A Client Stood Me Up
No one likes to get stood up. Whether its for a friend meeting, a date with a person you like, or a client meeting. Unfortunately I’ve been stood up in all three of these situations, but I can tell you that nothing hurt quite like having a client stop responding and stand you up. I’m not sharing this story to complain, though I did do that in the moment. I’m sharing this story to help other up and comers realize that it’s something that happens.
Our story begins on Friday July 28th. I reached out to my client to confirm and remind them of our shoot the next day. They remembered, agreed and everything was well, until I sent them my after shoot pricing. Once they received the pricing, the informed me that they could not attend the shoot because they had a previous engagement that they conveniently forgot about until the day before the shoot. Keep in mind, this shoot was booked about 2 weeks in advance. In the message, they asked if we could reschedule for the next day, and lucky for them, that day was available. I informed them that the time was available and that was the end of it.
No literally, that was the end of it because after that, there was no communication. I texted them the next morning. No response. I texted them 3 hours before the shoot. Nothing. I called them 2.5 hours before the shoot. Nothing. I called them 1 hour before the shoot. Nothing. I called them 5 minutes before the shoot. Nothing. You can see where this went. Being the optimistic person that I am, I actually went to the agreed location in hopes that they would just show up. They didn’t.
This frustrated me and hurt my pride and wounded my confidence in my ability to sell my service. A million questions went through my head. Did I describe it properly? Is this worth the money? What could I have done differently? I began to replay the entire situation over in my head and it only made me angrier. After talking to my girlfriend and calming down a little, I realized that some people are just shitty people. It angered me that the potential client didn’t just admit to not wanting to shoot with me rather than ignoring me after agreeing to the terms. I think it hurt even more because this was the first client in a new system I’m working on. It made me feel as though I failed and dropped the ball.
Even though there are a few holes in my plan, I have to remember that this is a learning process. I don’t like to lose, but I love to make my own money and run my own business, and I know that losing is a part of that process. I realize now that you have to lose and get knocked down to appreciate a win. I want to make this photography thing work, and I know it’s not going to happen overnight. I know that I have to keep fighting, adjusting, and clawing at this for it to work the way I see in my head.
To anyone aspiring to do anything entrepreneurial, it’s ok to lose. It’s ok to get knocked down. It’s ok to be angry at something. The key is to get up and keep moving. Keep trying. I have to tell myself this everytime something doesn’t go the way I want it to. Life happens and there’s nothing you can do about it. Like my favorite animated monkey says, “The past can hurt, but you can either run from it, or learn from it”. I choose to learn and keep moving.
I hope this story helps someone in some way.
P.S. I didn’t just waste the trip. We ended up visiting my girlfriend’s family so it’s all good.