Own a photo booth rental business
April 4, 2012 2 Comments
Here’s a way to start a part time business that can be a one person, one operation set up working a commercial grade photo booth rental business. Interested customers can book a slot with you for their wedding, birthday party, high school reunion party, church, or corporate event, and also can do custom greeting cards.
Initial investment for a new booth including booth,
camera, printer, computer, software, monitor can range from $5k – $9k. For a video booth,
that could be in the $8k+ range. There are no additional costs or franchise costs. You should
be able to buy a booth and be set to go.
Start with one booth to rent with a $400 deposit, market for weekend or evening gigs. Rent by the hour or by the gig. As demand grows and revenue builds up, you can expand to 2 or more booths as you need them. They’re easily portable, can be set up by one person, and can fit into a regular car – no need for a truck or trailer if you don’t already have one.
Saw an article about a young couple who started this business in Chattanooga and have done quite well with it.
Marketing
Once you order your booth and waiting for it to be shipped, make up some free business cards, car magnets, and flyers. Go around town and visit churches, party planners, wedding shops & planners, school alumni associations, corporate offices, inflatable castle businesses, and any others who might hold big functions.
Write up an ad on Craigslist with a link to your website, which you can build with a WordPress theme and a trusted host service.
You can also join your local chamber of commerce. Your town might have annual festivals where your photo booth service could fit right in among all who are having a good time.
Seek out partnerships with complimentary businesses that provide products and services similar to yours. Offer to hand out each others brochures with orders or services. Most businesses will agree as this is exposing both sides to more customers at a reduced cost.
Here’s some site links for booth sellers -
Photo Booth Fabricators – they build custom booths for you and have a rental business of their own in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Take a look at their site and blog to see their success.
Owning a QUALITY, SUCCESSFUL photobooth business is not as simple as ordering a pre-made photobooth and buying business cards. You will need to know how to use a DSLR camera, you will need some basic knowledge about setting up a portrait shot, and lighting is extremely important. In addition, most photobooth vendors create their own layouts, so if you don’t know what Photoshop is… don’t even bother! This isn’t a lemonade stand you can put in front of your house and raise money! As a photobooth vendor who put a great deal of time and effort into building my business, it is frustrating to see so many amateurs running around without any professionalism and experience. People expect a photobooth to provide excellent memories of their big day, and if you are just winging it to make a buck, you are ruining the most important day of a young couple’s life — and you should be ashamed!
Always love having a photo booth at parties and weddings! The extra props are always a blast to play with.