The daily struggles of starting a business

I'll be writing this over a cup of coffee, a small one given I've already had two today and should've already switched to tea.

I tend to forget that the Lifestyle community exists when sometimes it's the perfect space for me to write about some of the various thoughts and little events that have transpired over the past week or even just the past 24 hours. Lately things have been all over the place, each day seems like it's some new chaotic events that have me running from one place to another. Sometimes it's part of something broader and more exciting, sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to deal with. But I guess that's how life can be sometimes. I haven't been able to run around with my camera as much I'd love to, but I do still bring it with me for those little moments. Better to have it by my side rather than not and miss a potential shot along the way. Lately I've been getting back into some of the business related obligations I've been needing to perform. I'm at the point in which I've registered everything and I have a corporate account at a bank. Oh, I didn't even mention the dealings with an accountant!

This next stage has had me running across the street to a nearby advertising agency, which happens to have some really good prices for their business card printing (I'd love to share it here but it does contain a big amount of personal information, so I won't). Part of my agenda is to get a large sum printed and run around the city finding little businesses to hand them to, in hopes that eventually dishing out enough bait might result in a few bites to get things started. Alongside this I recently had a little meeting with a person I previously did some photography work for last year. Some preparation to slowly build a bit of a production idea for their want to shoot something in the coming weeks, though that side of things has remained a little slow. Despite that, it's still on my mind as a potentially decent introduction to some work under the newly registered business. Naturally, business cards tend to need a website attached to help boost the potential clients. And that has also had me working on a website here and there. Some days putting in a bit more time and effort. Here's some of that early prep for a potential shoot coming up, reminding the person of just some of the gear that would be needed.

The main difficulty going through the thousands of images and videos I have that could be used for showing a portfolio to clients. Some of the videos with the drone are perfect for the advertising side of things, especially real estate development which is huge here at the moment. My laptop is constantly running out of space, which has me doing more maintenance over the storage than editing of videos and images. Knowing some areas of my portfolio remains thin, I've been doing the odd home project as well. Finding ways to create little sets and focus on some sort of concept or object to photograph, again more aiming at the product side of things. Here's a concept image I did related to health where I placed some dried tea leaves on the back of a Soviet (printed, not original) space poster I had laying around. The white background was perfect for an isolated concept. Hey, you have to make-do with what you have, right?

Trying to fit these little things into each day has been super difficult. It does feel like I'm trying to cram too many things into them at once and need a bit of a break, but I know that can't really happen when you're trying to start a business that purely relies on your input. At the same time, I do also know that once things have picked up a bit and things are up on their feet, much of these little obligations would've died down enough to take a bit of a break. Hive has always been something I've considered a bit more therapeutic, somewhere I can write about my thoughts and just enjoy the process of writing, but cramming that into the daily routine has been really difficult lately, with me handling that side of things towards the later hours of the night. I've been taking the weekends off as a little break, but that doesn't feel like it frees up much time in the greater scheme of things. And of course, all of this is taking place before the business actually starts to properly operate. It exists. The foundations are there. It just hasn't quite moved yet. Little moments in life causing pauses. The struggles of bank account problems, and that managing of just so many things at once!

But it is exciting. I do look forward to reaching that point where things come together and I can see what I have slowly managed to build. I do appreciate a bit of a challenge sometimes. Where routine is something that can drive me mad with boredom, and having something purely dependent on me pushes me to make changes in various ways, to try new things and push myself forward and take the things I want in life. No waiting around or hoping it'll come to me, instead striving forward into the unknown in pursuit of something greater.