So, just over a month ago, Copper Boom Studio went live. We had a brilliant first month. I’ve been kind of blown away. Thank you to everyone who has supported, shared, and booked in with us. You’re amazing.
I’ve been thinking about how to update. About how to be honest about the struggles, as well as grateful about the progress. And, somewhere, optimistic about the future.
So let me start by saying this: it’s been really busy. Busier than I anticipated. There have been 12 hour days, weekends worked instead of played, and late, exhausted nights. Partly because I’m also running Christmas Support throughout August, and partly because so much of Copper Boom still hinges on me personally.
There’s a huge learning curve, which also adds to the tiredness and challenges. It’s hard learning new things! In the last six weeks, we’ve taken photos of balloons, mirrors, textiles, tea and much more. Things I’ve never had to style or shoot or plan before. We’ve been learning about how much time we need, the sorts of props and equipment we need. We’ve been working on lighting options and layouts. It’s all come up.
Plus, I’m training my assistant and other freelancers to write. This is a longer process than I remember! And it requires plenty of editing and teaching time from me.
It’s also been incredibly rewarding. I’m so proud of the photographs we’ve taken and the things we’ve written. I’m amazed that the business has broken even straight away. I love working with a team, and I’m excited about so much potential for the future.
But.
I’m thinking about balance. I’m thinking about why Copper Boom felt important to me. I’m thinking about going bigger or keeping things small.
It wasn’t my aim to create a second full time job for myself. Which is kind of where we’re at so far.
So I’m already working on the plan from here.
Some things aren’t working, and there are some things that need improving. There are things that are working great, and I don’t want to stop that from going forward.
Here are some examples:
- Some products (or their set ups) take much longer than others (e.g. mirrors, balloons). We need a second pricing level for more complex products.
- Booking full days of photography is much more reliable for my margins (paying photographers and stylist), but it doesn’t allow for accessibility of just sending in one product. I want to build in more full days, but make sure we’re always open to tiny businesses and start ups.
- Lots of people have booked in photography with us, and then added copywriting and/or upload later. I want to make it easier to book in the full package at first.
- We’ve been booking into photography days, but that doesn’t give us much margin for error if we do need more time to get a shot right. I’m going to shift to booking into a week (unless booking a full day) so that we can be more efficient.
And then there are big questions, which I hadn’t imagined considering yet:
- When can we move into premises? Is that the right decision? What does the financial commitment of that do to the business?
- Who do I need in the business? I currently have a full time assistant, plus freelance photographer, stylist and additional assistant. But it already feels like I need more in order to move back to my mentoring and main focus.
- How can I get cash injected into the business to set up the next phase? Currently considering bank loans, crowd funding and potentially family support.
- Is now the right time to build the business further? How long could I maintain at the current levels?
- Is it right to build it bigger in general? Is that what I want? Will the effort and dedication and commitment and risk be worth it?
- What about the other services I want to introduce? Marketing, social media, blog writing… Where do they fit in?
So. Lots to think about, right? I feel like, finally, after seven years, I understand in my own life what it’s like to deal with being over-capacity so quickly. And what it’s like to have to depend on other people.
I hope, as ever, that it’s helpful to read about my experiences, my thought processes, my outlook. And it feels important to say that mentoring, retreats and workshops are still the biggest part of my personal plan.
I’ve just got to figure out this thing first…
Jx
PS Would you be interested in investing in Copper Boom through a crowd funding campaign? How do you feel about the studio in general? Are you planning to use it? Would you be interested in our marketing and blog writing services? Feedback is so valuable to me while I contemplate all these questions.
