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Over the last few months, Derrick & I have been talking a lot about the future of my little business. If I’ve learned anything from being in business for the last few years, it’s that in order to keep growing, one must constantly evaluate “the business”. How are things going? Are the practices I’ve put in place still profitable? Are my workflows helping (rather than hindering) my day-to-day operations? What could I do better? Sometimes those are hard questions to answer, especially if the honest answers mean changing things up. It’s always easiest to just sit back & continue doing what I’ve been doing – it’s worked in the past, right? This rut I’ve dug for myself is pretty darn comfortable & it’s easy to just drift along in it.
But businesses that grow & continue to be profitable are also always evolving. Evaluating processes, trying new things, and change always seem to be the catalysts toward a thriving, healthy business.
For example, probably the biggest, most uncomfortable change in my business was when I made the decision & announcement to pull out of photographing weddings in the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania & New York, as if I still lived there. It was so hard. Not only had I built a solid foundation of clients there that I absolutely loved, but I had a strong circle of vendor friends that I loved working with. However, if I had never made that change, I would never have had the doors open for me here in Irwin, PA that have opened. 2018 has been my busiest year yet & 90% of my weddings are in the Pittsburgh, PA area. If I had still been actively booking weddings in North Eastern Pennsylvania & Southern New York, I would never have booked so many weddings close to home. And just to really hit this point home, on average, booking a wedding that is within the Pittsburgh, PA area saves me about 20 hours of travel time over booking a wedding in NEPA. (Now, please don’t take that as ungrateful for my NEPA couples or weddings – I absolutely love them & it breaks my heart to have to turn them away! It just is no longer profitable for me to continuously book weddings so far away from home.)
So, all of that being said: there are some exciting new changes in the works for Kara Abbey Photography coming soon! I’m not quite ready to announce any of those changes yet, but just wanted to tease that some new & exciting things are coming!
And yet, with all of the projected changes to come, I’m still brought right back to my “lightbulb” moment. It was literally a single moment in time that I will never ever forget.
I’m also brought back to my “why” – why do I do this small business thing? Why wedding photography?
It’s funny to me how my “why” has pivoted – ever so slightly – since becoming a Mom. Before having Braelynn, my goal in building my business was completely focused on the future when I would have kids. I desperately wanted the freedom to be able to stay home with my babies, but still add to my family’s income & help Derrick support our family. That was my “why” behind becoming an entrepreneur & looking to build my own business. Photography just kind of fell into my lap as something I really enjoyed and was good at.
Since having Braelynn, and now expecting Baby #2, my business “why” remains strongly the same. I still want to help support our family, while staying at home with our babies.
But my photography “why” has changed a bit. Instead of just being a business I enjoyed & was good at, it suddenly holds so much more power. I’m capturing memories and moments that would otherwise be forever lost to time. I see that now in the photos I capture of our family. And I see wedding photography the same way: the precious & priceless preserving of memories. Memories you might not even realize were important until you look back at the photos 5, 10, or 20 years later & realize just how much everyone in the photos has changed (grown up, matured, or passed away). Suddenly then those photos hold so much more meaning. And I can see that in my own life.
That’s why I’m a small business owner.
That’s why I’m a wedding photographer.
