When I started my business in Fall of 2014, I had no idea where the journey would take me. All I knew is that I wanted to create a new kind of photo booth rental company that rivaled the best. Now, nearly a decade later, I can say that my ideas successfully took flight and business is a huge success! On track to do well over $600k this year with just a single employee has been bigger than I even originally thought possible. Of course, along the way I made quite a few mistakes, and often I thought, “what if I could go back and do things differently?” It’s hard to say exactly where I’d be today, since I firmly believe that we are products of all our learnings (successes and failures), but I can say for certainty that there are many opportunities I completely ignored and missed out on entirely.
You know what they say, hindsight is 20/20! While there’s no changing the past, I hope you can learn from some of my mistakes and Fastrack your way to growth. And if you don’t decide to implement these tips, at least let it give you pause to ask the right questions for your business and see if you are at risk of making the same mistakes I did when I got started. Who knows, it could mean the difference between you making it and breaking it.
Thinking I knew better than the market
As most ignorant 20-somethings, when I started my photo booth rental company, I figured I knew best. I didn’t care to research or find out what customers actually wanted. No, I saw it clear as day. Photo booths were a hit, of that much, I was certain. But none of the photo booths in my area were anything to write home about. Big ugly black boxes, off-center cameras, exposed backdrop frames, poor lighting, janky props and the likes. Yet, guests (for some reason) couldn’t get enough. As an amateur photographer, I knew for a fact I could create a better experience. One that elevated the photo booth overall, providing crisp, well-formatted prints, clean and beautiful setups, and properly balanced photographs that were worthy of being framed. And, I was right. I did in fact create this upleveled photo booth experience, and none of my competition was doing the same.
And there lies the problem.
While I was focused on making a better product, I failed to realize that customers in my area were not necessarily asking for a better product. They enjoyed the goofy photo booth with silly props and didn’t mind much all the details (or lack thereof). As long as the company showed up on time, and guests had a great time, everyone was happy.
This crucial mistake led me to waste years trying to fight an uphill battle, where I attempted to convince couples, planners, and clients that they should depart from their hard-earned dollars to hire the best. Without having any industry accolades or years of experience to boot. Ultimately, I kept losing bookings to other competitors who had more reviews under their belt, and often a more competitive price (even though I was only charging $379 for 3-hours of service).
Now, take this with a grain of salt, because in the end, my strategy paid off (and that $379 price point is now averaging $3250 for the same 3-hrs). It just took way longer than I ever expected it to. If I had instead taken the time to learn about my market, and understand what customers truly wanted, I would have quickly discovered that I would have been better off starting my business with some equipment on a tripod, with the most basic features only (prints and possibly texts), loading up on silly props in a bin. As long as I delivered on my promise to my customers, providing great service from start to finish, I have no doubt that we would have broken 6-figures right out the gate at year 1. Then, I could have built up a lot more reviews in a shorter period of time, and fast-tracked my way to wear I am today. Again, hindsight…
Sure, I wouldn’t have loved it – after all, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. But if I ran my business in favor of my customers, instead of my own personal preferences, things could have been very different today. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not an advocate of devaluing your service and discounting your offerings. All I’m saying is you must start somewhere, and if you think you can come out of the gate as a top-tier option without reviews, social proof, accolades, or experience, you are probably kidding yourself, as was I. Instead, focus on what is working in your area, what people flock to, what’s in high demand, and how you can do it just 5% better than the competition. Over time, you can craft your offering, increase your prices, and niche down to provide more specialized services as you home in on your brand. But if you are just getting started, throw out any ideas you have about what will make your company great, and go back to the drawing board.
How to find out what your market wants?
So how do you find out what your market wants? Simply put, you ask them! Or an even better approach is researching other top photo booth companies in your area (or nearest to you), and see what they are offering. Find out what others are booking, look at galleries, prices, packages, inclusions, and find out what’s working so well that other businesses continue to feature and get booked for it. This will most likely tell you what your customer is wanting. Pick up the phone and make a few phone calls, see who is available next week, or in the middle of your expected busy season. Those who are fully booked are probably the ones doing it right.
You can also use sites and message boards like Facebook wedding groups in your area, reddit, the knot/wedding wire forums, etc. to do further research. Your customers are likely on these sites asking the same questions, so chime in and find out why a bride chose company A for her big day, or ask why they booked a photo booth at all. See what they are saying, and find out what’s most important for them. If you have the opportunity to participate in a bridal show/fair, or can attend a gathering where newly engaged couples will be, ask around! When I got started, photo booths were still gaining popularity at weddings and private events and were often an afterthought. Nowadays, it seems any opportunity people get, they want to have a photo booth at their event. So you will likely have a much better opportunity that I ever could have, at quickly getting to the bottom of what your market wants. Then, just work your way backwards and find out if you can deliver on those promises just as good, or better than your competitors can.
Focus on what will help you get your next customer!
In the photo booth industry, the most common problem we face is finding our next customer. Since majority of the events that take place (weddings, certain life milestones, etc) take place only once, there is an extremely high churn rate, in that customers only ever need to hire us once. Obviously, there are exceptions to this, including planners as ‘clients’ or corporate events, but the problem still plagues us all. So, knowing that you will be on a constant quest to acquire new customers, you should do everything you can to focus on what will help you get your next customer.
When I started, had I focused on this, instead of just ‘being the best’ I could have used this to propel my business to new heights.
So what do you do?
There are a few things to focus on that will help you take advantage of your current situation, to make sure you keep the leads coming.
Treat your current customer like your only customer
For every event that you book you should obviously treat the customer as if they have the possibility to book with you again (and this also extends the guests present at the event). What I discovered was that most of our bookings eventually came from direct referrals of clients we had done a great job for, or from guests that were present at an event and got to experience us firsthand. So by focusing or providing great service end to end, as if we had a chance to be hired again, we left a lasting impression, that made it easy for others to recommend us.
Lean heavily into collecting reviews on a single platform
Sometimes getting reviews is like pulling teeth. No matter how good of a job you do, or how satisfied a client is, their intentions don’t outweigh their circumstance. And people seldom find the time to do things that they aren’t required to do. If you can increase the number of jobs you book at the very start, you automatically increase your chances of getting more reviews. It’s much easier to get 10 reviews from 100 jobs, than it is to get 10 reviews from just 20 jobs. I would recommend some kind of strategic approach to asking for and collecting reviews. Trying everything from attempting to collect reviews in person, asking for a commitment to leave a review, giving an incentive to leave a review (check with your platform if this is allowed), and following up several times after the fact, until a review is left. Also make sure to point everyone into a single location, such as Google, Yelp, or WeddingWire. Stay off review sites like thumbtack, where the only customers who will see your review, are those who are shopping on thumbtack directly. You want to be able to use these reviews as public accolades to help you outgrow the platforms you are on to position yourself better in the future.
Followup until you’re blue in the face
I mean it. You’ll ask once, and customers will tell you they would love to. Then you never hear from them again. Put together an email follow-up sequence, like the one I recommend in my Profits course. Make sure you follow-up at least three times. You should get to the point where the customer either reviews you or tells you to get lost. Non-responsive is not a no, it means they either missed your message, or haven’t found the time yet (aka, they need another nudge). By following up steadily with every customer, you greatly increase your chances of getting a review, which goes a long way towards setting your business apart from the crowd.
Taking control (at the cost of growth)
To end this somewhat longwinded post, I’ll say that one of the biggest mistakes I made in starting my photo booth rental business was trying too hard to maintain control. As someone who struggles with accepting anything less than perfection, it was extremely difficult for me to delegate tasks that were better served on the plate of others. This included hiring out event staff for live events. For the first three years (maybe four) I worked nearly every event, simply because I didn’t trust anyone to execute the degree I did, or handle the potential problems that came up – (that’s a separate note about the importance of SOPs). Instead of working all of the events, and delivering ‘perfection’ I could have been much better off finding a way to outsource more work from creative to live event execution. Not only would this have freed my time so I could focus on growing the business, but it would have put important structures in place early on which would have allowed me to much more quickly scale the business by taking more events than what I could previously handle on my own.
It’s better to deliver at 85% of what you personally might be able to do, and build a successful business in the process, rather than focus on 100% and hamper your growth by your own inability to get out of the way. Trust me, learn from my mistakes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, starting a photo booth business was a journey filled with challenges, mistakes, and learning opportunities. Reflecting on the past, I recognize that some decisions, though made with good intentions, slowed down my progress. The key takeaway here is to remain adaptable, listen to your market, and not let perfectionism stand in the way of growth. By understanding your customers’ true needs and focusing on delivering excellent service, you can achieve success faster and more efficiently than I did. Remember, every misstep is a lesson, and every lesson brings you one step closer to your goals. Use these insights to navigate your path and build a business that not only meets your standards but exceeds your customers’ expectations. Here’s to your success and to making smarter choices right from the start.
