Like everything in life, setting goals gives us drive and determination. Without focus or a deadline, we weak humans tend to drift down an endless path of confusion and despair. By setting some well-defined and realistic business goals early on, you’ll feel accomplished when you’ve achieved them, and you’ll also get a clear definition of how your business is growing in line with your expectations.

You need to determine where you want your business to be in one year, two years, and three years. As difficult as it is to judge, you should try to estimate the number of weddings you think you can perform in the first, second, and third years. You should also evaluate where you are going to advertise and how much to allocate to it in these years, from whom you are going to secure the financing, how much profit you would like to achieve, etc.

Here is an example of some typical business goals:

Year 1

• Secure financing in line with anticipated financial needs
• Buy all the necessary equipment
• Set up a website and get it up and running
• Analysis of good advertising channels
• Build relationships with other local wedding vendors
• Create 3 distinctive albums for display purposes.
• Attend 10 weddings
• Participate in 3 contests for experience
• Achieve 2,000 profit

year 2

• Participate in 20 weddings and increase prices by 50%
• Employing a digital imaging assistant to process weddings
• Hold 2 wedding parties
• Rent your own studio and start expanding the portrait side of the business
• Leverage relationships established with other wedding vendors
• Achieve LBIPP status
• Achieve a profit of 10,000

Business plans

A complete business plan is absolutely vital and its importance cannot be stressed enough. The business plan is not just something that needs to be done to secure financing; every business enterprise needs to make one. You need to sit down and build a well thought out business plan that details every aspect of your business. You need to do this, not only to focus their minds, but it is also a requirement for grant providers and bank lenders who might not otherwise take you seriously.

It is equally important to modify the plan periodically, as time passes and priorities change. The whole purpose of the written plan is to focus your mind on the key elements and objectives of your business. The very act of preparing the plan will make you look closely at the competition; the services they provide and their pricing structures; yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to identify any potential problem areas you may be experiencing and turn them into something positive.

You must also identify all the financial implications and make a cash flow forecast. (explained later).

Without a doubt, you can guarantee that your business plan will bring things that you had not even thought of. For example, your operating costs and expected business volume and expenses, as well as identifying your need for additional financing.

By preparing a detailed business plan, you will learn about market trends, your business goals and strategies, your place in the market, resources, and expected cash flow. This is vitally important, especially with a new business venture, as you will no doubt be looking to reinvest your hard-earned money back into the business. Being aware of your cash flow can save you from the potentially crippling situation where one month you can afford that new AppleMac laptop and the next month you can’t put the gas in your car so you can get to work in the first place. The Business Plan will help you decide how much you can pay and when. Remember that forewarned is forewarned!

To reiterate, a good plan is very important:

• If you want to apply for bank grants/loans, as these institutions generally insist on seeing a well thought out plan.
• In measuring success within your business.
• In detecting problem areas before they arise.
• In focusing on the key areas of development.

The key elements of a business plan are as follows:

Company Name

Executive summary of your business

This should list the highlights from each of the other sections of the business plan, so it’s a good idea to leave this part until the rest of the business plan is completed. It is also necessary in this section to detail if your company is sole proprietorship, limited, etc. The goal of this section is to interest the reader and inform them concisely of the whole purpose of your business. If you’re applying for funding, sometimes it’s the only part you read!

mission status

This is a clear and concise statement of your company’s long-term mission. It should incorporate your ultimate goals and aspirations (mission) for the Company.

Products and services

This section should detail how you are going to brand your company and products. Are you going to do weddings only or do you plan to offer portraits, commercials, etc. You also need to think and detail which market you are targeting (eg low end, high end). You must detail when you started operating, any history (for example, if it was an acquired business), and plans for the future, etc. Also detail the service you intend to provide to your clientele and how it compares to the competition. Don’t get hung up on technical jargon – keep it simple because those reading it may not appreciate the industry you’re in, but they should still be able to understand the concepts.

Sales and Marketing

This section is vitally important and time and effort should be spent in this area to ensure your business is successful. You need to think about:

Where to position your business in the market (eg, top quality, low volume, etc.) Pricing your products – This is one of the most important and difficult decisions, as you need to set your prices at the right level to be profitable.

You need to analyze the competition to see what they offer and what they charge and then establish your own niche. If you charge more, there must be tangible reasons for a customer to want to pay more for your product or service.

Advertising – It is important to identify the most effective routes to promote and advertise your products or services, that is, how you will profitably reach your potential customers and how you will control the effectiveness of your advertising. Also what means you intend to use for your advertising; is through websites, publishers, social networking sites like Facebook/MySpace/Twitter, YouTube, magazine/newspaper ads, storefronts, wedding fairs, emails, posted flyers and brochures, etc.

It is important to identify in the business plan why people would choose your product at that price and why it is different from the competition (eg, quality, price, exclusive, additional benefits or add-ons, etc.).

The team

Although you may initially be starting out on your own, due to financial constraints, you will eventually need help. You need to establish what staffing requirements will be needed and at what stage. You should also identify the skills they will need to possess and any areas of weakness where they may need training.

Commercial Premises and Equipment

Most of the time, it is better to start your business from home, as this keeps your overhead costs low. This section should detail where the company operates from (home or not), the advantages and disadvantages of its location, leased or owned and for how long, the equipment purchased or the investment required. In addition, the IT facilities, the necessary outsourcing, the management and accounting systems necessary to control the business and future plans to improve in these areas.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

This is known as a SWOT analysis and it is a useful exercise to analyze exactly what it states: Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is helpful to divide a piece of paper into 4 areas and build a list in each section. Think carefully about all your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and your goal is eventually to turn your weaknesses into strengths.

Some examples:

Strengths:

• Excellent location with potentially an elite client base
• Qualified BIPP Member
• excellent photographic skills

Weaknesses:

• Without help: you have to juggle photography, marketing, accounts, etc.
• Photoshop skills need improvement
• Not very experienced in Sales and Marketing

Opportunities

• Some lovely wedding venues around us
• Many Wedding Companies I Can Affiliate With

threats

• Many photographers after the same business.

Competition

Although the competition is included in the Sales and Marketing section, it is a worthwhile exercise to establish the names, locations, prices, products and services, sales tactics of all your main competitors in your niche; basically, find out everything you can about them. . Call them and pretend to be a client who wants their services. This will give you a real sense of where you are in the market and what you can offer that they don’t, as well as how to sell yourself against them. This is an ongoing process throughout the life of the business.

Goals and Objectives – One and five year goals

A written statement of where you see yourself one year from now and five years from now, both in financial terms and market share. Visualizing where you want to be is the key to success and propels you forward.