Photo Booth Business success leads to Trip of a Lifetime for entrepreneur Marie

Until June last year, Marie Mason an administrator for a local bailiff's office in the West Midlands, could only dream of the holiday of a lifetime to Jamaica. However Marie and her husband have recently returned from the their dream vacation thanks to a life changing decision made only six months earlier.

Having become increasingly frustrated with the day to day drudgery of her office job Marie began to look around for an alternative. A chance conversation with friend and owner of Photobooths.co.uk, Tim Warrington, then lead to a complete change of career for Marie. Tim introduced Marie to the concept of the portable photo booth, which has seen an explosion of popularity at weddings, parties, corporate events and award ceremonies.

Being a fun loving personality Marie immediately saw not on the attraction of her own photo booth business but also the potential for it to be far more rewarding than her office job could ever be. Shortly after, with the agreement of husband Dave, Marie put down the deposit on her booth and by early July was up and running with her new business.

In August 2012 Marie also invested in her own sign-written van as her own car, a 10 year old 2-seater Mazda was not suitable and she had relied on husband Dave’s car. Although her booth and equipment could be carried in the back of a car as small as a Vauxhall Corsa, Marie took the decision on the van as it also gave her added exposure for her growing business.

“I only purchased the van because mine was an old 2-seater and having made the decision to change my car it seemed logical to get one that would not only carry the booth cases but also give me the chance to advertise at the same time. Had I of had a suitable car in the first place, I doubt I would have bothered changing when I did.”

In the first six months of operation Marie had attended over 25 events with her booth, each of which generated between £520 and £750 per event. The cost of the booth having been paid for after only 16 events.

"Running a Photo Booth Business is all about the experience you are providing. It’s not about being able to set up and take photographs as that is taken care of by the booth and software. It’s more about making sure your customer and their guests have fun and giving them something memorable to take away from the event” Said Marie.

Looking forward to the future Marie commented “I already have 15 confirmed bookings for early 2013, but the enquiries are coming in thick and fast from previous events I have done. That is the beauty of this business. As soon as someone sees and experiences a photo booth they want one for their next party or event. I must get 3-4 potential referrals per event which means I do not have to spend much on other advertising.”

Marie is also currently considering purchasing a second booth and has recently trained a young lad to do the events that on occasions she is unable to cover herself. This means she can still take the bookings and even with the extra cost of employing a part-time attendant, still make a good profit out of the event. It was this, combined with the increasing number of enquiries that gave her the idea of taking on a second booth which could be operated by other attendants on a part-time basis.

Asked what ultimately persuaded Marie to start her photo booth business Marie replied “It really came down to the fact I could see the potential to earn a lot more money for far less hours than I was getting in my office job and at the same time be part of a really fun business where people can really enjoy the service I provide. I really love it.”

To help others considering starting their own photo booth business, Photobooths.co.uk have put together "The Essential Guide To Setting Up & Running a Photo Booth Business" which can be downloaded from their website at Free Photo Booth Business Guide.