Dear New Business Owner,

Are you tired? Excited? Frusterated? Lost? Consistently changing your mind? I’VE BEEN THERE! Every business owner starts somewhere right and you aren’t alone. At all.

I started my business shortly after I got married in 2010. I actually started off filming weddings as my background is in motion graphics and video. One thing led to another and all of a sudden I was doing more graphic design work for friends who were photographers. I was doing odd jobs like logos, sites, business cards, not really having a purpose honesty. I just really liked doing graphic design work for wedding vendors. That’s all I knew.

At the time I was working full time as a motion graphics artist commuting downtown to Metro Center in DC. everyday. Every. Day. I would sit on the metro and brainstorm ideas and at night after the lights went out I’d sit in bed with my laptop or on my iMac doing work (whatever it was at the time). I was tired, but driven. I started to have a goal: to work full time on my own. Doing what? I had to work out the kinks.

I knew I wanted to do graphic design and I worked with a lot of wedding vendors so it made sense to create a niche for myself doing branding and graphic design for women wedding vendors. Done. Or so I thought.

I started doing more and more work for wedding photographers, wedding planners, and florists and all of a sudden I was SWAMPED. I would take any and all work and give discounts at times just to get stuff and it was more than I could handle. I would have up to 12 clients at a time and my head was always on the brink of exploding. I had one client wanting a glam bold look and another wanting a soft feminine look. I was kind of all over the place and I knew I needed to be more specific with the niche I carved AND I needed some serious workflow crackdowns.

It wasn’t until about two years ago (maybe less even) that I really bunkered down on my workflow. I’ve been full time now three years now so that’s saying a lot. I decided to only take on a certain number of projects at a time. Of course I worried if I told people they’d have to work with me in a few months they’d say no so (of course) I cheated with my new workflow. I’m not perfect. I was so anxious about turning people away I didn’t give it a chance. Eventually thought I did get my stuff together and started being true to my plan of only accepting a few people at a time and went from there.

Now that I had my workflow down and wasn’t too stressed out I thought I had it made…

BUT

I didn’t.

I still was getting work from all over the place. I’d be doing some logos or some websites mixed with some full branding. I’d get clients who wanted opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of style. It just didn’t seem like I was attracting a specific type of client. So then I thought….okay well I want to work with this type of client because those are MY favorite projects. After all it is my business right?  I can decide who I want to work with based on my likes. (Fist pump!)

This past year I went all out and completely rebranded myself and my business model (well I went from not having one really to kind of having one). I got really specific with my goal:

My mission is twofold. To empower creative business owners to reach for their dreams by creating innovative brands that inspire confidence and to help engaged couples bring their wedding vision to life in the form of personalized wedding branding and print products.

Ideal Client: 25-35 year old woman fine art wedding vendor with great business skills; super driven and motivated with an end goal of becoming an educator in her area; college educated; started off in the career world, but left to build her empire; beautiful inside and out; has a good design eye, but can’t put things together herself; has been in business a few years and needs a brand to match the quality of her work; on the weekends you’ll find her shopping with girlfriends downtown or going on an adventure with her hubby and beloved dog; shops at J Crew, Nordstrom, and loves all things Kate Spade

Then I decided to build a visual brand around that mission. I tailored my own brand to match the likes of the ideal client I had in mind. And you know what? After FIVE years I think I’m getting where I want to be.

I’m finally attracting the ideal client I’ve had in mind consistently.

I’m not overworked and can schedule clients later down the line.

I have time with my family.

It’s awesome.

It didn’t happen overnight and I want you to know that. I’m in no way perfect. I am ALWAYS learning how to improve myself and my business and you should too. Get involved with local groups like the Rising Tide Society and network. Make new friends and meet new people. I just wanted to encourage those of you out there feeling like you are never going to make it (whatever making it means). Making it means something different for everyone. For me, it means I am now working with my ideal clients, I’m scheduling those clients months out, and saying no to work that isn’t for me. It also means I’m not constantly stressed and enjoy my family.

What’s making it mean to you? You can DO IT! It just takes time, energy, and experience.

Cheers,

Katie