Lesson Learned

Recently it seems like situations that presented themselves as “opportunities” actually ended up being “learning opportunities.” They were painful lessons to learn but I figure that when I have real opportunities come my way, I better be prepared and have these lessons under my belt. I'm sharing  these little life/business lessons, so hopefully some wisdom can be gained, minus the pain. 

First Lesson: Never go into business with anyone. Keep a low profile and low overhead.
When I told my art mentor about how badly my former business burned me, he told me this gem. It seems like common sense, and for some people it is. However, I am a very trusting individual and I count on others, especially the people closest to me, to keep their word and not act based on emotions. Lesson learned.

Second Lesson: Require full payment and details upfront.

I was recently lamenting to my friend, a mature woman who owns and operates a successful photography business, about how to deal with women in business. (Older women screwing me over has been a theme in my life recently.) Her response was pretty simple and I almost felt her giggling at me through the key board. She simply said “I require full payment and all the details upfront, and I let them know that I do not need their business. Again, it seems so simple yet for some reason I needed to see it typed out in plain text.

I guess what a lot of these lessons boil down to is what all those after-school-specials tried to teach us as children “believe in yourself.” I didn’t feel confident enough to take on the business aspect of my endeavors by myself, so I brought on a male (who ended up being a liability more than an asset.) Also, I didn’t believe that my work was good enough to demand compensation upfront, even though countless clients told me otherwise.

I really hope that there isn’t a third lesson that must be learnt before the opportunities arise. All that I can do is keep busy doing what I love, developing my talents, and trust that everything is already in the works.