Week 10

This week we discussed franchising.  It is interesting to think of the many different companies available to us through franchising. It also made me realize how many times I have chosen to be a customer at a franchise location versus a local business. In my town, there is a local gas station that has been in business has long as I can remember. About ten years ago, a well known regional gas station went up across the street.  Better prices,  newer facility, and a well known reputation. Every morning I drive by these stations, and the marquee on the small business says "buying here us a vote for small business".  After this week, that sign has a new meaning. 

I'm continuing on this week in the $100 challenge. I had another client shoot yesterday. While I haven't had as much interest as I had hoped, I still feel progress. It is disappointing to get interest and even an appointment, only to have them cancel. I'm starting to understand the roller coaster ride this can be (to a small extent). One main challenge i have seen is the geographic restrictions due to the nature of my business. I would have potential clients and more referrals, but they are not in my target area. On the other hand, it is exciting to hand a client their disc, and to get positive feedback. I've reached and exceeded the $100, albeit by only a little. Overall, this had been a worthwhile journey to this point. 

Week 9

This week was focused on change.  From the case study we discussed, to the assignments given, we learned about change, and how change can be good.  As one that doesn’t like change, I have learned that life is about change, and if there is a new way to do something, there needs to be change.  With business improvement process, change means being more effective and efficient, which in turn will boot customer satisfaction.  We need to be trying to improve and progress every day, and change is a part of that process.

I continued to work on the $100 challenge this week.  I focused some on marketing and getting the word out.  I linked my blog to Facebook.  While it wasn’t as successful as I had hoped, I did get two more mini shoots scheduled for this week, and one that can’t schedule until after the project is complete.   Word of mouth is also a great form of marketing.  One of the girls I worked with a couple of weeks ago re-posted my link to her friends to get my name out there.  She made the comment she would recommend me to anyone.  A happy customer is one that will tell others about you.  Recommendations and referrals are very beneficial to business.  The marketing part of this process is the most difficult for me.  But without marketing, there wouldn’t be business. 

Week 8

This week we learned about the hiring process.  I have sat in on a few interviews, but I have never had the responsibility of hiring and firing employees.  This is something that I find to be uncomfortable to me, as I am more of a passive/aggressive person that tries to avoid conflict.  However, I understand this is a major part of the business process, and it is important to hire those people that will improve your business.  While hiring those that have the right education and experience is necessary, some of the skills and training can be completed on the job if the right candidate is found, but may not have all the exact skills. 

For the $100 Challenge, this week I wrapped up the three shoots I did last weekend.  I spent several hours editing the pictures from the sessions.  I burned each customer’s images to a dvd and printed out a print release to include with the disc.  I gave them to each of the customers within 3 days of taking their pictures.  While I feel that is a decent turnaround time, I feel like if this was to go beyond the challenge, I would schedule things a little differently.  I have created a blog to put the shoots on to display the work for possible customers.  This week, I will determine one more date of the “mini shoots” and use Facebook as networking to see if I can’t get more customers. 

Week 7

For the $100 Challenge, I have continued to progress with the assignment this week.  This weekend I have had my first three photo shoots.  I hope to get more appointments lined up, but feel so far this has been a successful journey.  I found with these appointments that I really enjoyed what I was doing, which is imperative when searching for a career or entrepreneurship path.  I now have to edit the pictures and get them back to my customers on a CD-rom.  I have always wanted to, but have never done an “official” photo session, and it was a learning experience for me.  Much more work than I thought went into it, but so rewarding and fun at the same time.  When life slows down a bit, I could definitely see this as a side business (maybe more?) for me.

I really enjoyed this week’s topics.  We discussed being a leader that has emotional intelligence and can lead with love, kindness, and empathy.  This is something that I have tried to work on in my current and past jobs, and feel like it is so important to have in the workplace.  Learning how to lead and be in a supervisory position, but doing so with understanding and compassion is something that I want to become. 

Week 6

Having worked in the customer services field for many years, I enjoyed learning about the material this week.  I found it interesting to learn the importance of maintaining current customers and the reasoning behind that.  They are more likely to either refer new customers or deter customers from your business depending on the quality of experience they had.  This is a valuable lesson that can be taught across any type of business. 

                                                         

For the $100 Challenge, I have continued to get the word out and have booked some appointments.  I have found the location for one (if not both) of the mini-shoots I will do.  I have planned to do two mini-shoots on two separate Saturdays.  Each session will be about 20 minutes long, and I will take enough pictures to provide each customer with at least 10 edited images on a CD.  I plan to do the first one next weekend.  As of now, I have four appointments scheduled for next Saturday.  I went to the location this week and did some test pictures to see how the backgrounds and various scenes would look in the photos.  My only concern now…get the picture taking portion finished before the snow comes!  Once the pictures are taken, I will use Photoshop to edit them before burning them onto the CD rom.  The editing is the most time consuming portion of the project.