Growing a business seems relentless, requiring our constant dedication. Too many business owners give up just when they are ready to take off. Why? Because they lack a framework for seeing where they are and what’s next.
Did you learn to appreciate what works when you were a kid? Most of us didn’t. We learned to focus on what needs improvement, on the critique method as the best way to grow. Well, we took it too far. Many of the women that I coach feel stuck in some variation of “not enough.” We all do it sometimes, but when it gets in the way of acting on what we want most in life, it’s got to go.
I find that too many women inaccurately judge themselves when they describe how far they’ve come with their business. “I’m doing ok given I don’t really know what I’m doing.” “I’m working really hard but, I’m not doing it right because I don’t yet have clients.” Does that sound like anyone you know?
Several years ago, I worked with a number of photographers as part of the SOAR! Scholarship Program, sponsored by Sony and Photographer Me Ra Koh, a Sony Artisan of Imagery. Each woman’s photography business had its own momentum and its own starting place. A recipe for one wasn’t going to work for the next.
We started with the What is So Exercise in order to assess what is actually in place at this point. One woman told me she had a camera, one lens, a shared family computer, a “good eye,” and beginner-level skills. She did not yet have a separate bank account or the software she needed. Another mom had two cameras and lenses, studio space, established bank accounts, a CPA, advanced technical skills, a local photographer network, and more. They were at different levels of bringing their company into existence and should have been expecting different results. But they weren’t. The first woman suffered from “compare despair” and spent valuable brain power on self-judgment. The second woman held herself back as she continually belittled what she had accomplished.
What’s the antidote to that bad habit of cutting yourself down? Appreciate what is so—what you DO have in place that you can claim as part of your business foundation. Own what is good instead of focusing on what you lack. This is key to building the business and to a deeply satisfying life. Appreciation is powerful! With self-acknowledgment you start to access strengths that come from experience, strengths that you can count on.
This business coaching exercise is part of the work I do with small business owners and it gets results every time. In 2008 – 2009, Banner Adams Radin, Banner Photography worked with me to be recognized as one of the most sought after photographers in the Charleston area. https://www.bannerphotography.com/
In my entrepreneur coaching program, we frame the work we do together by figuring out what stage of business development the entrepreneurs are in. Then we set a goal based on that stage and begin to envision what is possible in the next stage. Too often founders start with goals and vision, without first identifying what is or is not in place. It’s hard to plan to get to Alaska if you don’t know that your starting point is Florida. These stages help you plan your journey.
Use this business coaching exercise to build any business, not just startups. All businesses cycle through these stages more than once with new product launches or when revising a sales strategy to respond to a new opportunity or a new competitor.
First, use these stages to identify where you are in building your business. Here’s how it looks applied to a photography business:
The Stages of Bringing a Business into Existence and into Momentum
Pre-Formulation: This is the time of conception, just starting to put your ideas and vision together. When I’m coaching a woman at this stage, she says things like, “I love taking pictures and I wish that I could use that to earn some money for my family. But, I’m not sure I’m not sure how to start.”
Formulation: Like being four months pregnant, you are on the path to building a business. Maybe you’ve set up a blog (but you’re barely writing posts), opened a bank account, come up with a company name, learned your camera inside out, and offered free photo shoots to friends and family to build your portfolio. You are formulating the business strategy and unique brand.
Concentration: This is the intensive “doing” stage (remember the first couple of months after birth!). You are putting 10 in to get 1 out as you work on website, financial systems, logo design and ads. You are learning new software, setting up online accounts, and getting some clients. If someone asks, you can finally say (without hesitation) “I’m a photographer with my own business.”
Low Momentum: Whew! Finally, that intensely concentrated time of doing, doing, doing starts to pass and now you are putting 5 in and getting 1 out. Things are starting to happen on their own. Happy clients refer more clients. You trade tips with other photographers, and they start asking for your advice on how to start a photography business.
High Momentum: Like a snowball rolling down the hill, things are really starting to grow. It’s still a lot of work but your systems are in place, your reputation precedes you, and it’s more like putting 1 in and getting 5 out. You start to look for ways to innovate, improve efficiencies and quality, and extend your reach. You feel like and show up as a confident photographer.
So, what stage is your business in? No stage is more building a business than another. They are all on the path.
Take a minute and write down the stage you are in and what you are in the midst of doing right now that is building your business. This applies to any business, large or small. Remember, this is not the list of what else you need to do! This is the list of what you are currently doing. What is so – the best of what is good, right, enough, and…sufficient!
This was first published on Me Ra Koh’s SOAR blog, where I offered monthly business coaching. I first coached Me Ra when she was in the Concentration phase of building her business. Check out Me Ra’s current blog – 1500+ posts of great information and stories about her world-wide travels as a Disney Adventure Family. https://merakoh.com/blog/
Every coaching client finds these stages “extremely helpful.” They say things like, “It’s a relief to stop feeling like I should be in stage 4 even though I don’t yet have the system and structures in place! I see now I’m in stage 2 and I’ll get stage 2 things done first.”
By starting where you are you can move ahead on what matters most to you and build a business that serves a growing community of clients, and someday grows in scope to make your own world-wide contribution.