Today’s business, Byron Roe Photography, features two entrepreneurs who have built a successful wedding and portrait photography business: husband and wife team Byron and Wendy Roe. This dynamic duo is known for their chic, natural photography style and were described by one of their brides as “precise, fun, adventurous, contemporary with panache, they’ll make you feel famous”. Their focus is on connecting with and having fun with their clients, building relationships that transcend the lens. Byron and Wendy have successfully navigated not only balancing their artistic skill with business savvy, but also walking the delicate balance of working together as husband and wife. There is a definite art to this dynamic and one they have worked hard to achieve. Byron is with us today to share some of his insights and tips on building a successful business and we are honored to welcome him.
 

Q. Welcome Byron, what inspired you to start your business?

A. Like many, I’d been searching for the career that we all dream about but seldom hear of or see other than in movies. I’m talking about the career path where everything just seems to click and not only can we use all our really great talents but EACH day of the work week is exciting…. not only Friday. In 20 years I never gave up on this dream but many times I felt so close to finding it I began to feel like that little train, nearly at the top of the hump but unable to make it over. I was at the point in my life where I finally realized that the career path I’d been looking for (and avoiding) was within me from the beginning. I came to see that my love of art, photography and creating was one of the most honest passions I’d ever had within me from the start and I was finally willing to put everything on the line to go after it. When I made up my mind to begin this new direction I was amazed at how everything seemed to fall into place. The “what if’s” of taking this (so called) chance became so insignificant!!

Q. What is the most challenging element of your business? 

A. By far it would be the challenges that come with working as a husband and wife team. I knew from the start that I wanted Wendy to work with me full time as she brings a whole different skill set to the table. We complement each other’s knowledge and best abilities in a way that drew us together in the first place.  In our business, focusing on only our strong points has helped us also get much further in a shorter amount of time but we’ve found you have to be careful. The joke as an entrepreneur is you’ll never have so much fun working so hard and this becomes the tough situation in balancing life as a business couple. When it’s something you both love, (like for Wendy and I) it’s hard to shut off the business mind and put it to sleep at some point. Knowing from the start that our business runs solely on our great relationship as a couple has prevented us from continuing to progress down that path. We’ve found that having rules as to when and where we can discuss business has helped out immensely, (like anywhere in our bedroom is a no, no!), in addition to separating out tasks that can be taken all the way to completion by one person. Another challenging part of working as a couple is that we both have to be very conscious of how we come off to the other person, (in our words and actions). I’ve found that because we’re connected on so many levels to each other, issues can quickly become more emotionally based than if we were merely business colleagues. Always keeping the pathways of communication open has allowed us to focus on the big picture!

 
Q. What is the most rewarding?

A. Easily one of the most rewarding parts of my job is getting to help people. You have to love people when you’re in a business like we are! I’ve always gotten great satisfaction from helping others and it’s amazingly gratifying to know that who I am as a person and what I do plays an intricate part in making my clients wedding experience a great one.   I’ve also been an artist my whole life and have known that I’m happiest creating something with my hands, such as a photograph! The culmination of reward for me when creating a photograph for others is in knowing that I have the possibility of helping people create a better opinion of themselves and that to me is worth more than any amount of money!
Q. What advice would you give to those starting their own business?

A. Do your homework!!! Most people are taking part of their life savings to go after their dreams as an entrepreneur so make sure your putting your best foot forward. Know your target clients! This will change through time as your business matures but if you don’t know whom you’ll be selling to from the beginning you might end up focusing all your efforts towards a direction that was destined to fail from the start. Make it easy on yourself and figure out whom you want your clients to be and if it’s feasible for that matter. Only then can you direct your marketing/sales in a way to make the money you’ll need to grow your business.

Secondly, know what areas you’ll need to outsource, even when certain aspects are enjoyable within the business!  This will be everything to your company’s ultimate success!! Most entrepreneurs in the beginning end up taking on every role in the company to save money but many realizing all too late that their time, (which is ultimately $$) spent learning accounting software or web marketing could have been better spent! One area that you can’t really push off on others though, is the ability to speak and write in an eloquent manner. Be honest with yourself and know up front your limitations in these areas because you and your businesses reputation is at stake ever time you write an email or bump into a person on the street. I didn’t see it at the time but getting a BA in journalism 20 years ago couldn’t have been a better choice now! Take writing classes up at the college if you need to but don’t wait until you have to repair the damage! For learning to work better with people, read the book, “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie is a must read for every person in business for themselves. The title’s bizarre enough but you’ll find that most of the hints in the book are no brainers that we’ve all forgotten over the years.

I was lucky to realize early that there’s a reason why over 80% of small businesses fail within the first year. You’d be wrong in thinking that these failures were because of shoddy products being offered! Most, (entrepreneurs) are superior at whatever their business is, be it photography, building houses, baking, etc. We all started our business with the passion and desire because we had the confidence in our skills. The problem is this doesn’t insure business success because it doesn’t have anything to do with the real success of a business! I will never forget the words of a business consultant in one of the first photography conference I ever attended, “it’s not about your photography”, he said. The bottom line is you can make the best widget in the world but if you can’t get the customer in the door it doesn’t matter!!! I now believe that all entrepreneur’s need to have marketing and business degrees rather than any more schooling in what they are already proficient at.

Oh, and please don’t try to become a jack-of-all-trades! This works great when you want to impress your wife and your ability to not only fix the dishwasher but change the oil in the car but it doesn’t translate well in the world of business.  Remember, other than those customers looking for a cheap deal, most people seek a true specialist when it comes to spending money.

Q. What has helped you to stay strong during the economic ebbs and flows? 

A. Having faith in knowing that the direction Wendy and I are going in this business is ultimately the right one.  Putting into perspective the state of our economy and knowing that people (and businesses) prosper no matter what is happening. It’s really too easy to get lured into the trap of believing, (and reading into) everything journalists provide for us but it ultimately comes down to our perspective and how we want to look at our lives. I’ve spent way too much time talking myself out of so many great ideas and dreams through the years that I realize now if you’re not continually focusing on how the glass might be half full, you’re not helping yourself one bit!

We’re also constantly working on creating a better business. We know that there are always better ways to work with our clients in terms of the services we can provide to them. We’re focused on giving our clients an experience that is not only truly unique to who we are but also who they are!
  

Q. Is there any business or life advice you have received that has helped you along the way?

A. Soooooo much but here’s a big one!

One bit of advice that all entrepreneurs need to take to heart is in the area of being unique. How do you separate yourself from your competition when you all “seem” to make the best whatever? If you think it’ll be your customer service, you need to seriously think about what that means in your industry. If you think separating yourself from your competition by having great customer service is going to make you unique, when your interpretation of “great customer service” is doing what your customers expect everyone to do anyways….well, you’re NOT being unique!! The only way to be unique in customer service is to above and beyond what the status quo thinks is normal for that industry!

Q. What has been the most important factor for you in the success of your business?

A. When you look at successful businesses you tend to only hear only about that one person and it gives off this ludicrous idea that all the success was from them only:  Ford, Turner, Gates, Jobs, Bezos, Zuckerburg…I understand now that one person is never behind the creation of a successful business! Being ultimately open to seeking out advice has been a huge factor in the success of our business. This has helped me reach out to people in our industry I normally would never have met and created everlasting friendships.

This also transcends into the business philosophy I ultimately adopted from the beginning.  I decided that I’d rather not look at the knowledge I gained in photography and business as the main reasons behind any success we might have. What I mean is, I don’t want to think of my ideas and knowledge as secrets I need to keep from my competitors to be successful. You can either believe that merely what you learn and implement is what makes you successful or realize it’s really who you are as a person, your personality and how YOU decide to use what you learn that makes you a success. I tend to focus solely on the latter as it’s much more positive and believe that wanting to help others achieve their goals (through helping them with what I’ve learned) will open up far more avenues to where we want to go with our business than what would have come from being secretive. They don’t call it karma for nothing people!

Q. How do you define true success- in life and/or in business?

A. We are all trying to achieve a form of balance in life. It would be easy, (and so trite) to say making a ton of money is a success…however, the thing I continue to keep in mind is the fact that there are many people who have all the $ they could ever need and are still unhappy! I am continually proud to wake up excited at creating and working within our company and this is a huge part of what I think success is in life and unfortunately what few people achieve. I’m also able to share my passion for photography and career with my wife and this to me is truly lucky!

I do see the big picture though and how easy it could get to continue pounding away at one’s business, constantly achieving greater and greater monetary goals to the point where we forget the point and it becomes…a job! I’m constantly reminded that the next strive for the next big purchase of the next best “thing” to have in life can get very old very quick. Ultimately, for me, the biggest success from having a successful business will create more options for Wendy and I, as a means to help not only ourselves but also more importantly others.    

Q. Is there a book, quote, piece of music, etc. that consistently inspires you creatively?

A. I’m a big fan of the self-help guru Anthony Robbins and would recommend listening or reading any of his series.  “As a business you have to be constantly reinventing yourself by anticipating what could happen next in your industry. At one point you were making the best carburetors in the world but when fuel injection came along you were out of a job” says Robbins.

I also love the quote from Nelson Mandela with regards to fear, (this is part of it): “There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” This quote inspires me to always work on being a role model for others in our industry and to strive to help others achieve their goals!

Q. Is there anything else you would like to share with today’s readers?

A.  It always seemed as though I was alone in looking for that amazing career and that everyone else was where they wanted to be but now I hear from many others around me the desire to find the career of their dreams and I can only say with 100% absolute certainty that we all truly know deep down what we want to do in life. The real task is NOT finding out what we want to do but silencing decades of information we’ve taken in that have become the walls preventing us from taking the first step to achieving our dreams!

A big thank you to Byron Roe for all of these sincere, clear pearls of wisdom. His insights exemplify what this series is all about and his generous sharing is helpful to any entrepreneur on their business path, or newly discovering their passion. Are you a creative professional as well? What parts of Byron and Wendy’s business journey do you relate to?

Please share your thoughts below and join us next Thursday for our final installment in the Small Business Success Series!