I am a photographer. No, not the type of photographer who photographs families for free with a point-and-shoot camera. I am the type of photographer who owns a business, has a license, and pays her taxes.
I am also a Navy Wife. Not the wife who just got married, whose husband has only been in for 6 months, but the Navy wife who has moved four times in the last six years.
If you put those together, I guess I am a stay-at-home wife who runs a business, fully knowing that she has to move that business again and again. This isn’t the type of business where you can take your Etsy shop with you and sell anything at anytime in any location. Photography is the type of business where you have to change your address, move your website, portfolio and social media information along with you. It’s the business where you have to market and find clients in every new location.
Moving to a new base is hard, but moving your business with you, is so much harder.
I started my wedding photography business in Hawaii, with the fear of being good enough. Would I be able to continue to succeed 5,000 miles away from the place my business had flourished? Would people book me in Norfolk for the 2019/2020 season while currently living in Hawaii, knowing I wasn’t even there yet? What about Google? With all the moves, trying to get my name out there, changing my address would take months and Google would take forever to change my information because I was not in Virginia.
Those thoughts were just the beginning. I was stressed, knowing I had to do it again 26 months later because as a wife of a Submarine Officer who was about to get on shore duty, I knew this next tour would be short and soon enough, my husband would get his next assignment and the moves would start once again.
The life as a business owner is stressful. To those reading this, whether you are a professional photographer, a Rodan+Fields consultant, or you create and sell pottery, you are not alone.
Moving is scary because we have a legitimate fear that we will fail at our new location. Fear that no one will know about us, find us, or even want to hire us.
I want you to get rid of that fear. I want you to remember why you quit your day job, took a risk and started this business. For me, it was to earn an income to pay off debt so we could be debt free by the time we were 30 (and we are almost there, ya’ll). I did it so we can save money to travel all around the world before we settle down and start a family. I want you to use your long-term dreams and short-term goals as motivation to why you started this business. Don’t give up.
I am here to tell you it’s not easy, but knowing how to move your business and how to get clients truly will make a difference in your move. Here are some tips for you to get the ball rolling at your new location, whether that is in 3 months or a year.
