18 Things I Wish I knew in my First Year of Business

Episode Overview:   Things I wish I knew in my First Year of Business - from the 3 questions you can ask yourself to know you're going to make it to the importance of creating boundaries around your work and personal time.  With what feels like a lifetime of wedding business knowledge ( 14 years of experience and a six figure business) this is the advice I'd give to my younger self in year one.   All the things I wish I knew but which would have NEVER been on my radar because I was so busy doing, doing, doing.   This is a great episode for anyone newer in the wedding industry still figuring things out.

Notable Quotes:

"Think of your first year as 'Wedding School'.  You are becoming a new version of yourself and learning so many new things, how to run a business, the ins and outs of your trade, marketing, sales - it's a lot.  It's okay to take the pressure off of needing to booking more weddings to feel successful.  You're still figuring things out.  Celebrate the little successes along the way and re-evaluate your definition of success because you showing up every day, trying to figure things out and going all in is a success in itself.” 

Connect with Nicole: [e-mail]

Learn more about The Wedding Business Masterclass: https://weddingproacademy.com/

What is Wedding Pro Academy?

A Wedding Business Podcast - Tips and tricks to, grow and sustain a amazingly successful wedding business in a way that's is fun and gives you tons of freedom.

Nicole: 00:06

Welcome everyone to the Wedding Pro Academy Podcast. I'm Nicole, your host. I'm an expert in the wedding industry and I've personally built two 6 figure businesses from the ground up. I am obsessed with building businesses that make lots of money but do so in a way that also create luxurious amounts of freedom. So if you're looking to build, grow, or scale a wedding business in a way that doesn't burn you out, and you'd love some guidance from someone who has done just that, this podcast is for you.

Nicole: 00:40

Each week I'll cover strategies, tips and tricks that will give you your dream wedding business too! Thanks so much for tuning in today! Let's dive in! Hello everyone! It's Nicole and today we have episode 21.

Nicole: 01:00

It's a fun one I'm going to be sharing what I wish I knew in my first year of business. So if I was brand new and just starting, here are 18 things that I wish I knew during that first year that I know now that back then I had no idea about any of it and I felt like I was swimming in this deep water and I had no idea how to swim, what I was doing, everything felt scary and big and impossible and like I was gonna go for it but I wasn't sure that I'd actually survive and I was gonna go for it anyway and I think if I had known these 18 things I would have felt a little more confident a little more secure I would have felt safe. And that's kind of what I'm hoping that you feel when you listen to this episode. If you're new and you're just getting started and in your you are in your first year of building a business in the wedding industry. So let's just jump in.

Nicole: 02:09

What are 18 things that I wish I knew in my first year of business? Number one. This one's really important. Having a deep knowing that you were meant to have your own business plus being excited about working in weddings and being willing to go all in. Those three things.

Nicole: 02:32

Okay? So one, knowing that you are meant to have your own business. Like you just have this knowing in your heart. I meant to have my own business. Number two, I'm excited about working in weddings.

Nicole: 02:44

Like you just feel an excitement about the idea of working with weddings, working in weddings, working with brides and grooms. And number three, you are 100%, one thousand % willing to go all in on this. Those three things, if you can say yes to all of them, that is enough to make it. That's enough to make your business succeed to make it as a wedding business. You don't need anything else except those three things.

Nicole: 03:17

And the reason I say this is because I can remember in my first year I kept wondering like what do I need to make this work? I need a sign. I need to book 10 weddings. I had like these crazy goals of what needed to be done in order to for proof that I could do this. I needed some kind of proof to prove to myself that this was going to work.

Nicole: 03:46

Here's the interesting part that I didn't see then, but I know now, is that the proof comes with experience. It comes with time. You don't get that experience and time overnight. It needs to be built. It's a slow process.

Nicole: 04:03

You don't actually need that proof in order to make it work. You just need the belief. Knowing that you're meant to have a business, being excited about the business that you're starting, and then being willing to go all in on it no matter what, that's enough to actually make it. In case you were unsure if this was the right thing for you, if you're like I want to do this but it doesn't feel safe, I don't know if I should do it, I can't quit my other job, I don't know if this is going to work, give me a sign that this is going to work Ask yourself those three questions and if you got a yes to all of them, it's going to work. Just take it from me, it will work.

Nicole: 04:46

Number two: You don't need a partner. You don't need a partner. And I don't know if you have a partner. You're thinking that you want to go into business with someone. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but a lot of new business owners will have partners.

Nicole: 05:06

And the reason being, it's scary to do it by yourself. It's much easier to share the load of this big scary thing with somebody else. You can commiserate together and work through things together. Having a partner could cause other big issues later. If you can avoid having a partner, I would say try to do it on your own.

Nicole: 05:37

But if you are already in with a partner, you love your partner, you want to do it with a partner, I want you to think about how this partnership is going to work early on and actually take the time to have a lawyer draw up a partnership agreement clarifying what each partner's rights responsibilities obligations you know how the money is split your decision making processes work, all of that stuff. Have it all laid out clearly on paper legally when you guys both sign it and and get that done early before things get weird and you decide you want to split up and you don't have a plan for it. How you would split up, that should be outlined in the partnership agreement also. I didn't do any of this, and I wish I did. It would have saved me so much grief if I had done it right in the beginning.

Nicole: 06:42

But I want to, you know, remind you that if you you can not have a partner, it's scarier. Yes. But it will be so much more rewarding and you'll grow so much more individually and you can do it on your own so don't be afraid to go all in on your own and if you have a partner have a partnership agreement clarifying everything early on in that first year. Number three this is something that I wish I had known in the first year and I'll tell you the way that I was thinking about it and the way that I want you to think about it. I want you to think about that this first year in fact the first two three years as wedding school.

Nicole: 07:36

You know how you go to college for, like, four years to learn something? You jump into this business and your first couple of years, your first four years are like school. You're still learning everything about working in the wedding industry, about your business, about how to run a business, how to market. There's like a thousand things that you need to learn and understand and get good at. So instead of putting all this pressure on yourself that you need to be good at it right away, that you need to be booking so many weddings right away in order to be considered a real business, I want you to just think of it as wedding school.

Nicole: 08:25

So, it's okay that you're still figuring it all out. It's okay that you haven't booked a wedding yet. It's okay that you're still trying to learn how to market in this specific industry. It's okay that those other people are booking a ton and you're not because you're new. You're still in wedding school.

Nicole: 08:45

So take the pressure off and remind yourself that you're still learning. This first two to four years is all about getting experience and all kinds of experience. So take all the weddings. Don't try to niche down too early. Take everything.

Nicole: 09:02

Try them all out. Do it for cheaper just so that you get the experience. The more experience you get during wedding school, the better. Right? This is like an internship.

Nicole: 09:13

I'm gonna try this. I'm gonna try that. I'm gonna try that. I'm gonna do it for cheap. I'm do it for free because I need this experience.

Nicole: 09:18

Use this experience now to build connections. So you wanna learn how the wedding industry works. You wanna figure out the business side of things. You wanna get the back end marketing side of your business moving, and you wanna build connections with other people in the wedding industry. And how you do that is just getting as much experience in weddings as possible.

Nicole: 09:40

Take all the weddings. Try to get in as many real events as you can. Get connected. I thought when I was first building my wedding business in that first year, if I didn't make $30,000 because I was already making way more than that in my corporate job, that it wouldn't be worth it. That would mean that I didn't make it.

Nicole: 10:06

The more money I made, the more weddings I booked, the more successful I would be, which would mean I could say, Oh, I made it. My business made it. But that only made me feel like a failure. Like I wasn't good enough. Like I couldn't figure it out.

Nicole: 10:22

Like, you know, like I suck. But the truth is that I was still in wedding school. I was still learning. I was still figuring it out. I didn't know all the ins and outs of running a business and me making myself feel behind and not good enough wasn't actually helping me to book more weddings.

Nicole: 10:43

It was holding me back. So if you think about it through the perspective of I'm still in wedding school, I'm still learning, I'm still getting experience and I'm gonna do this for like the first four years, just like college, then you're gonna feel proud and gratitude for this experience that you get to try this new thing out and that it gets to be fun. There's less pressure that will make your business so much easier, and you'll have a much greater chance of success. So think about it as wedding school. Number four, the friendships that you make in your first year of building your business are the most important.

Nicole: 11:23

And so you really got to cherish them. Some of my best friends I met during that first year of building my business. And now I am gosh thirteen fourteen years in and we are still friends and they are some of my closest friends so don't take these friendships light You guys are starting your businesses together and it's a big deal. These are important people and you're going to be friends for life. Number five, less is more.

Nicole: 11:57

This is something that I I think we had help but do when we're first building a business. We feel this need to like prove ourself to people. And and this is because we don't really feel confident yet in our value, in our services, in what we're doing. What we do is and this is specifically like when you look at your website and there's like so much text there's so much information on your packages and it includes this, and it includes that, and it includes this, and, you know, a whole page more of all the things that is included in your service and why it's the best and why you're better than everybody else. But you don't need to have all that stuff.

Nicole: 12:44

Like, your about page doesn't need to be like this. These are all my credentials of why I'm so great. Like, people brides and grooms don't care. They don't need or want you to prove your value. In fact, it's a total turn off.

Nicole: 13:00

And what it does is it repels brides and grooms because they can feel this needy, desperate energy. And even if all of it's true, even if you are offering more than the other people, and here's all the extras that you're throwing in, and I also do this, and I also do that, and I also can do this, and it's cheaper, what it does is it makes couples feel turned off and instead of feeling excited and connected to you. So what you need to do is simplify things. Have less, you know, less wordiness. Include just the basics.

Nicole: 13:42

What do they actually need? What do they actually need to know? Keep it super simple. Less is more. Overelaborating to try to prove why your services are worth the cost is a turtle is a turnoff to brides.

Nicole: 13:57

And if you're doing this, you'll know because you there'll just be so much text and words in your website and everything on your packages. If you have a flyer, they're just like so wordy. Keep it simple. Try to make it more simple, more confident, and confidence come with comes with ease and just like a very simple outline of what you offer. Try to simplify everything as much as you can because less is more.

Nicole: 14:25

Number six. This is something I didn't do for years and if I had done it in the first year probably would have just taken me a couple of days and would have saved me hundreds and hundreds of hours. And this is to create a email draft system. So emails that you send over and over and over again, like if a couple reaches out to you and they're wanting to know if you have this date available, what your prices are, and all that, and then you draft you write up this response email. Right?

Nicole: 15:00

This is something that you'll send over and over and over again. It's basically going to be the same, but you'll rewrite it and personalize it and make it special and all that. Well, if you just took that one email and made a professional draft of it that you saved into your draft folders and reuse that and just changed a couple of things to make it more specific to them that is going to save you hundreds of hours in the long term. Create an email draft system early on and start recognizing all the ways that you can build systems into your business because that is what is going to help your business to scale and grow. Okay, number seven: figure out an invoicing and financial system early.

Nicole: 15:51

So start implementing a system for invoicing and a system for managing your finances and your books in that first year. You can do it all on a Google spreadsheet, but why would you want to do that? You're going to need a system eventually, especially if you grow. Figure out a system that works early on. This could be QuickBooks, this could be HoneyBook.

Nicole: 16:19

You want a system also for signing contracts, so like DocuSign, Dropbox sign, a system for managing your projects, your wedding projects, like Basecamp. And all of these systems is gonna take some time and research and energy doing stuff that feels like it's not moving your business forward because you're not booking weddings, you're doing all this back end stuff, but you need to remember you're in wedding school. Right? And what you're doing is creating a foundation for your business to take off. So one of when you finally start making a little bit of money, and you don't wanna do this off the bat, but once you start making income and you have a little bit of money to spend, one of the first investments you should make is to get a tax accountant and a bookkeeper.

Nicole: 17:10

And you wanna have all your finances in a very good order before you hire this bookkeeper and tax person so starting off with QuickBooks or HoneyBook or however you want to do your invoicing and back end finances is going to be very important and something that you should invest time in in this first year. Number eight: You want to make sure that you keep your personal stuff and your business stuff separate. So get a separate business account and a separate business credit card and use that credit card only for business expenses and use that bank account only for business stuff. So you'll have a checkbook with that that you can use to write checks out as you need and you'll have a business card that you can use for things like your computer or your laptop or you know your camera equipment whatever kinds of printer things that you need for your business. All of your expenses are in one spot.

Nicole: 18:17

And if you go out to eat for a business meeting, you use that same credit card. That way you can start to get a grasp on what your expenses are and what your income is cause all of it's coming from the same account. And then you would also pay yourself from that business bank account. So depending on what your how much money you're making after expenses, can see how much money you can actually pay yourself. So having everything separate is something I did not do in my first year of business, but something that you should do because it's gonna make things just so much easier and you're gonna have to do that anyway, so why not start correctly right at the start?

Nicole: 18:58

That's a really big important one. Okay. Number nine. If you are going to invest time or money in anything, I don't suggest spending money on marketing and all of that if you can avoid it, but one thing that is 100% worth the investment and worth the time is investing in a professional website. So spending money on your website.

Nicole: 19:27

Because how you present yourself online is everything. It's how brides and grooms will either decide to reach out to contact you or they'll be like, no. This person, I don't think I can trust her. Her website sucks. So a beautiful, well designed professional website will sell your services, and that might mean spending a little bit of money on a website and getting a web designer or getting a beautifully designed web website template that you pay for because it's like the exact layout and look that you love but it costs a little bit of money and then you just implement all of your information into this template that is probably going to be worth the money just because how brides and grooms view your website is going to make a huge impact as to whether they feel like they can book you or not whether they're even going to want to reach out to you so that is one place I would spend money and I think it's more important to spend money there than anywhere else.

Nicole: 20:38

Okay number 10: SEO is something that you must learn and spend time understanding. Learning SEO is 100% worth the time energy and effort. This is something that I actually learned and got really good at in my first year. I became obsessed with it and I wasn't sure if that was really worth the time and energy because it took a long time for me to actually get ranked on Google but it 100% was worth the time and energy because after spending pretty much a full year just working on SEO, learning everything I could about SEO, implementing SEO to my website SEO is search engine optimization. All I wanted to do was to get ranked on the first page of Google because I knew if I ranked on Google people could find me and the problem I was having in the beginning during that first year is I didn't have people reaching out.

Nicole: 21:50

I didn't have people who could find me. My website was beautiful. I had a great offer. I was ready to do the job, but I didn't have anybody willing to to book me because they couldn't find me. So the easiest way for people to find you is on Google.

Nicole: 22:11

They're going to search wedding planner Utah, wedding photographer Utah, or wherever it is that you live. If you're not showing up on that first or second page, they're not going to find you at all. So what are your options? You're either going to do Google Ads and pay money which is worth you know the effort and cost. You probably want to learn that too but you got to have the money to invest in that and you know, you can start off with just $5 a day or something like that.

Nicole: 22:40

It does help. Or you can learn SEO and get your website ranked, which is amazing because it gives you this long term, you know, effect of brides and grooms being able to find you for years to come. So investing and learning SEO is worth the time and energy, and I would do that, spend a good amount of time doing that in the first year. Number 11. Another thing totally worth you your investment is wedding expos.

Nicole: 23:17

So here's why. Because you are in process of stepping into this new identity as a person. So you're stepping into an identity as a wedding photographer or as a wedding planner or as a wedding videographer or whatever. And this isn't who you were before. So you don't really feel confident in it.

Nicole: 23:43

You don't really have any proof that this that you're good at it. You might know you're good at it, but you don't have enough weddings under your belt to actually feel secure enough to come out and say it. Going to a wedding expo puts you into that mode right away, so you have to be proud to be doing what you're doing. You have to sell your services. You have to get practice at that, and an expo allows you to get that practice.

Nicole: 24:09

Plus, everybody there is looking for what you have to offer. So now, you know, when I was saying, it's you can't find them because you're not ranking on Google. You're now in a convention center or whatever with thousands of people that are all looking for a wedding photographer. What a perfect place to be. You know, that's such a great place for you to practice, for you to embody being a wedding photographer.

Nicole: 24:36

And you can offer something that is gonna be a no brainer like a limited time deal. So maybe if you have a special like book book my services book this package by the end of the month and get a $500 discount plus a free engagement shoot or something like that. Then you have them put their name on an email list and then you send out an email reminder a week or two later reminding them of this special and let them know that this offer is only extended to the people that attended the expo It's only good for the first ten couples who book. Now I'm creating this excitement around it and this like, Oh, I don't want to miss out! That's a great way to book a couple of first weddings.

Nicole: 25:23

Even if you're not making as much as you would like, you're making it easy for them to say yes. You're getting practice. Remember, we're still in wedding school. We just want experience, experience, experience, as much experience as we can get. Okay, number 12, always dress professionally.

Nicole: 25:47

I didn't know about this little trick when I first started my wedding business. I wish I had known it in the first year, but I didn't. I thought I was creative, I was cool, I was chic, I could dress that way. But, that didn't give off an air of professionalism. I realized later that as I started to dress more professional and present in a way that looked professional externally, I booked more weddings.

Nicole: 26:25

I connected with more vendors. I was taken more seriously. So dressing professionally is important and it doesn't have to be hard. In fact, it is easier. Wedding uniforms is something that you can put together and it can be really easy.

Nicole: 26:43

A simple way to dress professionally for a wedding is to wear all black or all dark colors, and be covered. So a nice button down black blouse and black trousers with comfortable shoes is a really simple, easy, professional wedding uniform that any wedding vendor can wear. The reason why you want to wear black or darker colors is because you don't want to outshine the bride and the guest. You want to be seen as a professional so you still look nice. You're not sloppy.

Nicole: 27:20

You know, you spent time putting it together. Your shirt's tucked in. You have a nice belt. You have, you know, simple jewelry. You're not showing too much of anything, you're covered, you're professional looking, that goes a long way and makes a big impact.

Nicole: 27:36

It makes people take you seriously too, so when you're heading a photoshoot you need everybody to gather in they're going to listen to you because they don't think you're one of the guests they know that you're there to work and there to get stuff done and you're working for the bride and that's important. Always dress professionally. 13 Spoil vendors at weddings. If I was a wedding planner, I would want to make sure that all the other vendors that I'm working with are well cared for. I want to make their job easier.

Nicole: 28:12

So it might mean things like giving them breaks to eat dinner, bringing them waters when they need it for themselves, like just because they didn't have time to grab a water and they're thirsty and you can tell. Helping them to gather people in place when they're doing a group shot. Asking them, is there anything I can do to help you? If you are a photographer, it could mean you checking in with the wedding planner and helping her to stick with the timeline, making sure that her timeline is followed and saying, okay, I've gotten through this and I'm gonna get through this, but I might need an extra five minutes here. So it's about communicating with her and having good communication.

Nicole: 28:57

How can you make the other wedding vendors around you, how can you make their job easier? I would prioritize this. I still do prioritize this, but I'm telling you this as a trick because it's helped me develop really strong, wonderful relationships with other wedding vendors. When you take care of your team, when you feel like you're all on the same page, it makes you want to work with those people again. It also creates lifelong friendships and bonds and referrals.

Nicole: 29:36

So one of the big things that happens when you are kind and gracious with your vendors is that they will start referring you business. And when they come across a bride or groom that's like, I need a photographer. Do you know any good ones? They'll be like, oh, yeah. I remember one.

Nicole: 29:56

I remember this one. So you want to be kind and spoil your vendors. Just work together because this is what is going to make them give you referrals, but also just because you're a good person and it feels good to work together as a team and to have really amazing communication because the better your teamwork is during a wedding, the better your wedding goes off without a hitch. Is something that you want to keep in mind when you're working weddings. It's not just about you doing your job, it's about how the team of wedding vendors is able to work together to give the bride and groom the wedding day of their dreams.

Nicole: 30:41

The better you can work together, the more you help each other out, the better it is for everyone. Other things you can do to spoil your vendors at weddings when you're brand new and things that might make a difference is like sending them a thank you email or a note. Thanks for including me in this wedding. It was so fun to work with you. Hope we get to do a lot more weddings in the future.

Nicole: 31:03

Maybe you're a photographer and you can be like, Here's some of the sneak peek photos that you can use on your Instagram. So that would be very helpful to a wedding planner. You just gave her some professional photos that she can use, and then she'll tag you. And then, you know, there's all this connection that help in happens, and everybody's helping each other out. And the more you help each other out, the more referrals you give to each other, the more all of your businesses grow.

Nicole: 31:29

And that's what you kind of want to happen. Okay. Number 14. This is maybe obvious, but it wasn't to me in my first year of business. Invest in good shoes because you're gonna be on your feet for, like, twenty hours sometimes.

Nicole: 31:49

I don't know. Ten hours, twenty hours. It's a long time. Your feet are gonna hurt at the end of the day, and if you don't have good shoes, it is gonna not be fun. So spend the money to invest in good, comfortable, nice looking shoes.

Nicole: 32:07

Some of the if you're a woman and you are a wedding planner, photographer, whatever, and you want to know some of the the good brands that I've invested in that cost a little bit more money but are super comfortable. Tiques. Those, like, ballet flats, the brand is Tiques. They're so comfortable. They don't give you blisters.

Nicole: 32:30

They're super cute. You can wear them all day long. They look very professional. They have fun colors, but mainly they're comfortable. So comfortable.

Nicole: 32:40

Your feet don't hurt at the end of the night. They don't get sweaty inside. It's like you need to find shoes like that. Another one is beaks. I like those too.

Nicole: 32:51

Those are also really comfortable and well supportive on the bottoms. Investing in a good pair of shoes is going to be totally worth it because you're going to wear them over and over and over and over again. If you get a cheaper pair like at Target that might look cute, they're going to give you blisters, and you're going to pay for it halfway through the wedding, and that's not going to be fun. Get a good pair of shoes, invest in something that looks nice, that is comfortable, because you're going to wear them for years. Number five, it is absolutely essential that you create boundaries.

Nicole: 33:26

So boundaries around your work times, when you're actually doing work, and when you're having play time or a home time. Create a schedule and and it's hard to really do this in your first year because you think you have to work nonstop. Like, I remember in my first year of business, I was working all the time, day and night, nonstop. Just that's all I did. Work.

Nicole: 33:54

Work. Work. Work. Work. Work.

Nicole: 33:55

And I could just keep working and keep working because there was a million gazillion things to do. But the truth is that wasn't beneficial for me. I didn't have any kind of boundaries around work time and personal time. I didn't have any kind of boundaries around work calls. If a bride called me and we were driving to the beach, I would pick up the call and answer the call as we were driving.

Nicole: 34:21

That was terrible because I didn't have any boundaries about when people could call me. I wasn't really able to be fully present when I was talking to them. So what I would do now if I was starting over and it was my first year of business, I would have work call times and work times. So I would only make calls or answer phone calls during work hours. So if I was gonna call a bride or go over a package or whatever, talk about their wedding, I would do it while I was in a quiet comfortable place in front of my computer where I could have all the answers ready, where I was ready for the call, where I could be really present and not take calls on the fly.

Nicole: 35:05

I would work during certain work hours and take personal time and separate those two. I would schedule my meetings during work times. Think of it like a job. You are working for this amount of time. You take calls during these work hours.

Nicole: 35:22

You do meetings during these times. You don't have a free for all with your time where you're just working constantly. Establish these kind of boundaries early. You're going to have to do it anyway. It's a good time to practice doing this now.

Nicole: 35:38

Number 16: you can say no and trust that the right couples will find you. You don't have to take on every single wedding. I know you're going to want to take on every single wedding because you're gonna want the money. You're gonna want the experience, and they're gonna be real assholes, and you're gonna think, I can deal with them. It's fine.

Nicole: 36:03

But there are gonna be brides and grooms that are assholes that are gonna take advantage of you and I mean this in the nicest way. You don't deserve that! So be willing to say no. How you'll know if they're going to take advantage of you and if it's not going to be a good fit is you'll feel it. You'll be like, oh I don't want like they'll just keep asking for more and more and more and more and can you change your contract and can you give me this and can you also include this?

Nicole: 36:38

And you'll be at first like, I can can make this little change and then it'll be another little change and another little change. And you'll realize that you're you're straying further and further away from yourself and this is only making your services like more and more muddled and all of a sudden you're you're their slave. So I don't want you to feel like you have to take every single wedding. You CAN say no, and you CAN trust that the right couples will find you. If they're too pushy, too cheap, too needy before they've even signed the contract, it's going to be nearly impossible to make them happy.

Nicole: 37:23

It's probably going to result in months of unhappiness on your part and people pleasing and feeling like they're a personal slave. Just say no to these couples right off the bat. You'll know it when you see them. You'll know it. You'll feel it.

Nicole: 37:39

It's okay to say no. 17. You have to celebrate your successes. Successes needs to be redefined too because it's not only about booking weddings, it's not only about making money because remember we're still in wedding school! It's about all of the growth you're experiencing.

Nicole: 38:03

It could be getting your website up, creating a system for invoicing, getting your first Google ad up, learning about SEO, meeting a friend in the wedding industry, creating an email signature that looks professional, that's a win guys, that's something that you should celebrate. I made my first email signature and it looks awesome and my picture is awesome, you know. Maybe it's getting a blog post up that's going to help with your SEO. I made one step towards getting my website ranked on Google because I made one little step towards improving my SEO. Yes, that's a win.

Nicole: 38:41

I should celebrate that. Maybe it's signing up to join the local wedding association. That took guts. I deserve a big pat on the back. I'm so proud of you for doing that.

Nicole: 38:51

Take time to celebrate all of these little things. Make notes of them because you need to feel like you're still accomplishing stuff without the actual result. That's what's going to keep you moving, that's going to keep you wanting this more, that's going to keep you taking steps forward. Okay number 18 this is the last one the last thing I wish I had known during my first year of business is the more simplified you are able to make your packages and your services the better. You in your first year, your beginning stages of building this wedding business, you're gonna wanna offer everything that you know how to do.

Nicole: 39:40

And the you're gonna believe that the more things you include, the better. And you are going to offer things out of your scope of the the main thing that you're doing. So what I mean is, like, you're a photographer. Oh, I'll also do some digital video services for them for an extra cost. Like, you're gonna think of all these ideas of things you can add on that are gonna make what the main thing that you're doing, which is photography, start to feel confusing.

Nicole: 40:15

Prides are gonna be like, wait a minute. What does she do? She does everything. But here's the truth. They don't want everything from you.

Nicole: 40:26

They just want one thing done really well. So it's better to just offer a few very purposeful, simplified packages with upgrade options. So I would suggest coming up with three or four packages based around the number of hours or something and simplify it as much as possible, and then give a few upgrade options. And you wanna create these packages around the specific needs of the couple. So what do you think they they value most?

Nicole: 41:06

And then I want you to think about how can I sell these in a way that makes them fabulous? So fabulous that they become a no brainer. How can I talk about this service in a way that's really gonna appeal to my bride and groom? And you're gonna have to learn how to sell the shit out of these this package. Not a thousand other things.

Nicole: 41:33

You wanna be really clear about what you do, who you help, and what value you bring, and then learn how to talk about it in a way that is just, you know, the best. Like, you're the best at this, and here's why they need to book you. You you need to get really good at that, and you're gonna just practice doing that over and over and over and over again. But if you're trying to sell a whole bunch of different stuff, things are gonna get messy, and couples aren't gonna know what you do, and they're going get confused. Simplify your services.

Nicole: 42:06

Okay, quick recap. First of all, I don't know if you guys can hear all this background stuff, but there are garbage trucks, There is lawn mowing. There is all kind of stuff going on in my neighborhood here in Hawaii, and so I'm sorry if you hear all this background noise. But I'm hoping that it doesn't come through the microphone. And the the trash truck just left, so I think we're good.

Nicole: 42:32

But quick recap. Here are 18 things I wish I knew in my first year of business and things that I think would help you significantly if you can implement some of this stuff. Number one, you don't need proof to know that this is the right path for you. You just need to be able to say yes to these three things. One, having a very deep heart knowing that you are meant to have your own business.

Nicole: 42:59

Two, being excited about the idea of working in weddings. And number three, being willing to go all in a % in. If you can say yes to all three of those things, this is going to work. You don't need proof. I'm telling you right now this will work.

Nicole: 43:18

Number two: You don't need a partner. You can do this on your own and if you do have a partner, have a lawyer drop a partnership agreement for your own good. Trust me. Number three, think about the first year and definitely the first two to four years even as wedding school. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to hit all these achievement goals.

Nicole: 43:42

Instead, think of it as a learning experience. Number four, the friendships that you make in your first year are going to be magical and very important. Cherish them. Number five, less is more. When it comes to telling brides and grooms about what you do, try to keep it more simple.

Nicole: 44:04

Have less words on your website. Number six: Create a draft system for your emails. This will save you so much time. Number seven: Figure out a invoicing and financial system early. Work on creating this system, this back end system, because you're going to need to do it anyways.

Nicole: 44:28

You may as well do it in this first year. It'll be super helpful. Eight. Keep your business and personal finances separate. Get a separate business bank account and a separate business credit card.

Nicole: 44:44

Number nine. If you're going to invest time or money in anything, invest in a professional website. Number 10. Learning SEO is worth the time, energy, and effort spent time learning SEO. Number 11, wedding expos are 100 worth the investment.

Nicole: 45:03

Do a wedding expo to get experience. Number 12: Always dress professionally. Number 13: Spoil your vendors at weddings. Number 14: Invest in good shoes. Number 15: It's essential to create boundaries boundaries around your time and your work time and your personal time.

Nicole: 45:32

Keep them separate. Keep your work calls during work time. Be prepared for work calls. Don't take calls on the fly. Keep boundaries around your business.

Nicole: 45:42

Number 16: You can say no to couples that are assholes and trust that the right couples will find you. 17. Celebrate your successes. All of them, all the little ones, celebrate them every day. You're doing an amazing thing.

Nicole: 46:01

It's so important to be proud of yourself during this time because it's going to feel hard, it's going to feel scary, it's going to feel like you're not doing enough, but you are. All of this is enough. You are enough. This is enough. You're going make it.

Nicole: 46:16

Celebrate all of the little things. Number 18: Simplify your packages and your services as much as you can. Three packages, that's enough. Four packages, nothing more than that. The simpler and clearer you get on your offer and the better you get at selling it, the more money you'll make.

Nicole: 46:39

Okay. This was a long one. Maybe the longest podcast I think I've ever done. But I hope you found it helpful and I know if I was starting a wedding business over again, I would have found it helpful. If you'd like more information like this, subscribe to my podcast.

Nicole: 46:58

I give a new one every single week. We talk about all things wedding business, mindset, how to grow, build, scale your wedding business in a way that doesn't feel stressful and overwhelming. And I I'm just here to help all of you make money in your wedding business because that is what I'd love for all of you because weddings are not only fun, but lucrative, and you gotta have both. So definitely check out weddingproacademy.com. You can email me at nicoleweddingproacademy dot com.

Nicole: 47:32

If you have any questions on anything, I also have a wedding business master class you can check out at weddingproacademy.com Have a great weekend everybody I will see you next week