There are a few uniques about our Photographic Entrepreneur courses that make us work hard long before the delegates arrive. One of them is that we make sure that the delegates are from different parts of the UK so that they’re not competing each other. It takes a bit of time with our scheduling but it is really worth it.

By having 8 delegates that aren’t competing with each other we can have some open conversions about each others businesses, share experiences and offer each other valuable inspiration and ideas. On our last course we had an equine photographer, two studio owners, commercial photographers, a location portrait photographer and some wedding photographers. It was truly wonderful to see them gelling as a group not only during the course but also late into each evening at the pub and restaurants.

What we have found is that due to the passion that we put into courses and relationships that everyone makes over the 4 days, everyone keeps in touch long after the course is over. Our alumni from last year still meet up for dinner very few months.

Well the alumni for our March course are no different. In fact we were overjoyed with how well everyone got on, absorbed everything we had to teach and then discuss it long into the night.

So what did we cover?

Well the course syllabus is here but each time we give the course it is always slightly different. It entirely depends on the delegates as to how long we spend on one particular topic and in March the big topics of conversation were branding and finances. In these challenging times it’s vitally important to make sure that you stay ahead of the crowd and stand out. Julia Boggio spent time with each delegate reviewing their websites and branding strategies and everyone came away buzzing with new ideas of how to differentiate themselves.

We also spent a whole half day reviewing budgets and cashflows. With all of our photography clients being ever more careful with their money we need to be ever more vigilant about how much were spending, how much we’re making and how much we’re charging. The tools and techniques that we taught gave everyone the ammunition they needed to make 2011 much easier.

So what did our March delegates have to say?

“It gave me the time, space and most importantly the knowledge to get myself and my business back on track” Stella

“[The course] was a major wakeup call with regards to getting a grip on my finances relating to my business. A few tears were shed! I know feel motivated to implement the necessary changes to go forward” Channelle

“I am going home really inspired. I can’t wait to get back to the studio and start implementing all the great things I’ve learned. Load and loads of really useful information. It started on a high and finished 10 times higher. Each day got better! Thank you” Andy

“If you want an intense set of business ideas that make you succeed in business, come here! The course is fab, I would recommend you” Emily

“It focused me on all of the things that I should have done on day 1 of starting my business. I’m annoyed with myself but now I have all of the building blocks to sort it out.” Fleur

“I’m absolutely buzzing after an intense 4 day amazing business course. Thank you James, Julia and Anne for sharing so much. Time to conquer the world!” Abby

“Can I think about this? My mind is a whirl at the moment!” Andrew … glad we were able to fill up your head with lots of new ideas