at how many hours you work, and your net income. I want you to think how many times you have said “be done in 5 minutes” and then find yourself still working three hours later. I want you to think about your goals in life – retirement, vacations, college education for your kids, whatever it is that is important to you. I want you to take a look at your health and stress level.

And then I want you to ask yourself – is the juice worth the squeeze?

Think of ways you can improve the way you run your business. Maybe that means taking an accounting course so you can be more efficient with your books. Maybe that means working on your technical skills. Maybe that means working on your marketing and branding so that you can attract the type of client you want to work with, to help you be successful. Maybe it means raising your prices. Who knows – only you can know what is best for you, your family and your business.

As a business owner and cheerleader, I want you to be successful. I want you to be able to go to bed at the same time as your spouse. I want you to make each interaction you have with your clients mean something more than just a tally mark on your totem pole of awesomeness.

In short – I want you to meet or exceed the goals you set for yourself, and therefore be successful.

Until next time! xoxo