It’s Okay to Give Up Your Photography Business
Topic: Business
Time Investment: 5 minutes
Suggested Product: Copyright Transfer Agreement
This is a difficult thing to tell aspiring business owners with passions fired up, wheels turning and ambitions overflowing.
Business is extremely hard, but I don’t have to tell you that. If you’re reading this, more than likely you’re in business for yourself seeking help from others who have done it and came out the other side.
Sometimes you just have to quit.
And you know what?
It is okay to give up your photography business.
Whether it is for a short-time, indefinite due to uncertainty or full closure.
The reality is: not every person is made to run a business. Having the passion and excitement for entrepreneurship is only the beginning. The inspiration to start the race is necessary of course, but to run the race and complete it successfully, you have to have skills to make it happen.
Much like desiring to go to the Olympics or be a triathlete – your motivation and desire may be there but the skills may not. We are all made differently.
And this is okay.
The hardest part is accepting we aren’t meant to do something we desire to have in our lives. It’s hard to give it up.
But again, you don’t have to give it up forever. Take a short break and come back.
Maybe it is giving up just one aspect of running a business. If there is something dragging you back or something you dread doing in your business, find the resources to get help. Whether it is learning the skill that’s killing you, outsourcing or hiring someone directly to do it for you.
Maybe it is giving up running a business completely and going to work under another photographer.
That is okay.
What is not okay is the stubbornness against acceptance – this stubbornness is often detrimental to other areas of your life. It can begin impacting your marriage, creeping out in the lackluster interactions with friends, and it may give a less-than-optimal example of entrepreneurship to your kids.
Don’t let your stubbornness affect your life.
You likely won’t be on your death bed wishing you had worked another hour or answered an email a bit quicker; and you don’t want to be there realizing you received more stress than satisfaction from running your own photography business.
I am the first person to encourage anyone with the motivation and skills to be their own boss. I will walk with you, cheering you on and pulling you up when you trip and fall.
But the reality still remains.
Sometimes wanting it badly is not enough.
And that is okay.
