Creating my Business

Creating my own business hasn't been easy but it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be either. Once I came up with what I wanted to do, I started to make it a reality. I was also planning my own wedding during all of this so my time was very occupied. It has been super tedious and time-consuming but its all part of the process. Every process along the way has been super exciting. It feels amazing creating something from scratch and watching it grow into what you want it to be. Like I said in my last blog post, I've been doing photography in general, for a long time. So being able to finally make it something feels really cool. 

I still have a long, long way to go in my journey of running my wedding photography business. I started fully committing to my goal back in June of this year (2021) and since then I have accomplished so much. I first went to the IRS and got myself a EIN (Employee Identification Number) and then went to state of Virginia and established myself as an LLC. It wasn't hard doing those things but it did require a good amount of documents filling out and emailing. A few months later, I finally was able to go to my city of Virginia Beach and get my license. That was definitely one of the most exciting parts. Having a certificate with your name and business on it, marking it as legal and operable. It brings a unique kind of joy.

In the last month, more of the "under the hood" stuff has taken place. I've looked into more business operations stuff such as software that me and my clients will be using. I've chosen Calendly as my scheduling software to schedule meetings and consultations. My wedding coordinator uses the same software so being able to already see how the client interface works was really helpful. I want my clients to have an easy, simple way to schedule meetings and consults with me. I love how it integrates with a bunch of 3rd part software such as Zoom and Google. Even on the business side of it, I love how i can control the times and availability shown to my clients. It's so flawless so far. I love it. Speaking of Zoom, I've chosen Zoom for my video conferencing software. I got use that alot during my own wedding planning and I love how easy it is to use with Calendly. Upon scheduling and confirmation of a meeting with a client, Calendly (when connected with Zoom) provides the Zoom details and links to the client. Everything basically works together and I love it. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to use as my core software for contracts, payment and package selection. Honeybook seems like the best for me but there's other software that I've gotten to use with the vendors from planning that I really like. AislePlanner is another one I used on the client side and I like how much there is to do. That's basically all I need for my business. I've gotten my business insured. My next big step is getting a lawyer to draw up a contract for my business. That's going to be really exciting! 

There's so much more stuff for me to get through but I'm glad that I have people helping me along the way. I can't wait for all the weddings and people I'm going to meet. I just want to be able to share my love for photography with the world and hopefully, if I'm lucky, make some peoples' days along the way. I plan to do this blog thing once a week. It gives me a place to kind of vent and share my experience in the wedding industry as a photographer and share how it is starting my own business. So I appreciate all the love and support from anyone who is following along my journey!