Has anyone been watching the news lately? Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) have been making headlines left and right! And while opinions on his polarizing approach may vary, one thing is for sure: no matter who you voted for in the last election, it’s easy to see we waste a lot of time, money, and energy as a country on things that don’t matter (I mean, 11,020 Adobe licenses going completely unused? I can attest than 1 subscription is expensive enough… and I use mine all the time!). Most of us, though, know Elon for creating for his futuristic businesses like Tesla and SpaceX. This guy’s been at the whole business thing for a while… and a quite successfully! Just this past weekend I came across an old video of Elon, long before the DOGE era, talking about what makes for a great business. His 5-Step plan was so simple, yet incredibly profound!

Here’s the harsh reality: most struggling photographers are paralyzed by the fear or doing something wrong, or messing something up in their business. As a restful, struggling photographers often “maintain the status quo” instead of taking the very risks necessary to run the business (and live the life!) you dream of!

Whether or not you enjoy seeing Musk parading on stage with a chainsaw, if you’re a photographer eager to refine your business practices, Musk’s approach provides a compelling blueprint for eliminating inefficiency and priming for growth. 

 Here’s his 5 step plan, with my thoughts on how it matters to you and me as photographers:

Step 1: Make Your Requirements Less Dumb

He said that first. Literally. “Less Dumb.” His words, not mine. What does this mean for us as photography business owners? Start by scrutinizing the complexities within your business that might be holding you back. Here are w few hints on where to look first:

• Complicated pricing models
• Overly broad service offerings
• Cumbersome booking procedures

Opt for clear, straightforward pricing tiers and condense your services to focus on what genuinely benefits your clients (Do you really NEED separate pricing for engagement photos AND couples photos? And why does it cost $50 more to add a family member, if you’re shooting the same amount of time?) Don’t be afraid to self-audit with your past and future clients. Buy them a coffee and ask them to go through your site and point out everything that “doesn’t make sense” or that slows them down from booking. Employing an no-brainer pricing and booking system that cuts down unnecessary communication, and makes it easy for clients to say “yes” to working with you, will make both you and your clients happier in the end!

Step 2: Delete the Part or Process Step

Carefully analyze every step of your workflow to identify any redundant or non-essential processes. Musk advocates for a bold approach to streamlining: “if you’re not occasionally adding something back, you’re probably not deleting enough.” I’ve been coaching photographers for over half a decade, and one of the most common themes I see among struggling photographers is that they’re doing LOTS of things, but doing FEW things SUCCESSFULLY. Ask yourself: would I rather thrive at 1 thing, or tread water with 7 things? If you’d rather be successful at 1 thing, ask yourself a 2nd question: if I took ALL the time I currently spend on the 6 things I enjoy the least, and put ALL that time into the 1 thing I really want to be successful at, how much faster could I succeed?

Step 3: Simplify / Optimize

Most photography education tells us to START here, but Musk said something in the video that has haunted me ever since I heard it: “It’s possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist.” Yikes. You know what the scariest word of that phrase is to me? “Smart.” Wasting time Optimizing things that shouldn’t even exist to begin with is not a mistake stupid people make. It’s mistake smart people make. People like you and me. We see a page on our site, or an email in our wedding workflow, that could run smoother or more efficiently, and we spend a bunch of time fixing it up to make it even better. Then we pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.

The only problem is: many times, we need to NIX it, not FIX it.

With the unnecessary parts out of your business out of the way (I mean really… why do you have a wedding photography page on your site when you want to spend weekends with your family? Just to make a few dollars?), focus on refining what’s left. This might mean adopting a set of standard locations, poses, processes for your business that can be repeated over and over and over again.

Step 4: Accelerate Cycle Time

Elon says it like this: “You’re moving slowly. Go faster. But don’t go faster til you have worked on the other 3 things first.” After simplifying, look to accelerate the operational cycles of your business. After our team conducted research on photography businesses in our area, we discovered that the average response time of photographers ranges from a few hours up to a week. As a result, we asked ourselves: “could we create a process by which a client could visit our site and book with us before the average photographer in our area responds to their inquiry?” The end result has been a steady stream of 4-figure portrait bookings year after year, most of which happen without a single client conversation.

As you’re working on speeding things up, here’s a word of caution: speed should never come at the expense of quality. but as an enhancement to your business and client experience.

Step 5: Automate

The final step involves leveraging automation to make your streamlined business operations even smoother. Implement tools for scheduling, client communications, payments, and even part of your marketing. Automation frees up your time to focus on the creative and high-impact aspects of your work, allowing you more time to engage with your photography and your clients on a deeper level. If you need more insight into how to do this, check out my recent article on 4 Ways to Automate Your Workflow to Reduce Stress!

Conclusion

He’s polarizing, I get it. But he’s also sending people to space, creating cars that drive themselves, and advancing society in some pretty astounding ways. By adopting even a couple of Elon Musk’s business strategies, photographers can drastically cut down on inefficiencies, helping you spend less time on your business while making more money. Each step, from simplifying requirements to embracing automation, builds towards creating a business environment where creativity and client service can thrive. Embrace these changes boldly, and watch as your photography business grows in effectiveness and profitability… who knows, maybe your kids or grandkids will be the first photographer on Mars one day! 🙂