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You’ve likely heard this before… success takes a lot of hard work. As a wedding photography business owner, there are so many tasks on your plate (and they all seem vital to complete). The key to success is to focus on the items that are most important for your growth and reallocate the ones that are not to other resources.

Back with her next post, ShootDotEdit Wedding Pro Vanessa Joy shares her personal insights into how she decided what to let go of in her wedding photography business. Continue reading to discover her process and tips to help you decide what to take off your plate.

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“Stop the glorification of busy.”

This was a quote I recently stumbled across and I absolutely love it. It’s so funny to me in this world, and in today’s culture, that busy equals important. In my opinion, being too busy doesn’t mean important. It means I’m sacrificing things like friends, family, health, exercise, vacations, and sanity time; all the things that we’re meant to enjoy in life. Why is it that we find the need to keep ourselves busy?

Image Compliments of Vanessa Joy Photography

Even if we’re not talking about entrepreneurs, the general population thinks this as well. Just look at anybody who’s sitting down in a doctor’s office, or even walking down the street. Everyone likes to look busy, and we do this now in today’s culture by being on our phones whenever we have a minute solitary, sometimes we don’t wait even until then.

Related: 10 Reasons to Outsource Editing for Your Photography Business

It helps us feel important and avoids us looking like we’re alone or lonely. I used to have this same feeling, but when I started my own business, I realized that I didn’t start my own business to work 80 hours a week. I started my own business because I wanted more free time and I, more than anything else, wanted control over my own life, rather than having a job or a boss micromanage mine for me. That was when I began to outsource. I started realizing that my time was more valuable holding a camera than a mouse, and it was more valuable sitting and networking with other wedding professionals than it was doing menial tasks like running to Staples or shipping and picking up packages.

If you’re not sure what to outsource, I’ve got five tips to help you get started.

Number 1: Outsource anything you hate doing.

If you hate doing it, you shouldn’t be doing it as a business owner. After all, we became photographers specifically because it was something that we loved doing, so we shouldn’t then pile on things that we hate as well.

Number 2: Outsource anything that you’re not good at.

If you’re not outsourcing things that you aren’t good at, you’re doing a disservice to your clients. You’re giving them products or services that are subpar. Instead, hire experts to do these things for you, and your final product and experience will be so much better.

Number 3: Outsource things that slow you down.

While you may be good at some things, sometimes they are the very things that slow you down and become rocks in your stream. You may enjoy doing it, but if it takes you more time than it should, it’s time to let that one go.

Related: Outsourcing wedding photography editing to a specialist, like ShootDotEdit, can speed up your image turnaround time and eliminate hours from your post-wedding workflow.

Number 4: Outsource anything that is minimum wage work. If you can pay someone minimum wage or somewhere near it, then go ahead and do it. Your time as a business owner should be worth $500 or $1000 an hour, not $12 an hour. So, say goodbye to Staples and post office runs, and hire somebody to do those things for you.

Number 5: Outsource anything that keeps you working in your business instead of on your business.

As the owner of a company, you should be working on things that benefit your business as a whole and push it forward. Don’t get lost in the minutia of tasks that happen every day. Again, this is a great place for an office manager, intern, or studio assistant to take over. You’re the CEO of your company, the visionary, and it helps when you are looking at it from a big picture perspective instead of getting lost in the tedious day-to-day tasks.

Outsourcing can be difficult and it can be hard to let go of the control, but overall, it will greatly help your business and give your clients a better experience and product.

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As you decide what to let go of for your wedding photography business, think about the most important tasks that will help you grow. Our free Guide: 5 Keys to Absolutely Succeeding in Your Wedding Photography Business shares the 5 most important tasks that are crucial to focus on as a wedding photographer. Download it today!