Making Smart Business Decisions
Making business decisions is part of being your own boss. As an entrepreneur, you have to make decisions on everything in your business.
In this episode, I talk with my good friend Sarah Bradshaw, a successful wedding photographer in the Washington DC area. She is honest about the decisions she thought she was “supposed” to make and how after coaching and researching, she decided against making those decisions.
We also talk about how to set up your business bank accounts to pay yourself a regular income.
Sarah Bradshaw on Making Smart Business Decisions
- Because she is both a wife and a photographer, keeps her business bank accounts at a completely different financial institution than the money for her regular bills and family.
- Because she’s learned what works best for her, she has three accounts set up for her business:
- A checking account for regular business expenses.
- A holding account where she puts the amount set aside for ta and business savings
- A personal account, which holds the money she sets aside to pay herself. Once a month, she transferred a set amount of money over to her other bank for her paycheck. This way, she has a regular income all throughout the year.
Key Takeaways and Tips
- A lot of financial misinformation is spread around the photography community. She hired a business coach who was able to take a look at her books and let her know she could take home more money than she thought because her tax responsibility wasn’t as high. She recommends hiring a professional business coach or accountant to look over your numbers.
- If you’re married, it’s super important to have you and your spouse be on the same page financially and be a team.
- A change for Sarah in how she ran her business came from reading the book Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy. In the book, the authors give an exercise to write down a vision of a point in the future. After reading, Sarah did the exercises and then showed the results to her business coach, who was able to explain to her why certain things in her business, like starting an affiliate program, didn’t line up with her long-term dreams.
- Because we care very personally about the work that we do, a client giving negative feedback can put us in the dumps. Remember, it’s okay to step back. For instance, if you did all the work in your contract, it’s okay to say to the client “I’m sorry you aren’t happy with your experience. All the best and have a nice life.”
- Make sure your identity is not wrapped in your job. Always remember, you are more than your job.
Connect with Sarah Bradshaw online
Website: https://sarahbradshaw.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sarahcbradshaw
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