The Silent Destroyer: Decision Paralysis is what destroys most High Volume Studios.

Three blogs in, and we've discussed fractional Ops, rinse-and-repeat processes, and having aces in their places. Now, what do all three of those things have in common? Decisions. You have to make choices, processes need to be created and implemented, people need structure & guidance, and having the right resources to do this is overwhelming. Don't let it stop you from making decisions; doing nothing while your studio grows is the Silent Destroyer. Doing nothing while you make more money will lead to short-term success because you feel as if you're flying by the seat of your pants and figuring it out as you go. What happens when you do the same thing next season? Having the same approach of flying by the seat of your pants for the second year in a row isn't a flex; that is a sign that you haven't grown as a business.

Let's be clear about what I am describing. An example is creating memory mates; it's your first time, and you only have 300 kids, and you do it yourself. Next season, you have 1,200+ kids, and you didn't think about how or why, but just the fact that you now have more than double the kids you had last time. You still plan to do it yourself because you are afraid to choose to learn a better software since you "don't" have time or you don't want to have someone else step in to help you edit because don't trust someone or you don't want to give them the training to have your eye on what you want the final image to look like. What does this mean? That you didn't take the time to make a choice about how you will handle scaling your business, and now you feel as if you're going to burn out because you are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of work to do to keep up with your turnaround time, you set the expectation for last season. What the silent destroyer is: the decision paralysis that comes from having to make choices that could be good or bad. That is the trial and error you go through when running a business. Doing nothing is worse than any bad decision you could ever make for your business.

To have a successful high-volume photography studio, it starts with making informed

decisions. Choosing better workflow software, putting people where they are strongest, or implementing SOPs is hard. I always go by this quote: "Anything worth having is never easy and anything easy is usually not worth having." Don't let the Silent Destroyer, AKA Decision Paralysis, stop your studio from being as efficient and scalable. You started this for a reason. Find resolution in that reason and be the leader you would want!

Your Studio, Simplified. Fractional Ops to Keep It Moving.