Been in the photo booth industry for nearly 10 years and generate $400k annually (set to do over half a mil by 2024) in the wedding and events space. I don’t feel like I am the expert by any means in business or entrepreneurship, but I’ve built a couple successful companies on a small scale, and have an MBA, so maybe I can contribute to your success. AMA!
Would love more clarity around payroll.
Context: I own a wedding venue in a luxury market and we are grossing $750k per year. I get lots of leads direct to my website and provide mostly all amenities in my venue rental fee (Photo Booth included). After payroll, profit margins aren’t great, so I’ve been thinking of branching off of my business into event rentals so that I can actually pay myself a decent enough salary to leave my remote full-time job. (Obviously not all leads book us, but they are all still high income qualified leads that are having a wedding somewhere in the area and will be needing rentals)
Hey congrats on your success, but i get it, margins mean everything. I would say focus on what customers are asking for already, or booking outside of your services that you could offer for little to no added cost (high margin goods). Don’t recommend providing your own ‘high-value’ services like photography, videography, etc. But you might consider other rentals or enhancements to make it easier on your clients too. And as you mentioned, you can rent some things elsewhere, but this would be a separate business in my opinion and wouldn’t help your margins much unless it’s off-season and you can utilize the same labor for this.
Also, I have $72k in 1099’s.