Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Over the past 4 years of doing business, I have realized that asking for help is the only way to grow and expand. 

In the first year of business, Nathan and I handled everything from client communication, contracts, payments, editing, “accounting” and everything else. By the end of our first year, we knew we would need to lean on other’s expertise to survive. How many people are lucky enough to have an accountant as one of your best friends? I really leaned on Jill to help get us legitimized and running our accounting smoothly. Burchett Photography could not have taken off without her guidance and help.

During year two, I came to the realization about how much time I truly spent at my computer and how much I hated it. We were starting to make a decent profit, but certain things were burning me out fast. This was when I made the big decision to outsource my wedding editing to an incredible, professional editor. I realized that others can do things a lot better than I can. The investment of paying others to do the things I did not want to, allows me to make more money and expand my business.

Year three was when I really released control on a lot of different aspects of my business. This is how I do it:

Client Management. I use Honeybook for all client communication, contracts and payments. This keeps things organized and in one place. When I started my business, I was printing contracts, mailing, depositing checks, etc. The amount of time saved is easily worth the small annual cost of a client management system.

Accounting. I am not savvy at all when it comes to this part of my business. I can handle receipts, Quickbooks, and deposits...but beyond that, I am absolutely clueless. An accountant can help with so much more than you think. As a business owner, you need to be licensed, insured, pay sales taxes, file income taxes, etc. This was something I was thrilled to finally hand over to a professional. Again, the fee that I pay for someone else to file my taxes is insignificant considering that they actually make me money from all of the professional tax advice. 

Editing. This is biggest time saver of any of the things that I chose to outsource. I work with the incredible Melanie Moss from Melanie Moss Creative. As a type-A personality, I have a bit of a control issue (just ask Nathan! LOL) and was so nervous to hand something like this over to someone else. However, as a busy wife, mom, and teacher I couldn’t do it all and also keep my sanity. Being able to outsource my wedding galleries to a professional for editing, allows me to take on more weddings. *I still do all of the editing on portrait sessions. 

Hiring a Virtual Assistant. Before I was a business owner, I had no idea what went into it and how many moving parts there were for a successful and profitable business. I JUST CAN’T DO IT ALL. My assistant, Amy, has been a lifesaver for me. First of all - she’s my best friend, but second of all - her organization skills and attention to detail are two great skills that are so necessary for this business. She keeps things going! I use Amy for emails, logging receipts, mileage, Quickbooks, content editing and *other duties as assigned*. ;) 

The point of this blog is to show you that you have to SPEND money to MAKE money. You have to spend money to keep your sanity. People ask me weekly, “How do you do it?!” Relying on others - that honestly how I do it. I could never do it alone.

As always, I am an open book! Send me a DM or email. I’d love to chat and cheer you on!