« Side Hustle School

#426 - Couple’s Photo Booth Hustle Creates Memories and Cash

2018-03-02
After being unimpressed by a lackluster wedding photo booth, a New York couple studies up and enters the market on their own.Side Hustle School features a new story EVERY DAY of someone who started a hustle without quitting their job. You’ll learn how they got the idea, how they overcame challenges along the way, and what the results are.  Share: #SideHustleSchoolShow notes: SideHustleSchool.comTwitter: @chrisguillebeau

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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Today answers matter more than ever before. That's why IBM is helping businesses manage customer questions with wants an assistant, its conversationally, I designed to work for any industry. Let's put smart to work, visit, IBM Dot, com, slush Watson assistant Hey there gratings, what's up, welcome back money, Miss Cristel about this episode, foreign, twenty six of cider school. If you have been to a wedding recently or perhaps another event, you may have seen a photobooth photographs are everywhere these days and chances are that booth was provided by an outside vendor who brings the equipment and then staff the event, either pointing out the photos on site
posting digitally afterwards or sometimes both. But how does the business behind the booth work today stories about a couple who started photobooth huh sought to create memories and cash and his regular listeners. Now I often encourage you to spend as little money as possible when your first running your site I saw, but when it there's a situation where you do need to spend money you get started like you need to acquire some expensive equipment, perhaps, but naturally want to make sure your money is not wasted. My honest or you'll hear how the photo booth team handled at issue they went from idea to income and they had to invest a substantial amount and start up costs. But before doing so, they did enough research to feel confident. Last but not least, will look at the main way they get their business, which is a lot different from what most other photobooth providers do. This photography stories,
Just now that I bring it to you in just a moment today, story comes from a crisp elite alone from the Hudson Valley outside New York City by day, christened investigator for the state government, as well as an assistant, pastor. His side hustle is paramount. Photobooth original company, he runs with his wife. They got the idea after attending a wedding with a flood of earth and being unimpressed with the quality of both the booth Anna photos. They thought there might be an opportunity provide something better, but they also want to make sure they weren't just diving headfirst into a business. They knew nothing about so before dropping thousands of dollars on equipment. Crispin. A few months researching there was another photobooth rail company in his city. It was a good thing, not a bad thing. It showed but there was demanded the area hearing
couples in New York City are often willing to spend a lot of money on weddings and photobooth are increasingly a staple at those weddings. You noticed as well that the Hudson Valley of New York was becoming an increasingly popular area. To get married couples from New York City would often come up state to get married then use with Barnes vineyards we're just on top of the mountains, with a view of the Hudson River Chris Research. Further any sought at the foot up with companies in his area, but the one in his city and others nearby, weren't using Google outwards, and then he them didn't show up in Google it all. Some of the websites he eventually discovered, looked outdated, produced unprofessional. There was another good reason to start the project. There was demand for the service and they figure they could easily be the competition. Next he began to look at gear and equipment Chris discovered a booth called strike oppose after he heard an interview with the two honours hundred on Pike ass. If you're looking at different options, he decided to purchase that both which still uses to this day, even though the company that made it is not a business. This professionally manufactured booth, rather than a makeshift homemade mine helps them,
stand out. They use a cannon rebel dsl, our camera and studio quality linings that there's no flash. They also chose a deep, rich red backdrop rather than the black and white when it many photobooth companies use nets because they say allow people wear black and white to formal events. They tend to get washed out. In a backdrop, last but not least in the equipping department, no photobooth is complete without props and paramount has a huge variety of signs: hats, glasses, lips, moustaches, tiaras, mullet, Weggs, a Batman mask a Darth Vader mask Thoris hammer a catch, an american shield and I'll just stop there, because my last speech.
On nine. Basically, they have other stuff and they try to buy products that are durable, easy to clean aunt replaceable. After starting a three years ago, there now a market leader in their area. They writ photobooth clients having all sorts of different events, mostly on the weekends they provide, not just the booth, but also those prompt and a friendly attendant weddings at their most common gig, but they also do sweet. Sixteen parties, proms barn, bat, mits, first class reunions, fun, razors, and yet, once again my list goes on and on they do a lot better props lot of events, the other quality that separates them from the crowd is their customer service. They always respond quickly with detailed information and quotes back at home. Chris, his wife is looking after four children and she also manages emails cause in tax for the business while he's at his day job and then for the events themselves. Chris gets the booth set up and manages the hardware and software
I saw how did they find customers for all those weddings problems, sweet, sixteen parties and so on? It turns out that Google Adwords is their bread and butter. They spend about two hundred fifty dollars a month on it and it brings in the majority of their business. They ve also use Facebook adds to advertise to people with the relationships status of engaged, but they found that average works better for them more cost. Effective paramount photobooth also ranks well organically and Google for local search through any area. You type in Photobooth, Reynolds, they're gonna come up near the top. There also listed in Google Map results as well. Now
where the other businesses, the other funded with rail companies, didn't doing these things they relied on more traditional wedding marketing like going to bridle, shows an exhibiting, but with Google the paramount team doesn't have to plan their lives or run a bridle show calendar and they also have to pay for exhibiting at them. They did have some real start up costs, though they divided photobooth antibiotic props, much a random stuff, like a storage, showed a prop table, chairs extension courts. But if you're interested in doing this through some Good NEWS, Crispin about eight thousand dollars getting this guy, he says that prices have come down quite a bit, and these days you could get started for around three thousand dollars. And market nurse, especially for him. Paramount photobooth was profitable right away the first year they business, they made eleven thousand dollars at rose to eighteen thousand dollars in your two and twenty one thousand dollars in your three keepin minuses, part time they try to find a way to do it around their schedule. It's also something that they
there's nothing wrong with making more money and that's what they want to do. Chris hope she continue growing the business and he hopes to buy more photo booth to meet more to Matt, he's also trying to sell restaurants bars and clubs on permanent, but it was installed as a marketing tool, has anything on wrong along the way, but not a time, except for one time. It event when disaster struck their onsite printer completely failed with no backup and Chris had to refund the client that wasn't a good day, but it is also an unusual situation since every event they bring affordable to is a celebration of some kind. Everyone is usually happy. It creates a great workin,
I meant the attendees have a fund memory to go away with an host or whoever pays for the event is glad to have made the investment. Finally, for Chris and his family, it was love at first click. Awesome. I hope you enjoy had photography story developed starting aside. Hustled really is nothing to snap at just don't lose focus. I saw what, if you want to try this business while, fortunately, Chris has a lot of free resources on his sight. Photobooth training dot com is separate from the site. You just a market is business. This is just a collection of helpful guides and tools and tips isn't really selling. Anything just does want to be helpful. So on that site, you can read things like how to find your own photobooth gigs and how to get paid. How to create a basic facebook. Add for the foot it with this
and more so, of course we will link that up in the show nice for you, and I also thought it was interesting that he invested in that professionally made both because he thought a lot of the hand made once weren't that great. I must wonder if you could also try morbidly. I why approach like, if you had a good camera and some basic stuff, I could you put together a handmaid booth. It was actually good and perhaps costs less money, I'm not sure, but, as you mentioned, started, cost of actually gone down quite a bit in the three years since he started this project. So if you do anything with events or you'd like to mount to look into this opium joy, the story remember inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better though shots I mentioned are it's: how does this go? Dot? Com slashed forty six I'll be back tomorrow with a totally different story out. You'll join me for it on critical about precisely school.
Transcript generated on 2020-08-06.