Tips for Working From Home As Business Owners... and Parents!
2020.
That's it. That's the blog.
No, but seriously, this year was a whirlwind! We all endured a lot of pain, grief, and sadness.
We have no words to describe the many pains and sorrows we felt for our world this year. All we can say at the end of the day is that we have prayed for you every day and we will continue to do so. 🖤
We know... things don't usually get that heavy here in the Bryant household. We just wanted to make sure you know that we are with you and we love and support you!
Okay... onto some lighter stuff! Our year in review!
Let's go back to March: the beginning.
In case you forgot (how could you!?), March was when everything shut down. It was the start of our working from home experience and also, our relationship with Hannah (our copywriter)! At first, we were nervous about handing over one of the most important aspects of our brand - the voice - to someone we barely knew. If you're a business owner considering outsourcing aspects of your business, then you are probably feeling this way now.
9 months later and we will NEVER look back! Life with a copywriter has been AMAZING. Outsourcing our blog has allowed us to not only focus more attention and energy on our craft, but also to produce more strategic, authentic, and valuable content for our website and for you - our reader!
If you're still on the fence about hiring a copywriter, go for it! FYI, you can outsource so many different aspects of your business! We feel so strongly about the benefits of outsourcing that we wrote a blog on it this year - which you can read here.
Before long, we knew we had to make some changes in our business.
We went virtual with all of our meetings: meet and greets, planning sessions, and reveal/ordering sessions. This allowed us to conduct our business almost virtually (except for photoshoots, of course). Most importantly, it helped us refine our client process to make the experience more authentic - virtual or not.
We created COVID liability and screening procedures for our business and ramped up our already serious cleaning procedures - which we'll be keeping after COVID.
We joined a few virtual networking groups! Stop putting networking on the back-burner and do it! It's going to be so beneficial to your business!
Those changes allowed us to take a step back and dig even deeper into refining our business.
We knew it was time to upgrade our tech... so we did! We finally went mirrorless with our cameras, upgraded our computers, and more. We totally could have made our previous tech work, but we knew that the updated systems and gadgets were really going to help us streamline our process going forward. In case you were wondering, it was so worth it!
We took a big leap and added hair and makeup services to our client experience. But not just any ol' studio - Artistee Lane Makeup Studio! Between Hannah and Monica from Artistee Lane, the bar has been set HIGH for our future business partners. Our client's experience (from hello to goodbye) is incredibly important to us, and Artistee Lane has absolutely exceeded our expectations. We are incredibly grateful to have her on our team!
We took some time to focus on our client experience and added a few more exciting goodies: our go-to online product store (PicTime), refined communication processes, updated workflows in Dubsado, and a LOT more. These changes are allowing us to provide a much more authentic and personalized experience to our clients going forward.
We had a few business wins this year that we are so grateful for and super proud of!
We were featured on KSAT news TWICE this year! You can find those features here and here.
Squaremuse, our go-to Squarespace website template provider, featured Meet the Bryants TWICE: once on Instagram, and another time as guests on the Squaremuse blog!
We were awarded best portrait photographer for the SECOND year in a row by Expertise. (2 must be our lucky number this year!)
We had an awesome speaking engagement with PhotoSA in the second half of the year!
We are currently completely booked and waitlisted through March of 2021! How crazy is that?!
Our business also survived COVID-19. Other businesses aren't as blessed, and that's why it's become even more important to us to support ALL small businesses - even our competitors. Small businesses NEED you to survive. Here are a few ways you can help out: (1) #ShopSmall (2) Refer your friends and family to them! (3) Give them a shout out on social media (4) Leave them a kickin' review online (5) Ask them how you can help!
We worked with some INCREDIBLE clients this year!
Our personal lives changed too!
We're proud to report that we made it through the first bout of “toddler-itis” with Jasale. She's doing great! But more importantly, we are too!😂
We transformed our garage into a gym! #NewBodyWhoDis
We started attending virtual church. It's new and different, but we kind of enjoyed it! We miss hugging our people, though!
We navigated the pandemic and working from home as business owners AND parents. How, you ask? Great question!
Our Tips for #WFH as Business Owners AND Parents:
1. Always Set Rules For Yourself (and Your Family)
Isn't the whole point of working from home having more freedom?!
Yes! But no!
You'll soon learn that freedom will absolutely destroy any productivity or motivation you thought you had. That extra freedom is fun at first until you realize that it's 5 o'clock and you've only sent 3 emails.
So consider the following: When are your working hours? What can you do at home during working hours? Who is allowed to disturb you during working hours? Where is the best place for you to get work done at home? Will getting dressed help you be more productive? Are you allowed to take breaks? If so, how long and what will you do during those breaks?
On that note, we recommend creating a dedicated workspace for each of you. It really helps you get into the zone and get stuff done without distraction.
2. Get Out of the House When Possible
Here's the thing. You are living AND working at home.
All that time spent at home is eventually going to make you go crazy! So make it a point, whether it's during the workday on your break, or after hours, to get outside.
Take a walk by yourself, or with your loved ones. Disconnect from your phones, computers, and busy lives.
Do whatever else you need to do to keep yourself sane and to keep your home a positive space for living and working!
3. Socialize! But Do It Virtually.
Another downside to all this at home time is the loneliness it sometimes brings on.
We're human. We need that connection.
Join a virtual happy hour group, or attend virtual networking meetings. Encourage your work buddies to do something fun after hours with you on Zoom! (It boosts morale and keeps you from going crazy!). Set a time each week for you to video chat with each of your distanced family members.
We promise it's going to make you feel just a little bit more normal while you're cooped up.
4. Turn Everyday Activities into Opportunities
Before COVID-19, cooking dinner was sometimes a dreaded task.
We just got home after driving through that annoying traffic after a long day of work and the last thing we wanted to do was cook a meal. Relatable?
But now, especially with the luxury of not having a work commute to worry about, we've started to see these everyday tasks as special opportunities to spend quality time together and explore new things.
Try cooking new recipes, perfecting your old ones, or picking up a new hobby or show with your significant other. Make it a point to do these things and to escape your everyday hum-drum routines.
Let's recap!
2020? We're over it! We learned some things. We changed a few things and grew in several ways. We still had some amazing experiences with our clients. But most importantly, we were reminded about what's most important: family.
I’m sure we are speaking for most people when we say that this gentle reminder was the most valuable thing we got out of 2020. Let’s not let this renewed appreciation for our families and the simple things in life get away from us when things go back to normal.
And on that note - we will see you on the other side!
Stay safe and happy holidays!
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