Brooke Borton Photography
Who am I? I'm Brooke Borton, a 26-year-old married mother of two who has decided to embark on the craziest journey of my life -- starting my own business. I'm giving myself a year to see if I really have the guts to become a small business owner in the middle of a recession. If I pass the tests... you'll see my business open October 1, 2009.
What do I do? I've chosen to turn my passions into my career. These include photography, writing, singing, and of course, the family business of commercial art (run in the south by my mother Diane for the last 30 years). Over the course of the next year, we'll see which ones I choose to build the business with and which ones remain hobbies. There's nothing better than living your life doing what you love. Owning my own business allows me to become serious about my hobbies while retaining an integral and active role in the life of my family.
This journey is about more than just starting my own business. This is a journey of self-discovery. Somehow I've grown into the habit of forced dependency on those I love. I want to tear this habit down and become the confident, self-reliant businesswoman I know I'm capable of becoming. I want to break the mold of conventional motherhood and housewifery. I want to stay true to my values. I want to be bright. I want to inspire. I want to be alive.
The catch. Right now there are some serious roadblocks to my success:
I have no driver's license. As a result of foolish pride (i.e. me not telling my husband in a timely manner about a couple small tickets I got last year), my license was suspended. I'm looking to have this back by March. Without my license, I can't visit my competitors, I can't scout locations, and I'm basically restricted to doing all my research online at home. I also have a problem with promo shoots when I can't drive myself to do them without taking a serious risk being on the road.
I need professional equipment. Right now I'm armed with only a substandard Nikon Coolpix and my manual N70. I borrow the DSLRs of friends and family to do promo shoots until I can afford my own. We all know digital is more cost-effective than film. I have to figure out a way to get all this equipment so I can do my job at the same level of performance as my competitors.
I have no money to my name. Until I become profitable at my part-time job, any start-up investment in the company will be made by my husband, if he's nice enough to help me out. I've calculated I'll spend about $8,000 before I even form the LLC. This includes the professional photography course I plan to take from the New York Institute of Photography, in order to brush up on my skills.
My laptop is broken. The laptop I planned to work on in order to raise my start-up funds offically died a few weeks ago. Until we get the extra money to purchase MS Word 2003 and install it on my husband's computer (a requirement of my company's proprietary software)... I won't be working anytime soon.
The United States is in a recession. With the state of Michigan's unemployment rate reaching 9.6% this past November, I'm lucky I'm still employed despite my inability to work -- the unemployment rate in my company's home state isn't far behind that of Michigan's. Employment ads that used to occupy two pages of the local paper now occupy a measly two columns in the back of the sports section, and half the ads are scams or pay-to-work ploys. My husband is taking care of things on his own on a paycheck-to-paycheck basis and we're still trying to find ways to cut corners so we can build up an emergency fund in case he loses his job.
However, I have many things going for me.
My strong determination to do this not only for myself but for the future of my family.
Years of training with my mother in the family business.
The absence of a fear of failure.
The energy and initiative necessary to perform all the research and take all the required legal steps.
Research skills gained from years of wanting to find things out for myself.
A desire to inspire people with my art.
An idealistic viewpoint that allows me to see multiple possibilities in every situation.
Skills in various areas that allow me to do most of the work myself without outsourcing or incurring bills with a third party.
The desire to avoid start-up debt at all costs, even if it means I have to stretch my grand opening past my goal date of October 1, 2009.
A newfound passion for customer service, bookkeeping, business administration, marketing, and tax law that makes every single aspect of my business an exciting one.