On moving forward
I'm so eager to start this business that I spend hours scouring the internet for resources and insights into the photography industry (remember, I'm not at liberty to just pack up and drive somewhere to find out what I need to know, so I'm limited to the internet). Many times, after a few sleepless nights of research, I hit a brick wall -- the point where I've answered all my questions and don't have anything else to Google. It's at this point that I feel bored and restless, but after a few days, I always come up with more questions and more things I want to find out about how to start and run my business.
I've hit the brick wall again, so I need to brainstorm or I'm going to go crazy, wasting my time going over articles I've already read to see if they generate anything new. I have nobody holding my hand through all this, telling me what questions to ask or what to find out. It's all off the top of my head, so I'm aware that I may be missing a few things. Sitting here, this is what I can come up with to pursue this week:
I've hit the brick wall again, so I need to brainstorm or I'm going to go crazy, wasting my time going over articles I've already read to see if they generate anything new. I have nobody holding my hand through all this, telling me what questions to ask or what to find out. It's all off the top of my head, so I'm aware that I may be missing a few things. Sitting here, this is what I can come up with to pursue this week:
- Actually book some photo shoots -- follow up aggressively on people who've said they're interested. How to do this? Send follow-up emails... send out postcards to family and friends reminding them of the promo deals... contact other people I haven't talked to about the deals (church? MOMS club?).
- Join some networking communities (I've already joined LinkedIn, but I need to make a company profile for FaceBook, MySpace, and Twitter)
- Apply for a job at a local restaurant in order to increase my money-making power and be able to take my photography course much more quickly
- Brainstorm separate names for each division of Brooke Borton Company
- Created an account with my pro lab and ordered test prints to gauge my monitor's color calibration.
- Received enrollment materials for my photography course in the mail.
- Calculated more accurate startup costs to include photography, window painting, and lawn characters
- Got an ad quote from ATT Yellowpages (much more expensive than what I plan to do with Yellowbook...