How I Improved my Turnaround Time 

Turnaround time is how long it takes to get your memories back from the time you got your story captured. This can differ for every photographer or session type. For example for session type, Weddings will take longer than a regular session to get back. Also every photographer has a different personal lifestyle/business life/how they edit and they have their turnaround time based off of that. So if you see differences between photographers, that’s okay. This can even differ depending on seasons. Spring and fall can be extremely busy for photographers due to the more ideal weather or holidays during those particular seasons. But this summer I really took the time to reflect on my business while I was sick and not able to do sessions. What were my biggest problems in my business? One of them, for me, was turnaround time. For me, I’m trying to balance a family and a business. I want to be involved in my family life but I want to run a top notch business and take care of my clients. It’s hard to do both but I reflected and made some amazing changes to help with this problem I was having. With my most certain regular sessions (Weddings do not count in this, they have a longer turnaround time), I have been delivering all in under two weeks with my new system. This has lowered my personal stress so much and my clients are loving this change while also being able to spend more time with my family and not compromise quality or quantity for my clients. Here’s the changes I made to help. 

Less is More. 

In this season of my life with a toddler and one on the way, less is more. I have cut back on several parts of my business but this change has not compromised anything for my client’s experience. It has improved greatly. With all my sessions (Not including weddings), I’ve made image limits. Before this change, I was delivering huge albums to my clients that were taking too long to deliver and were even overwhelming for some. Since cutting back, I have been able to deliver an excellent client experience and been able to deliver all of their stories in a more manageable way for them. I still deliver a fantastic amount but I’m getting them done in a much better timely manner for my clients. I’ve also cut back on minis offered and how many sessions I take on each season. With minis, I only offer those on one half days only at a limited amount of times offered. This way I am able to deliver with amazing quality, turnaround time and quantity promised with a little more for my clients. With regular sessions, I’ve cut back and set a limit on how many I take on each season even when I offer some types of sessions. My oldest son is currently in preschool but out during the summer. Making it a little more harder to work as much. So now I will only be taking on a limited amount of maternity, lifestyle newborn or pregnancy announcement sessions because these are the sessions that can’t always wait. Essentially cutting back on all session types including minis during the summer season. This way I’m not compromising turnaround time during this season while my son is out of school. With each season, I’ve also set the amount of sessions I take on. This is set differently depending on the season but once I have filled this number then I am fully booked for that season. Enabling me to make client experience excellent and even spend time with my own family. 

Changes in Sneak Peeks. 

We all love sneak peeks and I haven’t cut them out completely. But I no longer give them for mini sessions or heirloom portraits. Since having image limits and wanting a faster turnaround time with everything. Cutting these out has saved me more time and allows me to give a few extra images to my clients within an appropriate turnaround time. With regular sessions, I still give them but only 2 to 5. Way less than I used to. Still allowing them to get that experience but enhance their experience with faster delivery time on their full album. 

Cutting Down on Culling Time. 

Culling is going through the images taken and picking out the ideal ones from the story captured. So in focus, sharp and your eyes not half way shut pictures. Being a family photographer, I tend to overshoot. Because working with kids you’ve got to get the moments they give you. Candid or posed. Sometimes they only smile for a second or those candid in between moments can give the sweetest moments sometimes. I want to get those for my clients so I take a ton of photos like sometimes thousands that need to be gone through. So this summer I research culling softwares. These culling softwares still allow me to look through them but it zooms into everyone’s face at once and even gives me a rating in focus. Cutting this extremely long process back more than half the time is used to take me. Giving more time to edit and deliver faster. There is tons of softwares out there. So research which one might work best for you before you make the purchase. You won’t regret it though. 

Making an Ideal Schedule and Workflow. 

Having a schedule in your business is an essential part. I have specific days and times that I work on things. Making this and sticking to it, was an amazing change for myself. Splitting up business tasks. Giving each part of what makes my business run the time that they need to keep it running. This is a separate blog post on my work week schedule. Then my workflow, I’ve got a process I follow after capturing your story with what happens after. This will also be a separate blog. But overall I have a schedule/process for how I work. Giving myself consistency in my business. It even allows me to take breaks from certain parts, allowing for less feeling of burnout. 

All these changes have not only improved my client experience but improved how I run my business for myself. I’ve been having tons of positive feedback while also having less stress. Giving me family time that I wanted back so badly but also running my business how I want to. If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed, like something isn’t working out or something needs to change. Take the time to reflect. Research on what might help your business for the better. There is nothing wrong for making any change for the better ❤️ 

Now I will be keeping my communicated turnaround time 1 to 2 weeks for minis/heirlooms, 3 weeks for regular sessions and 6 to 8 weeks for weddings. This is just in case of anything that might come up in my family having small children. That way I’m still able to meet the needs communicated. If my turnaround time is ever affected or is taking longer than communicated for any reason, I will reach out  immediately. But don’t be surprised to if you get it earlier from here on out  😉