Copper and Blossom Photography is 5!

It’s my business birthday!

I can’t really believe it but Copper and Blossom Photography is now five! Where did that time go? Actually, I know exactly where that time has gone - it whizzed by in a blur of weddings, celebration, lockdowns, online meetings, panic, money-worries, relief and a million cups of coffee!

The last five years have been a huge rollercoaster of a ride - not just for me but for everyone - so to commemorate this landmark business birthday, I wanted to share what I feel have been the 5 most important stages (hurdles, setbacks…) that my business has journeyed through in the last 60 months!

Rebrand

Let’s start with my rebrand.

In truth, my “business” has actually existed for 12 years. In a previous incarnation it was “K E Southall Photography” but for a hundred different reasons (I won’t bore you with them here) I decided that a rebrand was required.

And so Copper and Blossom Photography was born. On Friday 13th April 2018 (and yes, I specifically chose Friday 13th because I wanted to laugh in the face of any supposed superstition) I released my newly rebranded business into the World. I’m happy to say that it was really well received and brought with it a new start, a refreshed perspective and a renewed drive which motivated me to continue building my business.

Resilience

It wasn’t long, however, before I was facing the biggest threat that my business has ever encountered.

Covid.

Copper and Blossom wasn’t even two years old when, all of a sudden, it was being put on pause. For a while I would say that it was even pushed into reverse. Hard! With weddings not legally allowed to take place, bookings were being cancelled left, right and centre. Payments were being taken back and the business was essentially losing money. It was touch and go whether Copper and Blossom would survive but I was determined that it wouldn’t defeat me.

So I went to work at Tesco.

I realise that I was super-lucky to be able to land myself a part-time job at the very start of the Pandemic - in all honesty, it probably saved me from having to permanently close my business. Copper and Blossom continued to quietly tick along. At first it was refunding vast amounts of money but then, slowly, I was able to return to small weddings and then, finally, with confidence returning, I was able to start taking on larger, future bookings.

Rebuild & Refresh

One of the things that Covid did allow time for was actually taking a step back and viewing my business holistically. With almost everything on pause, I realised that I needed a project to keep me focussed, so I made the decision to refresh my branding.

What had slowly become apparent to me was that when I launched Copper and Blossom Photography, I hadn’t really considered my branding in enough detail. I had a brand name I liked and a pretty logo but I have to admit that I was a bit naive about how much branding actually involved. I hadn’t given anywhere near enough thought to my brand colours, fonts, my brand voice etc…. and here I was with a great deal of time suddenly on my hands. I (hopefully) put it to good use by diving deep into my business branding and even managed to piece together a new website.

It felt as though everything had finally come together and, as we entered the post-pandemic world, I found I had also been given a refreshed confidence in my business. Dare I say it, I actually felt proud of how far it had come (and how much it had already survived!).

Relocate

Money worries aside, one thing I was determined to hold on to during the pandemic was my office space. My landlord had very kindly allowed me to reduce the amount I was paying to him while I was working from home and I had also managed to find an office buddy with whom I split the cost once we were able to start returning to our place of work.

In the meantime, our landlord announced that he would be moving premises and asked if we wanted to join him. It wasn’t the best timing, happening just at the point of my busiest wedding season ever (a double-whammy of normal wedding bookings and a huge amount of rescheduled events happening within the same 3-month period) but it meant larger premises, a quieter location, a nicer outlook and, yes, an increase in rent. After finding the time to actually pack up our old office and move into the new space I have to say that it has been brilliant! We now have a sunny office away from the noisy traffic and are based in a building with a handful of other friendly businesses. After so much time locked away working from home, it has been really nice to feel part of a community once again - plus I am often greeted by Louis, the office dog when I arrive!

Rejoice

With everything that has happened during the last five years I am feeling hugely thankful that my business has not only survived but become stronger. Copper and Blossom has definitely been tested since launching but, actually, the rebrand, the refresh, having to reconsider procedures and processes during the pandemic, it has all helped to strengthen my business in it’s own unique way.

I will be forever thankful to all of my clients - past and present - who have joined me on this journey. Without them there wouldn’t be a business and it certainly wouldn’t have survived the obstacles that have been thrown at it over the last few years.

What an epic ride the last five years have been - let’s see what the next five years will bring!