Each month, Ashley Beasley is breaking down the stepping stones to becoming a six-figure photographer. She last wrote about how to avoid easy workflow mistakes. Check out more of her ways to solidify business success in the industry at the bottom of this article.

2019 was a big year! Some of us crushed all our goals and expectations; for others life got in the way and we barely survived the year. And then some fell somewhere in the middle, where they accomplished some of their goals but wanted to do more.

No matter where you landed in 2019, we all must take the lessons we learned and remember them for next year.

Setting Smart Goals for Your Photo Business in 2020

In our business, we believe in implementing a planning day to prepare for the new year ahead. Taking time out of our schedule to plan and dream for the future is so needed in our business. It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness that we forget to dream. 

This day is a great time to assess your business in terms of what’s working, what’s doing alright and what’s not working. It’s also a good time to mark down the things we want to do and achieve the following year.

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Here are some beginning steps to ensure you are planning for success: 

First, rest. This may be an odd word to write on a planning agenda, but as entrepreneurs, this is the most vital piece of advice we can give. Our to-do list is constantly growing and multiplying no matter how much we seem to get done. Taking a day off once a week from our business gives us time to decompress and clear our heads. For your physical health, mental health and wellness of your relationships, we encourage one rest day a week. And don’t forget to list the vacations you want to take. Planning your vacation time ensures time off that is well deserved.

Jot down the things you loved in your business this past year. Think about the projects that came easy to you and that brought life to your soul. Write them down and, next to them, include a few reasons why. 

Next, write down the hard things. Those are the projects that you dreaded to finish and would prefer never to do again. Remember these as you are planning your year. Don’t repeat the things you didn’t enjoy if you can help it. 

Take at least 30 minutes to dream! Make a list of all the things you want to accomplish in your business—opening an awesome studio space, shooting more weddings, landing your dream client. Take time to dream big without fear of failure.  

Choose 3-5 items from your dream list that will increase your revenue in the next year—dreams that really light you up and get you excited. One of our dreams is to open a studio space so that we can start doing more commercial work.

Lastly, write down your number, what you want to make for 2020. Writing it down and declaring it will give you the motivation to push those dreams and ideas into action.

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These steps take time to go through and should not be rushed. When you sit down to do it, try to have someone with you who knows your business. This could be a business partner, spouse or even an assistant. Having someone to bounce ideas off of is essential to this planning meeting. 

Once all these ideas are jotted down, it’s time to start putting them on the calendar:

First, leave open space on the calendar. Open space or white space is the time in between these big projects to plan, prepare and rest in between. Start by putting your rest days and vacation on the calendar. If you don’t plan for it, then it will never happen!

Next, pick 3-5 of your revenue-increasing ideas and begin putting them on the calendar. Make sure that you leave enough open space on your calendar to plan out these ideas. Assign a profit number to each of these projects, keeping in mind the annual number you gave yourself earlier. 

Lastly, ask yourself, how are you going to make these dreams a reality? Based on the brainstorm session you did earlier in this process, you can start to pick out some of those big-ticket projects and tasks you want to tackle and create to-do lists to make those dreams happen.  

Once your calendar is completed, we encourage you to take a step back and ask yourself if this is doable. Is there enough open space in between each project? Do you have your vacation time and rest time scheduled? Are you dreaming big this coming year? These are some serious questions that need to be asked, and it’s okay to move things around and readjust to make this next year your most successful one yet. 

When it comes time to have your planning day, be sure that you take a moment to celebrate your accomplishments, your survival, and anything that deserves being celebrated. Pop that bottle—cheers to the New Year!

Ashley Beasley and her husband, Luke, are a photo duo based in Virginia who run their own education platform called Luke & Ashley Education.