My business nearly failed before I even started

I'm a self taught photographer, I have never been to college or uni to learn photography. I have just read books and watched lots and lots of you tube tutorials. I only started this business in June this year not because I wanted to start in June but more like I was forced to due to my manager letting me go earlier then my contract stated. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't disappointed I was very disappointed, in fact very angry, because my plans were ruined, I planned to work there and start my business slowly so at least I have an income coming in and I can build my business up step by step. 



But sometimes in life as we all know, it never goes according to plan, so there I was, no money, I had half of the equipment I needed and to make thing worse I just ordered a new camera I didn't know how to use. I was in a right pickle, I had so much to learn, I was unprepared and no income. It looked like failure was was in my face before I even started. 

There and then I said to my self I've got to start this business, its now or never, I'm not going to fail. I'm a strong believer in God, so I prayed and sought God for direction; to start this business was almost impossible and I needed all the help and confidence to see it through. To me the first step was BELIEVING it could work, then I had to be confident no matter what and train my self as much as I could. Put it this way you can't let nothing stop you, I know I'm not the best photographer, I make lots of mistakes and still have a lot to learn, but I had a vision, I knew what I wanted I just needed to learn how to do it. 

So I decided real life experience is the best teacher and I went straight onto gumtree and put an ad 'free photo booth hire'. Within days Simone (a dear friend to me now) was in contact with me and asked if I will do a charity ball, I said yes and couldn't wait. And yes something did go wrong. 

I nearly cried because I couldn't get my studio lighting to work and without the lighting the photos were awful and dark. I didn't know what to do and spent over two hours trying to figure it out. While people were waiting to take their photos, sweat was dripping down my face, the pressure was intense and all I could do was silently pray to God for help. After a few minutes a photographer turned up and straight away came over to greet me, he asked do I need any help. In my mind I said 'thank you Jesus'. He showed me how to use my studio lighting by using my camera flash to set of the lights. It was that simple. THAT SIMPLE. From there the photos were fantastic. Everyone had a good time and I got my first official paid booking from that event for a 30th birthday party. 



If your starting your own business, don't be afraid to go for it. I could have given up and went home. Many of us give up to easily on the first sign of a challenge. Even if I didn't work it out and had to go home I would have went home and worked out the lighting and signed up for a another job hence why I did that job for free so I could learn. You need to keep going and don't be discouraged, you don't have to know everything but along the way you will learn. You will be surprised challenges make you stronger. 

Here are some of the lovely photos.

My dear friend who hired me fr this job.

To view the rest of the photos go to my online gallery