3 Lessons I Learned when My Photo Booth Business Failed.

I failed. My business failed.

Writing those words makes me feel sick, but it’s true.

It was my dream to run my own business. It was my chance to finally work for myself and to set my own pay and my own hours, but now it is gone.

My husband and I got married in 2013 and we were convinced by a friend to hire a photo booth. Man, am I so glad we did. Having the photo booth and the subsequent album of photos and messages from all of our guests is one of our prized possessions. I loved it so much that by the time 2014 rolled around, I decided that this was the business I wanted to start.

I began researching ways to purchase a photo booth and building a business plan. There were so many options. I could have purchased an already existing company or I could just buy a booth and build a business from scratch.

I decided to build a business from scratch, and for 3 years it ran relatively ok… until I had kids, and then it didn’t. Here’s what I learnt.

1. Consider buying an existing business

When researching photo booths for sale, I came across a couple already existing businesses for sale. The benefit of buying an existing business is that you get existing clients, a reputation and quality products that have been tested. There is no extra advertising needed because the business already has good word of mouth. Unfortunately, the main drawback of buying into an existing business is the cost.

I contacted the businesses to access their profit and loss statements and consider if that was the route I would take. Both businesses were consistently booked and they had excellent profit margins. This also meant that the businesses had an asking price of $70k and $80k each.

Needless to say, I decided I couldn’t afford that, so I went the route of purchasing my own business and starting up from scratch. What I didn’t realise was that, while I would be saving about $60,000–$70,000, marketing a start up was a nightmare! I was working a full time job as a teacher, maintaining my business website, marketing my business, attending the few events that I was booking and tracking the finances of the business. I was exhausted.

Looking back, I should’ve just gotten the loan to buy an existing business. There would’ve been very little marketing needed; the websites were all up and running and professionally designed; and in purchasing a business I would also be purchasing all the bookings they had, and both businesses were already booked out several months in advance. I would’ve made half the money for the loan with just the bookings that the previous owners had made, and I likely would’ve easily repaid the loan in less than a year.

For any future business I start, I will definitely consider buying an existing business. If they have a proven clientele, profits and business model, the added expense is truly worth it.

2. Know your worth

This was by far my biggest downfall.

I entered the photo booth game in the middle of the craze and there were so many well established businesses, as well as start ups. How did I think I was going to get business? How was I going to set myself apart? By setting low prices. Very low prices.

The thing to know is that when you don’t have employees, or rent costs, your overheads are actually quite low. After the cost of the booth itself, my expenses were super low. I could easily attend a 4 hour event for the cost of about $100–150, and some companies were charging as high as $800 for that! It was crazy to me. I thought I’d be happy to earn $50 an hour after taxes, so I worked out that I could price a 4 hour event at $500, well below any of my competitors. Huzzah! A point of difference from my competitors.

What I didn’t take into account was: 1. My prices were so low that I wouldn’t be able to grow my business and hire employees, and 2. by pricing my business so low, I was effectively saying that my business is cheap. Consumers could compare all the prices of different business and they were probably wondering what was wrong with my business.

I think there is nothing wrong with going a little cheaper in price, but don’t let that be the point of difference. Don’t price yourself so low that you miss out on profits. Be creative. Offer something else and stand out in a different way.

3. Know when you need help and get it!

Here was the final nail in the coffin.

Remember earlier when I said it failed after I had kids? I refused to hire anyone because I couldn’t trust anyone else. I wanted to do it all myself. So when I got pregnant in 2016, I didn’t take into account all the physical work in setting up and moving the photo booth around. Still, I refused to hire anyone and just took my husband along on the road.

I had my baby in early 2017, and six months later I was back at it leaving my husband and baby at home together. Until I got pregnant again in 2018. However, this time I wouldn’t have my husband to help me, because we couldn’t bring a one year old around to events with us. I had now left it too late to employ and train anyone. I should have hired someone months earlier to give myself the time to train them. This time, I wouldn’t even be able to run my business during my pregnancy.

By the time I had my second baby, I was exhausted from being a new mum again, I had been out of the game so long that I had lost my fabulous Google ranking from all my hard work earlier on SEO, I stopped receiving enquiries from word of mouth bookings and I dropped the ball big time by letting my website expire. I would need to start from scratch again. That would’ve been avoided if I’d just found someone to help with something.

I don’t regret running my business the way I did. I learnt so much, which I took with me when I started my current venture. When starting a new business it is important to know exactly what mistakes to avoid so you can achieve ongoing success. That is what I earned from this photo booth business.