I know you. You're the one that always shows up at the party with a camera. You're the one that everyone calls when they need something photographed.

Have you ever thought of getting paid for it?

Have you ever thought of making it your career?

If you've reached the point where you're tired of dreaming of starting your own business, and are ready to take action and actually get started, congratulations!

My husband and I started our photography business a little over 19 years ago. We were young and thought starting a business was just as easy as buying a few business cards. Our families came from the "job" mentality, so we had no true role models. But we new we could succeed.

After 7 years of trying everything, with most of them failing, we began to see what entrepreneurship is all about. But we soon started seeing success. After all those years of struggling, we had a breakthrough. And we discovered five key attributes that every successful photography studio has; five key attributes that we wished we would have known of when we were starting and struggling ourselves.

1. Professional Branding.

When you get started, you usually begin on a shoestring budget. So you start with as little as possible.

What we realized early on is it helped to define who we were, and put that into everything we did.

We used "Denver" in our original tagline and remained a local business; by changing it to "Worldwide" we achieved far greater success.

Look at what the true professionals use on their websites and in their marketing. Use that to come up with your own ideas. And talk to a marketer or a branding firm. You'll be surprised at how much time and energy they can save you - and how they can help put you years ahead of schedule.

2. Mentorship.

A successful businessperson never goes it alone. She realizes the key to success is to join others that have achieved success, and follow in their footsteps. When trying to create a successful business, reinventing the wheel takes way too long. And with so many people out in the business world willing to share how they got where they are today, why reinvent the wheel!

How do you find a mentor? Look for industry leaders that have made it to the top of your chosen path. Want to photograph weddings? Who do you admire? Love commercial work? Find the best, and follow their patterns. Also find successful business people that can make the most of your time. Find marketing consultants, lawyers, accountants and business coaches that can cut your learning curve and the time you spend on menial tasks down to nothing.

3. Education.

A successful businessperson always looks for educational opportunities. Have you ever heard the phrase:

When you're green, you're growing. When you're ripe you rot.

This phrase speaks to all entrepreneurs very seriously. Over 60,000 books are published every year. Millions of articles are written every year in the thousands of magazines, newspapers and publications published. Information is constantly being updated, changed and reported. Hundreds of training classes are going on all around you every week. There is always an opportunity to take what you know today, and expand on it to create a stronger understanding for tomorrow.

As a photographer, don't just learn more about photography. Learn about marketing. Learn about business. Learn about other ways of making money with your photography. Don't become complacent with where you are today; always strive for something new.

4. Focus.

As a startup photographer, you typically try a variety of work. One day you'll be photographing a baby; the next a commercial portrait. Every day brings in something new. And it also brings in the struggle of how to charge for it, how to set it up, and where to photograph. While it may be easy to bring a baby into your home, what will you do with a horse?

Focus allows you to think through every last detail, and put together dynamic presentations for your prospects and clients. You won't struggle with the "how much" question because you'll have all of it locked down.

5. Patience.

There is no such thing as an overnight success. Your road to becoming an overnight success may take you a year. Or three. Or ten. No matter how fast it comes, it comes when you are ready for it. You learn as things happen, and grow by taking action. Every day is a new opportunity.

Learn.

Read.

Find a mentor.

Focus.

And wait for success to find you!