Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in photography but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Christa Smothers, Founder of Wildflower Fine Art Portraits, located in Hilliard, OH, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am a fine art portrait studio based in Columbus, Ohio. I have been in business for almost 13 years, and I specialize in newborn and maternity portraits.

Tell us about yourself

My background and degree were in journalism and graphic design. But I have always loved photography. When digital format cameras came out, I loved that I could take images and then edit them on the computer instead of in a dark room. Before starting my business, I worked as a freelance graphic designer and an Art Director for a Magazine publisher. In both of those jobs, I started taking portraits for design clients for articles in magazines. I then began photographing family and friends, and it just took off from there. I can honestly say that truly loving my job, getting to be creative, and knowing that I am documenting some of the most special milestones in my client's lives, is what motivate me. There is nothing more special than getting to hold a 2-week old baby and capture them so beautifully for their family. Or photographing a pregnant woman to document her amazing journey to motherhood. It is humbling and inspiring and gives me so much joy in my job.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Well, I could say it is winning awards or photographing more than 1000 families in the past 13 years. But honestly, the biggest accomplishment for me is that I have been able to stay in business for 13 years. I opened a commercial studio space in 2015, and even through the craziness of Covid, I have been able to maintain my business and continue to grow in my field, and create new and beautiful artwork.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

The hardest part of my job is knowing how to balance. When you work for somebody else, you clock in and clock out. In my corporate career, I would usually be able to leave work at the office and unplug when I was at home. Now that I own my own business, it is difficult to draw those same boundaries. These days people expect you to respond to emails, texts, calls, and social media messages in an instant. If you don't, you may lose the potential client. Not to mention all of the planning, marketing, accounting, etc. that comes along with the job. You never feel like you have enough time to do all of those things. As a mom and a wife, it's important to have family time, but it becomes very difficult to un-plug from the business side of things.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Make sure to set your business up properly. Set up a business checking, file for an LLC, Business Name, etc. Making sure you are a legitimate business will help eliminate any issues later.
  2. Make sure to price yourself accordingly. Don't undercut or undervalue yourself because you are a new business owner. Find out what the market value is of your business and make sure you are competitive. Set your price, and if you need to offer some kind of temporary discount at first, that is fine. But if you don't value yourself and what you are doing enough to get paid a fair value, others won't either.
  3. Learn everything you can about Marketing and Social Media. Things have changed so much in the past decade. Marketing is going to take up about as much time as the execution of your actual business. Hire a company to help you with your social media, or make sure to carve out time each week to dedicate to reaching new customers. Once you get up and rolling and get a good following and a good list of clients, things will snowball, and your organic and word-of-mouth marketing will also help. But as a new business, marketing is going to be your main focus next to performing your service and giving great customer service!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.wildflowerfineartportraits.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildflowercolumbus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildflowercolumbus/?hl=en

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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