Diaries of a Beauty Entrepreneur

Yesterday, I was enjoying a lunch with my husband and I could not help but acknowledge that this was the first Saturday in quite a while that we had actually had off together! 

Between weddings and his job, we seem to always be going in two different directions (can you relate?) 

Part of being an entrepreneur is that my schedule is a bit more flexible than his (you would think); but that is only partly true.  Being an entrepreneur means that yes, I can have more flexibility, but I also have many hours that I work on the business - not just in the business. 

Let me explain a bit further...

I am a wedding and special events hair & makeup artist. What that means is that my schedule is not mostly on the weekdays -- weddings, proms, photoshoots, etc. are done on Saturdays a lot of the time. Networking events are on weekdays. Bridal Preview appointments are on weekdays.  These are all working in the business.  They are things that I do that are providing the services. 

Working on the business fills in all of the other hours.  This includes emailing, phone calls, social media content, website maintenance, blogging, searching for or taking the photos to use in that content/blog/website.  It includes inventory stocking, makeup kit cleaning, brushes cleaning, online marketing, online networking, reviewing reports of income/expenses, setting goals, trying out new products, and much more. The business side of your product/service is just as, if not more, important than the product/service itself.  

When I decided to become an entrepreneur, it was so important to determine what it is that I love to do and who I am.  That old saying "do what you love and you will never work a day in your life" is so true! You inevitably will work more than 40 hours a week, but when you are doing what you love to do, it doesn't feel like that - it feels fun! I have had many businesses throughout my life, I believed that they aligned with me at the time, but when life changed, or I pivoted,  I took what I learned and moved forward. I had more soul searching to do. I needed to figure out my why, who I was and what I loved.