Life of a Small Business Owner

Have you ever wondered what it's like to own your own business? It's something I've dreamed about for years. I love the idea of creating my own schedule and having the flexibility to plan for what I want in life. The idea of running a business sounds great, but you never realize how much work is truly involved until you're in the thick of it. 

This past weekend I covered my first hunter/jumper show on my own as the official photographer! I've been working for Andrew Ryback Photography for years, but branching out on my own has been something I've been trying to do for a long time. There have been times where I've second guessed myself and let opportunities slide by, but this time I finally followed through. 

The show was for the Greater Orlando Hunter Jumper Association, held at Clarcona Horsepark. I spent the days prior preparing by getting T-shirts with my logo made, creating flyers, making goody bags for clients, ordering more business cards, and gathering samples of my work on canvases to display. I thought I was prepared, and I was for the most part, but I was not mentally prepared. 

I was up until 1am editing photos from Friday's night class, and then up at 5:30am for the full show day on Saturday. It was a solid day of showing! Since there were 3 rings and only 1 of me, I decided to focus on the beginner ring for Saturday. It was so much fun to capture the walk trotters and cross rail kids, some of which were showing for the very first time. Whenever I'm shooting those classes I think of when I was a kid doing the cross rails holding on for dear life over the jumps. Now being a horse show photographer and capturing those moments myself is extremely fulfilling. 

The show was running smoothly, until a Florida lightning storm passed through. We were on hold for about an hour. In true horseman fashion, most riders came back after the lightning stopped to finish the show day. A little rain never hurt anyone! The show finished and wrapped up around 6pm. 

 My day was not over yet though. I went home and got straight to work, uploading hundreds of pictures to my computer. I thought I had a good idea of what my workflow for sorting would be, but there were definitely some kinks to work out. Luckily I've made some great photographer friends with more experience who are always willing to help out! Getting all the photos sorted to the riders' back numbers kept me up until 1am again. I could've waited to get the photos up, but I wanted everyone to have them as soon as possible! 

Sunday was a similar day. We had a late start because of rain, but the rest of the day was beautiful. I bounced back and forth between the hunter and jumper rings all day because they were right next to each other. I was happy I think I was able to cover at least one round for almost everyone! Shooting two rings at once is definitely an interesting experience. Normally I get some breaks when there is a drag or a pause, but with two rings at once, the action goes nonstop. Getting into the ideal spots for the best angles and lighting was a challenge when running back and forth, but I got the hang of it by the end! It was a great show day and there was some excellent riding that was very fun to watch.

Sunday night I had my sorting workflow a little bit more organized. I also enlisted my dad to help me with some of the sorting during the show, so that definitely helped! I was so happy I was able to have all the photos up that night. It felt like a successful weekend, and I was proud for putting myself out there on my own. 

The thing though that no one really tells you about owning your own business, is that you never really get to "go home." I have definitely been having trouble separating my personal life from the business life. All the emails go straight to my phone and every time I see an order I want to get it done instantly! I am learning that I will need to set times aside to turn my phone off and have some wind down time. Also, setting time aside to get a good amount of sleep is so important and is something I will be focusing more on. It is extremely easy to get caught up in everything, so I feel like I will have to force myself to pull away to not get too obsessive about it. I'm so lucky to be able to do something I'm passionate about that makes it hard to stop. 

Overall, late nights, lack of sleep, and large amounts of stress were prevalent during the weekend, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. I loved seeing the smiles on the kids' faces as they exited the ring after a successful round. There were so many pats for good ponies, adorable candid moments, and some really great riding. I have so much to learn, but I am ecstatic that my business is starting to grow. I loved being able to look at all of the moments captured during the show, and hope everyone enjoys the photo as much as I do.