My Long Term Plan

One of my other passions is photography. I've taken thousands and thousands of pictures over the years. About two years ago, my wife convinced me to take it seriously because she thought I was pretty good. I bought my first professional digital camera and starting taking pictures. When I accumulated enough pictures, I tried selling a few pictures. Much to my surprise, I actually sold some pictures. I then decided to take an even bigger plunge and invested heavily in photography gear. It's not cheap! My pictures really started to sell and there was a point in time where I couldn't keep up with the demands of running a photography business. Roughly, only 20% of a professional photographer's time is spent taking pictures. The rest is spent on marketing, selling, post production, etc. Luckily, I've been able to keep up.

This year, I wrote a business plan. My business plan had some long term projections. I mean REALLY long term.

Tonight, I was speaking with one of my mentors who is a professional photographer about my plan. As I was explaining my plan, I could hear him snickering over the phone. To the point, it was upsetting me. Finally, I asked him why was he snickering. He said the problem with my plan was the fact that I was pacing myself. I was giving myself ample time to make it. I explained that I've read several books on building a photography business and they all basically said that it takes several years to build a successful business. "Hogwash!", he said. "If you're not making money now, you should quit", he said. He proceeded to question me about all the aspects of my business. He wanted to know what types of pictures that weren't selling. I told him the types. He then asked if I was still taking those types of pictures. I said...."Yes". His advice...."stop taking them". Reminds of the joke about the guy that goes into the doctor's office; the guy says to the doctor..."every time I raise my arm it hurts. Can you help me doctor?". The doctor says..."don't raise your arm".

This simple advice made me wonder how many businesses pace themselves while the ones that aren't are leaving them in the dust.