My journey to developing a business app

I’ve had a few people ask me how I ended up creating a business app when I’m a photographer, so I’ve decided to share my business journey and how I’ve ended up developing an app with you!

I started my career as a hairdresser when I was 15 years old. I completed my first year in my family’s salon before relocating to Perth. It didn’t last long and after 6 months I returned to finish my apprenticeship in Esperance. I moved to Perth again when I was 21 to complete a certificate in Makeup Artistry and also worked in two different hairdressing salons.

After a year I returned to Esperance and for the next year faced a huge hurdle when I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. I spent a year traveling to the city for chemo and surgery finishing my treatment in early 2006. Although it was not a part of my life plan it was the time I started playing with photography and when I was feeling well I had time to be creative.

Once I was in remission, I returned to my family salon where I had four years of managing. It was an eye-opener running a business at 23 with no experience in management. I made a lot of mistakes and learned as I went. I am very proud to say that I took four girls through their apprenticeships and they are all amazing hairdressers. I juggled training, ordering, banking, wages, staff management as well as being the busiest hairdresser on the floor. It was both exciting and exhausting but I wouldn’t change a thing.

I spent hours at night creating training books, business manuals, and plans. It was where my passion for business first came to life. I asked as many questions as I could to anyone that knew how to run a business. I quizzed our products reps on marketing and tried to get as much extra training as I could for my staff. It was so much harder without the internet!

After getting married I had my first baby and had a break from hairdressing for eight months. I continued to do the wages and basic running of the business until my sister Kirsty took over. I completed my first photography course when I was pregnant with my daughter. I started photographing my friend's babies and continued to teach myself through trial and error. When my son was 10 months old (and not sleeping) I enrolled at Tafe and completed certificate 3 in Graphic Design and Printing. At the time I had no idea where it would lead me. I just needed something to keep my mind active while I was a stay at home mum.

In 2015 I entered a local logo competition for the Festival of the Wind. I was so excited to win and got the graphic design job for that year’s festival. I went on to be the designer and photographer in the 2017 event. It was the beginning of my career and even though it was challenging it was so much fun being a part of an amazing team and creating graphics for one of the biggest events in Esperance at the time.

With now a range of different experiences under my belt, I started to focus on my own business. I went to local courses at the business center and tried to understand how to do business planning. I had multiple appointments with the local advisor trying to work out my direction. After a lot of frustration with not understanding the hard documents, I decided to create my own. I took parts that I thought were useful and helped me in business experiences and put them all into a book. I had four booklets that covered the basics of running a business and basic marketing. I released it at the same time as opening my photography studio space in 2018.

Having my own space was another huge lesson that helped me to understand business on another level. I know had to pay rent and outgoings as well as juggle two kids and multiple clients at once. I rented out a desk to one of my friends and we loved creating a space that was all about our businesses. When the lease came up after a year, I had a verbal agreement with another business that was shutting down that I would take over her lease. I had the shop's plan and had decided exactly how I wanted to create my new space. I had told my real estate agent that I was not renewing my lease and the week later found out that my new premises weren’t going to happen as the business had been sold. I was heartbroken and my business was homeless.

I ended up moving into the back room at the family salon. It was half the size I had previously and until I moved in realized that there was a black spot in the center of town and I could barely get internet. I eventually settled in and continued with my business plan idea and started to practice using my booklets on friends that were starting businesses.

A slight curve ball then happened when I saw a job come up at the local Chamber of Commerce. They were seeking a business advisor and even though I had no training in this area I had a lot of experience and life lessons in running small businesses. I got the job. It was one of the highlights of my career and I loved helping clients to start their businesses. I met so many great people and loved my boss and working with the team. I stayed there for nearly two years and learned more than I could have ever imagined. I worked part-time at ECCI and part-time in my own business doing graphic design and photography for local businesses.

In 2020 COVID threw a huge spanner in the works and added a lot of stress to my daily life. I had people calling me not knowing what to do or how to handle all of the changes. Lucky, I love learning and quickly mastered zoom and adapted my job into the new normal. By 2021 I came to a crossroads and realized that while I was working two jobs I had no space for new projects or any spare time. To get everything done I would work 5am - 7am on my biz then go to work at ECCI and then after dinner come back into my office until 9pm or 10pm three days a week and then try and fit in my shoots on the other two days. I decided to pursue my own business and it was extremely hard to finish my job at ECCI. There were lots of tears and doubts about whether I had made the right decision.

With more space in my life, I started planning to turn my books into an app. After seeing what was available to small businesses, I knew there was a gap in the market. Small businesses and startups were not getting the support needed and business planning was still confusing even after I had done all the training. With all the knowledge, I had gained by working at ECCI I was still had half written plans and notes everywhere with no clear direction. I needed the app now to plan the app. I read all my content from my four business planning books and re-designed it to be used as an app. The journey from here to the start of development was 8 months. It was frustrating and time consuming. I did app courses online and tried to build it myself. I talked to a lot of people online and eventually found someone that understood my vision. in December 2021.

To me, the app is everything I wish I knew when I started my business. I created it to be easy to use and understand to give the user back the power and time to excel in their own business. As a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I want to help other people that are creative and passionate about business without all the big words and boring stuff. Once it is ready I will continue to run my service business in graphic design and photography and spend a part of my time getting my app out to the right people.

I can’t wait to share it with you all!