Behind the scenes: how I work full time and run my business

Some of you may not know this, but I currently have a separate full-time job that I am at Monday through Friday. I want to let you glimpse behind the scenes to show you how I manage to run my business, work full time and still have time to have a life.

There is so, so, so, so much more to running a photography business than just taking photos. As an entrepreneur, I wear all the hats. I am the photographer, blogger, social media manager, customer support, editor, bookkeeper (although I do outsource for filing taxes), marketing manager, etc. I probably spend more time on my computer than with my camera to be honest. Basically, my behind the scenes is that I work. A lot. But I’m okay with that.

Photography is what I love to do, and spending my evenings and weekends growing my business makes me so incredibly happy. We still go out to eat occasionally or spend a night just relaxing while watching TV. We make plans for ball games and how to get things done around the house. I just have to be prepared. When I work ahead to create content, it’s a lot easier to have moments to relax and enjoy our life.

An average weekday

I work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. When I am at my daytime job, I have two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch. That time is often spent with my laptop editing photos or returning emails.

Because I am off at 3:30 p.m., I usually have quite a bit of time in the afternoon and evenings. When I get home, I try to work on my laptop for a bit before making dinner. Whether this is working on a client guide, blog post or editing a session varies day-to-day. I spend a lot of time with my laptop.

During the winter, all of my sessions are on weekends, and I spend those cold, dreary weeknight preparing for the upcoming year. Now that daylight savings time has happened, I have a bit more light in the evenings. This means I will be able to schedule weeknight session as well.

Weekends

Saturday and Sunday are often spent with my amazing clients. When I don’t have a session or wedding, I try to batch blog posts and schedule social media so that my weeknights are not so full. My behind the scenes life is not glamorous. It’s a lot of time spent hustling to make this dream of mine become a reality.

Sessions and editing

I have workflows and systems in place that allow me to still have a quick turnaround time on my sessions. One of the things I learned from the courses I have been taking is the 48-hour workflow. It is something that has saved me time and time again as I work to get my client’s their photos while they are still so excited about them!

When I am able to go full time into photography, I can only imagine how much these systems will benefit me, and how much time I will have to work on other areas of my business.

Want to get in touch?

If you’d like to book your session or wedding, you can contact me at kelsey(at)kelseyalumbaugh(dot)com. Check out my Instagram @kelseyalumbaugh ! And like me on Facebook to see the latest blog posts and wedding updates. 🙂 If you’re curious about the investment, you can check that info out here, but please feel free to reach out so we can better address your photography needs.

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