I've seen lots of reasons for people starting over...divorce, laid off, disaster, sickness, getting well. Sometimes it's simply a change in circumstances. An empty nest, you tried something and it just didn't work out.
For me starting over is the fun part. It's like seeing an old house and imagining it all fixed up or an empty field and seeing the garden. Starting over is imagination and dreams! I've started more than a few business and helped others do the same. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. I've come to realize that all my business are just one long story of a creative life. From making vintage styled dresses out of old tablecloths to wedding flowers, interior design and as a management consultant for the antique business...it's all been about creating, styling and reinventing from the resources at hand. I can use all those abilities, I can be all those things for my business and to help others with theirs.
This last year I helped a daughter establish her photography business. I assisted her as a second photographer at weddings, styled sessions, created a brand and assisted her with her new brand as well. The photography is new as a business (although I've loved it for years). But everything else is a result of what came before. I created window displays for the shops that sold my vintage styled wedding dresses as a teenager then did them for boutique owners who offered to pay me to help them. An owner of a chain of boutiques hired me to do window displays, then another hired me and trained me in retail boutique management and branding. The newly developing Antique Mall business needed managers and branding so I started a new adventure building on my skills teaching owners to start, brand and run their businesses while designing displays, store setups and often owners homes. Somebody liked the flower arrangements I made for an open house and asked me to do wedding flowers. Somebody else liked the food I served for a grand opening and asked me to cater their wedding as well. There wasn't a creative idea I didn't want to try at least once.
I've made my share of mistakes some big ones! I've learned some big lessons as well. The most important one is learning how to be "directing my blows so as not to be striking the air". It's the planning stages that determine if an endeavor will be successful.
My circumstances have changed, my daughter has gone off on her own with her husband now as Samantha Smith Arroyo Photography. I cried my eyes out but it's the nature of things. I raised my kids to be their own person, have their own lives but I am still a creative person, a stylist and a photographer. I know how to run a business. Do you know what it starts with besides a plan?
A spot to put the plan in place. A spot to work out the details, to be inspired, to take calls and to stay organized. The very first thing you do is the first thing you did when you started school. You find your desk, you sharpen your pencils and you get your paper ready. The 2014 version includes a computer and Instagram! It also helps if your work area (no matter what size) looks great. Here's the Instagram version.
To my photography friends who need a little inspiration on reinventing their business, listen to this guy...he knows his stuff! ( Interview with Zack Arias ) Lots of people will give you their opinion on the internet. Make sure you listen to those who have already been successful after having made a few mistakes.
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