Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in photography but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mark Gibbon, Founder of Mark Gibbon Photography, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am commercial food and product photographer catering to medium to large food-based businesses and advertising agencies that represent them. I also do a lot of packaging work.

Tell us about yourself

I was interested in photography for many years as a hobby, and while studying engineering, I realized it wasn't a good fit for me. So I decided I would give photography a try as a career and fell in love with the creative process and freedom as well as running my own business. I also spent many years cooking in the food and beverage industry, so I understand food well.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I never thought I would be able to make a living pursuing my dream and doing only photography, but it's worked out better than I could have ever imagined. I hit my five-year financial goal in only a couple of years which was an incredible milestone for me. There's some good money to be made in commercial photography, but it is incredibly competitive, and you have to be constantly pushing yourself to be better.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

For me, the most difficult parts of running my own business are marketing and maintaining momentum during slow times. Even though I'm a creative visual problem solver, selling myself is not one of my strong suits, but it's essential to any business. What's also difficult is that I'm looking for a very specific kind of client, so finding them and converting them can be a long and slow process. As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours, and running your own business, you have months where you're working seven days a week and months where you'll have hardly any paid work. Learning how to balance all this and save for the slow times and keeping myself busy in the slow times has been a learning experience for me.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Find a problem and be the solution. You can do almost anything you want, just make sure you're offering something of value to others, and you can monetize it. And it might not even be the service or the product you offer but the way in which you offer it that sets you apart.
  2. Be patient while also pushing yourself. Growing a business and finding clients takes time. If you're offering something of value, it will happen, just not overnight. At the same time, you can't be complacent; this is a very competitive world we live in, so you have to constantly push yourself.
  3. Grow slowly and cautiously. Let the business pay for itself; you do have to be willing to take risks but try not to put all of your eggs in one basket.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: http://www.markgibbonphoto.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markgibbonphoto/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gibbon-43ba2492/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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