I’ve been wondering all morning what I should blog about today and I felt really inspired to write this one :) I love when I feel inspired to write something specific because I know I’ll be passionate about what I’m writing. So here goes! :)

1 – Being a business owner is hard work. It isn’t just about taking photo’s, editing, and emailing off galleries. It’s waking up early to answer countless emails, spending hours upon hours editing, marketing, learning (the learning never ends), blogging, growing a clientele, having a strong presence on social media. etc. It’s FUN, but its hard work. Being a business owner isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to really want it…and really go for it.

2- The company matching 401k is non-existent. Yikes…. this is something I JUST realized a few months back and I’m in my 3rd year of owning my business. I looked at my husband one day with a frantic look and said “what am I going to do about retirement? We can’t live off of JUST your retirement check when we’re old!” … This is something that actually scares the crap out of me. I just started reading and ‘doing’ the Dave Ramsey method to things and I’m feeling much better about it. I don’t have a high yield savings yet for retirement but I’ve been saving my booty off to pay things off (like my car and student loans), so we can live a more comfortable lifestyle now and it’s easier to set aside for retirement. If you’re a new or aspiring business owner, don’t forget to save for retirement!!

3- Family/home life becomes a lot less stressful. When I worked in a corporate office, I worked 10 hour days, traveled a lot (long commute), was always stuck in traffic, had a difficult-to-please boss, a work load enough for 3 people, etc. It was so stressful! I came home crying a lot and my husband took a lot of the burden from my stressful work life. Once I quit, was able to create my own schedule and sort of dictate the amount of money I wanted to make each month, I became a much happier person, which in turn made our home life a lot less stressful! It was a huge win for us :)

4- Tax season somewhat sucks. And a good CPA is literally life changing. Before I met my CPA, I had no idea what I was doing tax wise. He came in, saved the day and helps me year round with all of the million (and annoying I’m sure) questions I have. If you need a CPA thats 100% got your back, shoot me an email and I’d be happy to send you the contact info for my guy Jon! He will literally make tax season a breeze for you. Although owing will never be easy!

5- There really are no rules! Other than you know, the ones the Government and IRS make, LOL! You don’t wanna break those!! But as far as owing/running your own business and making your own rules for how you succeed, you really can do whatever you want! Thats a beautiful thing :)

6- A good and professional web presence is a MUST. Look for a wonderful web designer who knows what they’re doing. My first website was done by an amateur and I believe it hurt my first year of business a lot. I’ve even booked weddings this year based on people loving my website and the flawlessness of it… that’s pretty damn cool!

I’m learning new things every day about this wonderful world of being a business owner! I can’t wait to follow up this blog in a year or so with what else I’ve learned :) Happy Tuesday, xo!